A few months ago, I was approached with an offer to receive a once a moth science project and instructions for the first half of 2016 in the hopes I would share this information on my blog. We are a science loving family and the projects sounded like so much fun, so I accepted.
I received a kit that included a notebook, pencils, aprons, and safety glasses to use for all of the projects. The children were quite excited when the box arrived!
The first month's (December) activity was a mini activity that involved showing the earth as an apple and how much farm land is available to us to use for food. We completed this activity, but sadly the pictures were accidentally deleted from my phone.
There is a video of the Earth is an Apple Activity here.
January's box arrived last week. The project was titled Ecosystem in a Bottle. I thought it would be fun to invite some friends over to participate with us. Science is always better with friends!
Our kit contained everything we needed for the activity (except for water and scissors):
- 2 liter bottles (you need two for each ecosystem)
- Soil
- 2 Wicks (can be bought at a craft store by the candle making supplies)
- Seeds
- Sharpie
You can find an instructional video to complete this project here.
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| they watched the video on my phone |
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| this notebook holds the projects and the science sheets |
We split the children into two groups with 3 children in each group. First we had to mark the lines to cut on the bottles with a sharpie. We had to cut the top off of one bottle and the bottom off of the other.
Each ecosystem needs to have one cap with the holes drilled. Ours came drilled (thank you!) but if you are doing this project the instructions on the video tell you how to drill the holes.
Then you need to wet your wicks and feed it through the hole.
Next we added water to the bottom bottle and put one bottle inside the other with the wicks reaching down into the water.
The next step was to add the soil.
And plant the seeds. Our kit included basil, thyme, and oregano.
They named their Ecosystems Pizza Garden. We put the lid on it and put in in the window to get some sun.
Our science sheets allow the children to record their observations to see how long it takes for their seeds to grow and what the plants look like as they grow.
This was a fun and easy project. I love that it didn't require any specialized objects and that it used recycled materials. It was great for a variety of ages as well. Our children ranged in age from 4-10.
We can't wait for our next #campSci project next month!
Disclaimer: I received the products in this kit complimentary from Monsanto as part of their #CampSci Homeschool Science program. I received no other compensation and all opinions in this post are mine. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.
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