Mrs.+VanHarten's+Page

At Knapp Charter Academy we have been learning about the life cycle of plants. On Thursday, April 15 we came to the Media Center with all the second grade classes to work on our additions to this wiki.

Mrs. VanDyke's 2nd Grade Class knows a lot about plants. Eddie remembers that the sun makes plants grow. Rain helps the plants grow as well. "If your plants are not growing you need to use plant food", Jessica tells us. "In order for plants to grow they need to have roots and worms make room for roots," Chauncey explains. Emma knows that the nitrogen from lightening also makes grass healthier. Lilly says that plants need a lot of love. One of the hard things of Michigan in the winter is that the snow covers the plants and makes it hard for them to grow also the ground gets frozen (this info is thanks to Elilly and Mitchell). Beau and Ben know that plants grow all over the world (not just Michigan where we are from). Ryan tells us that plants need a lot of soil or else they will not live. Stephanie knows that there are a lot of farmers in Michigan who grow plants. Jurnee explians, "if we did not have the earth there would be no plants." Andy told us about bees and how they help flowers grow.Caleb told us you can plant grass from seeds and AJ also said that plants grow from seeds. Ethan explains that without plants the food chain would be nothing! Allyssa reminds us that without the sun plants cannot grow. Everyone likes different plants, Liam likes carrots. Maddy lets us know that without water there would be no plants. Sara loves strawberries, which grow in Michigan, even in her back yard. Austin knows that without plants we would all die. Tristyn tells us that if we did not have plants humans and animals would have nothing to eat. Ethan P tells us that without plants and trees we could not breathe. Riley loves tomatoes. Abbi likes strawberries. Becca loves bananas!

Mrs. Plichta’s Class is going to help answer the questions from Mrs. Wafler’s Class - Kirstin, Jack, and Domonique discussed **what fruits we** eat in Grand Rapids they came up with this list: watermelon, grapes, apples, kiwi, bananas, pears, strawberries and oranges. Brandon, Melody, and Kelly wanted us to know about **the seeds that we eat**: sunflower seeds, peas, pumpkin seeds, and white watermelon seeds. Sarah, Calvin, and Marah spoke to us about **the stems we eat**: celery and broccoli Cameron, Lindsey, Hannah, and Emily explained to us about **the leaves we eat**: lettuce, spices, and spinach.

Lula, CJ, Iriana, Houston, and Summer share **what roots they eat**: carrots, potatoes, beets, turnips, and radishes Skyler, Harlow, Skylar, and Daniel know that you can eat dandelions. Summer has eaten sunflower petals before. Houston eats Violet petals, we are not exactly sure why. Aleigha, Makayla, Alexis, and Jarrod discussed **how seeds travel in our area**: grow them, people plant them, animals carry them, wind carries them, and by truck.

Mrs. Deveney's Class talked about the plants that grow in our area. Tatiana has wild flowers that grow by where she lives. Connor grows plants, his family has like twenty different plants in their garden. They just started them and they can see them popping out of the soil. Kolbe has a garden in his back yard it has corn, blueberries, and some beans just to name a few. Olivia also has a garden and there are blossoms blooming, blueberries, and strawberries grow in it as well. Aidan's family has a garden and each year they grow roses and violets (his mom's favorite flower). Bella's family has a Peach Tree, they also have raspberries, carrots, and corn. Anna has plants at her house and she knows that they need water and sun. MIchael knows that plants grow in seeds just like birds grow in eggs. Anthony is aware that if he waters plants too much they might die. Elizabeth has been to an apple orchard because apples grow in our area. May knows that plants need soil and food. Annika, Lethicia, and Cam enjoy plants as well.

**Fruit that grows in our area**; Zoey - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Audrey - watermelon and grapes Riley - apples grow in Michigan Claire - peaches Noelle - melons Calab - cherries

Miyanni - corn, tomatoes Grace - beans, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and hot peppers Noah - celery Christian - onions Bet - potatoes Gabe - rutabagas Zoey - broccoli and cauliflower
 * Vegetables that grow in our area**:

Oranges, Pineapple, and limes are all imported from the south (thanks Audrey, Jakob, and Jaclyn)