Plan
- What do plants need in order to grow?
- How can you help a plant grow faster?
- Have you ever helped out in the garden?
- Why are greenhouses used to grow plants?
- How can you build a greenhouse with the materials you have?
- Soak the beans overnight the day before this adventure.
- How will you track how much each plant has grown?
Do
- Build four different spaces for beans to grow:
- Water in a cup
- Water and soil in a cup
- Water in a greenhouse
- Water and soil in a greenhouse
- Build your greenhouse by planting your bean in a clear plastic cup and taping another plastic cup upside down on top of it. Place in direct sunlight, and open occasionally to water.
- Take your bean cups home and see how they grow during the week. How do you think you can record the growth of the beans?
Review
- What do you know now that you did not know before?
- What did you see during the week?
- What did the plants look like every day?
- How were beans in the cups different? Why do you think this was?
- What elements of STEM were in this activity? Science? Technology? Engineering? Mathematics?
- What did you like about this activity? What did you not like about it? How would you do this activity differently?
- Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map
Materials
- 6 clear, plastic cups for each person
- Soil
- Paper towels
- Water
- 4 paper rulers for each person
- Masking tape
Keep it Simple
- Try growing chia seeds on a tissue, you can add it into an egg shell and watch your pet grow some hair.
Take it Further
- Can you scale this up and make a larger greenhouse for a plant?
