The Incredible Growing Plant

“It’s science project time,” Mrs Carter announced. “Time to start thinking about what living thing you are going to watch for the next six weeks.”

“I am getting an art farm.” said Thomas

“I’m watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.”, said Ava

“What are you going to do, Josh?”, his friends asked

Josh sighed.

“I don’t know”, he said. “I can’t do anything cool like get an ant farm or watch a caterpillar turn into butterfly.”

“I am sure whatever you choose, Josh, it will be awesome.”, Mrs.Carter said

When Josh got home from school, his mom noticed he looked upset.

“What’s the matter, Josh?” she asked.

“I have anything cool to watch for my science project.”, he said.

“Well, why don’t you plant some of these sunflower seeds.”, his mom suggested.

“Sunflower seeds are not as cool as an art farm or a caterpillar turning into a butterfly” Josh said.

“They may not seem like it now.” his mom said. “However, I bet if you just plant them, you might be surprised.”

Josh though it over

“Fine, I will plant them Mom.” Josh replied “I don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

Josh’s mom cleared out a spot in the garden and helped him dig a hole for the seeds. He dropped the seeds in the hole and covered them with dirt. Then he used the watering can to water them.

“Well, that was exciting”, Josh said

“Just wait”, his mom replied

Everyday, Josh went outside to check on his sunflower seed, but it was not doing anything. When he told his mom, she told him to be patient.

“Your seed is starting to grow roots”, Mom said. “You cannot see them because they are under the ground. They will help the plant stay in the ground. They will also get water and nutrients from the ground to help the rest of the plant grow.”

A couple of weeks later, Josh went outside to check on his plant when he found a surprise. A small green thing was sticking out of the ground.

“Mom!”, he called. “Come look at this”

His Mom explained that the green thing is called a shoot and that it was part of the plant’s stem.

“The roots will provide it with water so that it can get bigger and grow leaves.”, she said. “Now that the shoot is out , the plant can also start gathering sunlight.”

The next week, Josh noticed his plant was a little taller and that it had leaves.

“What happens now Mom”, Josh asked his mom.

“The plant still has more growing to do”, she replied.

“The roots will collect water and nutrients, the stem will carry the water and nutrients to the leaves, and the leaves will collect energy from the sun. Then the plant will mix the water and nutrients with the sunlight they collect and make food to help the plant keep growing.”

A couple weeks later, Josh finally saw a small flower start to form on his plant.

“Mom! Come look”, he called.

Josh’s mom came to look at his plant and admire the flower that was forming.

“Now that there is a flower, my plant is finished growing. Right Mom?”, asked Josh

“Not quite”, his mom said. “Your plant still has a lot of work left to do.”

“What else does my plant have to do?”, Josh asked.

“It has all of his parts. Now these parts work together to keep the plant alive and create new plants”, his mom explained. “The roots collects the water and nutrients from the ground. The plants use the water and nutrients to make food. Then the stem carries the water, nutrients and food around the plant. This keeps the plant alive.”

“You didn’t mention the flower”, Josh said. “What does the flower do?”

“The food that plant makes keeps the flower strong so it can help create seeds.” his mom explained. “Bees and other insects help move pollen from one part of a flower to another part so it can make seeds. When those seeds fall into the ground, a new plant starts to grow.”

“Wow. My plant is actually pretty cool”, Josh said to his mom.

He couldn’t wait to go school and tell all his friends about the incredible growing plant. Josh also had a special surprise for his friends. He was going to give everyone in his class a sunflower seed so they could all have cool plants of their own.