Science

Science:

Investigating conditions that affect plants growth:

Grow plants in different conditions and record observations and determine which conditions produce most healthy or strongest plants. Cress grows quickly and could provide the plant material or you could buy plant seedlings or plud plants from the garden centre. Different groups of children could investigate different types of conditions and then report back to the class on the results.

growing plants with differing amounts of water including no water
growing plants in differing levels of light include excluding light completely
growing plants in cramped conditions and with seeds more widely spread.
growing plants in differing temperatures
growing plants in different mediums e.g. garden soil, sand, pebbles, shop bought compost, garden compost. kitchen rool paper, cotton wool, scrunched up paper, fabric etc.

Making a Bird Cake and Feeder

Link to Design Technology and Literacy

You can make various kinds of winter treats to help the birds through the cold winter when food is scarce. Different types of birds feed in different ways. Blue tits will cling upside down, sparrows will cling to hanging containers, robins will visit bird tables and blackbirds like to feed on the ground. If you want to provide them all with treats them you will need to create some treats to hang in trees, some to put on a bird table and others to place on the ground or on low feeding tables.

Click here for more information

Science:

Try experimenting with different ingredients, different colours of food, to see which the birds prefer. (Don't use anything salty as this is very bad for birds).

Do birds prefer different foods at different times of the year?

Do different types of birds visit different types of food?

Record your observations

Click here for advice from the RSPB

Making a Wormery:

Link to Design Technology

The easiest way to make a wormery would be to use a large jar filled with soil but it is likely that the worms will stay in the middle of the jar and remain out of view.

Click here for instructions

Science:

Remove the black paper at regular intervals and record the activity of the worms.

Take digital photographs to illustrate the report.

Places different types of leaves or plant debris on the surface -do the worms prefer one type to another?

What do you notice about the surface of the soil in the wormery and the soil beneath the surface?

Studying Life Cycles of Garden Minibeasts:

Link to Literacy and ICT

Research the life cycles of the minbeast that you find in your vegetable patch.

Try rearing some of them - you may be lucky and able to find eggs of the ladybird or butterfly.

Butterfly rearing kits can be bought commercially click here

Take photos and video of your chosen species and use the Internet to find out about their life cycles.

Click here for information on wildlife that you may find in your patch

Click here for Life Cycle kits available from Spotty Boxes

Save the Honeybee:

Link to ICT & Literacy

One factor in the decline of honeybees has been shown to be the use of pesticides containing neonicotinoids. To find out how you can help the honey bee population visit the Soil Association's website. This topic would also provide a great letter writing activity for children. Click here for information on how to write to your MP.

Design a Side Salad:

Link to Design Technology, Literacy and ICT

Research the types of side salads that are available in the local supermarket and what type of combinations of ingredients are used,. Focus in particular on the types of salads that have ingredients that you are growing in your vegetable patch.

Design a tasty side salad.

Take a digital photograph of the finished salad

Using recipe book conventions write the recipe so that someone else can reproduce your salad.

Science:

When considering the ingredients be aware of healthy eating principles

Design a Minibeast Shelter:

Link to Design Technology,

Research which minibeasts (or even small animals such as hedgehogs and toads) are of benefit to the vegetable plot.

Research the type of habitats they prefer and what type of commercially available products there are which provide suitable habitats.

Then design one of your own.

Is your design successful in attracting your chosen minibeast.

An attractive log pile could also be created

Click here to get some ideas.

Life Cycles of Vegetable Plants:

Link to ICT and Literacy

Study the life cycle of a chosen vegetable plant and create an information sheet or PowerPoint show explaining the life cycle

Click here to read information on resources available to support this project

Making vegetable dyes:

Link to Design Technology and Art

Vegetables have long been used to make natural dyes. We have all stained our fingers when picking blackberries or chopping beetrootThe dyes can be used to stain eggs for easter of could be combined with a tie dye activity. Natural fabric such as cotton must be used.

The following links give instruction of how to use vegetables to make dye click here and here. Note that the dyes will not be fast unless a mordant is used.

Ingredient

Colour Produced

Instructions

Comments

chopped red cabbage

blue/teal

Put 2-3 tbsps. chopped red cabbage in heat safe cup. Add boiling water. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Let sit overnight.
Avoid excess handling.

onion skins, yellow

light peach to gold/orange

Use 1 large handful of onion skin for each cup of water. Simmer 20 minutes then add 1 tsp. of white vinegar.

Easy.

grated red beetroot

magenta red

Put 2-4 tbsps. freshly grated beets in heat safe cup. Fill 2/3 with boiling water. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Dye may be strained before use.

red cabbage & turmeric

green

Pour scant tsp. of turmeric and 2-3 tbsps. of chopped red cabbage in a heat safe cup then add boiling water.

Speckled design.
Wipe vegetable off with damp cloth.

red cabbage & beetroot

purple

Put 2 tbsps. grated beet and 2 tbsps. red cabbage in heat safe cup. Add boiling water.

Striking and intense.

onion skins, red

pale green

See directions for yellow onion skins.

Allow long steeping time.

Science:

Investigate which vegetables produce the best colours or what happens when you dip your egg/fabric into one dye and then a different dye.

Record results

Observation using a Digital Microscope:

Link to Art

Use a digital microscope to view parts of the plants and also to create detailed observational drawing.

Images can also be captured to assist in art work or to incorporate into notes on observations.

Creating a Branching Database:

Link to ICT

Create a branching database to identify vegetables, fruits or minibeasts found in the garden.

What rots?:

Investigate the conditions in which plant material decays most quickly.

You will need sections of plant material such as apple peel, banana skin, orange peel etc. and similar containers such as paper cups or jam jars.

Investigation 1:

Set each of the following conditions to one cup.

Fill one with water
Fill one with dry garden soil
Full one with sand
Leave three empty (one will be placed in a dark place, another will be covered in cling film, the last will be left as it is
Fill one with mosit garden soil

Place as similar sized section of the chosen plant material in each container (make sure those in the soil are buried under the surface.

Observe the effects at the end of each week over a period of at least two weeks. Record any changes of the plant material in each container.

Investigation 2:

Which materials decay in soil and which do not?

Choose a selection of organic and inorganic materials e.g. paper, plastic, cellophane, leaf, small piece of vegetable/fruit peeling.

Place each item in a container of damp garden soil.

Observe the effects at the end of each week over a period of at least two weeks. Record any changes of the plant material in each container.