2
A garden of vegetables
Discover P2 Term 1: Axis 1, Chapter 2
GoalPlan a small vegetable garden with a group, draw it, and improve the plan.
New words
garden · a place where we grow plantsseed · a small thing that can grow into a new plantsoil · the ground where plants growharvest · to pick vegetables when they are ready
Explanation
A garden is a place where we grow plants. A balcony or a school roof can be a garden if we use pots. To grow vegetables we need seeds or small plants, soil, water, sunlight and care. A group can use the design steps. Ask what we want to grow. Imagine where the pots can go. Plan by drawing. Build with a grown-up. Test by watching the plants. Then improve the plan. When the vegetables are ripe, we harvest them carefully and wash them. Some plants are prickly, so a grown-up may need to help.
Worked examples
Mariam’s group asks: what can we grow on our school roof? They imagine tomatoes, mint and a seedling of lettuce.
The group’s first plan has 6 pots: 3 pots of tomatoes, 2 pots of mint and 1 pot of cucumber. 3 + 2 + 1 = 6.
In the hot afternoon the plants droop. The group improves the plan: they put a light cloth over the pots for shade and water the plants in the morning.
Class activity
Grow a bean plant with a grown-up. Put a bean seed in a cup of soil or damp cotton wool. Put it near a window and give it a little water each day. Draw it every day for a week. Wash your hands after touching soil.
Practice
1
Name three things plants need to grow.
Water, sunlight, soil (also air and care).
2
A garden plan has 3 pots of tomatoes and 4 pots of cucumbers. How many pots is that?
3 + 4 = 7
3
Which design step is it when we draw the garden on paper?
Plan.
4
Which one do vegetable plants NOT need to grow? Say the letter.
C, the football.