Photosynthesis

With the end of the blessed rainy day and the beginning of the early days of the eight month of the lunar calendar, a few students have sown some more seeds in their gardens- such as bean, coriander, radish, spinach and lettuce.

The continuous rain water from the last few days has nurtured the soil making it favorable for seed’s growth, in this young season- FALL!

This time of  year is good for sowing spinach, bean, coriander, radish etc. For some vegetables we weren’t quit sure of the perfect time to plant - like egg plant, pumpkin etc- but we have decided to experiment with their growth in our garden by planting them now.

Working in the garden is a great opportunity for the students to learn with their hands. Right from the start of the garden work- digging an earth, holding a spade and pick axe and manually using one’s energy to unfurl the soil- there are many lessons being learned and many calculations being done mentally, but unconsciously.

The student’s decision to use a pick axe instead of  spade to open the soil has its own science behind it. The students are their own architects in the garden, shaping their own beds, calculating, measuring, and designing them in whatever way they desire. The depth, width and the line that they keep track of while sowing seeds are an estimation and math concept in themselves.

While there are so many things students can learn from the garden classes, the focus  in the last session was on finding an area and perimeter of their own beds. The students have used measuring tape to find the length and breadth of the beds. After they have collected their respective bed’s basic data they were ready to calculate and found the actual area of their beds. It was quite interesting to see the students measure and take their own responsibilities in their learning by doing from the context. I have also seen them cooperate with friends in finding the measurements.

From the previous planting we have now green sprouts of bean and squash that have grown from six to eight centimeters tall from the ground. The spinach and coriander have sprouted a centimeter above the bed, exposing their two leaves of early growth, ready for photosynthesis.

We all are waiting to see the gradual growth of our vegetables.