Materials:
10 – 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled on the bottoms and lower sides for drainage
5 bags of soil
20-25 seed potatoes (depending on # of students)
After harvest:
Large pot or crock pot depending on recipe
Procedure:
Students will each receive a seed potato to plant one at a time in the buckets with the soil provided. About 2 inches of soil at the bottom of the bucket, plant potato seeds and fill bucket with soil. Volunteer students can take this home and water them over the summer or if there is a summer attendant at the school that would be willing to care for your babies for the summer.
When students return in the fall and after the first frost, students can see what grew in their buckets. Students will have a worksheet pertaining to their findings to complete:
- How many plants grew out of the top of your bucket?
- Measure the green part of your plant.
- Draw a picture of your plant in the bucket.
- Dump contents of bucket out on tarp provided
- Collect all of your potatoes and rinse them with the water provided
- Lay potatoes out on paper towel to dry. When they are dry enough to precede place potatoes on white piece of construction paper. Trace potatoes. Put paper to the side.
- Make observations about your potatoes.
- How many did you get?
- How much did they weigh?
- How many weighted under .5lbs or over .5lbs
- Refer back to traced potato paper: For older students they can find the area of their potato drawing or the diameter or circumference. This lesson is adaptable for many different age groups.
- When you are done with the measurements and observations with your potatoes, please place them in the stock pot for the last step
Teachers and students can collaborate on what they wish to make with their bounty. I would make either a potato soup or baked potatoes in a crock-pot and serve with all the fixings.
