One of my absolute favorite projects I do with my Firsties is planting Hairy Harries. Each spring during our unit on plants, we plant grass seed in a cup, add a face to the cup, and grow our very own Chia Pet of sorts. The students love watching their Harries (or Harriets) grow hair! It is not only a lot of fun, but it is a great experiment in exploring plant needs and growth. During our planting, we did test what would happen to a few unfortunate Harries if they had to go without sunlight, water, or nutritious soil to compare them with the Healthy Harries who were receiving all of their basic needs. The students were able to see that these plants looked quite different from their own.
The plant on the left went without sunlight, the plant in the middle had no nutritious soil, and the plant on the right was not watered enough. The students (and I!) were amazed that the plant without sunlight grew so high, but took notice of its yellow color. This led to a great extension discussion of how sunlight is necessary for plants to produce chlorophyll, which gives the plant its green color.
