Meet the Plants
What Is Meet the Plants?
Meet the Plants is a West Virginia 4-H Project that local Master Gardeners Volunteers teach to third and fourth graders. There are 6 one-hour classes in the program. Each class focuses on a chapter of the Meet the Plants project book and the sixth class teaches nutrition from fruits and vegetables.
Master Gardeners are adults who have been screened by the WVU Extension Service and participated in 3 hours of training before they can teach the Meet the Plants program. New volunteers are always assigned to co-teach with a veteran Master Gardener.
How Can I Get Meet the Plants in my Classroom?
To learn more about the Meet the Plants 4-H Program in Hancock County, contact Marla Bennett, 4-H and Youth Program Assistant will schedule your class and provide supplies to the Master Gardeners.
West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives taught in class.
The Meet the Plants curriculum meets many of the WV Board of Education Content Standards and Objective’s (CSO’s). Below is a list of the ones used in the program.
| What are Plants? | Science 3.2.1; 3.4.3; 4.2.1 | |||
| Parts of a Plant | Science 3.3.1; 3.3.2; 3.4.1; 3.4.6; 4.3.1; 4.4.1; 4.4.3; 4.4.4 | |||
| Uses of Plants | Science 3.6.3; 4.4.6 Health 3.3.6; 3.4.1; 4.4.1; 4.4.2 | |||
| How Plants Grow | Science 3.2.7; 3.2.8; 3.3.3; 3.4.2; 3.4.4; 3.6.1; 3.6.2; 4.2.2; 4.2.6; 4.2.7; 4.2.8; 4.2.9; 4.3.3; 4.4.2; 4.6.1; 4.6.2; 4.6.3 | |||
| Plant Propagation | Science 3.2.5; 4.2.5; 4.6.4 | |||
| Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition | Health 3.1.5; 3.6.4; 4.6.1 |
Grassheads
I know you are wondering—what on earth is a grasshead? A grasshead is a tool used to teach plant propagation. Grass seed is put into the toe of a old (clean) tube sock, then it is filled with potting soil and tied. The children then use rubberbands to create noses and ears. Permanent markers are used to draw on the faces and mouths. The cups are filled with water and the sock bottom absorbs the water wetting the soil. The rye grass sprouts in about one week and when it gets too tall the children give their grasshead a “haircut”.
How many seeds are in a mango, how about a papaya?
The answer to the above question is…you’ll just have to open one and find out for yourself! The students just love this class! The Master Gardeners and students bring in fruit and the seeds are counted. Some of the most popular fruits are papaya, mango, star fruit, kiwi, and cantaloupe. Extra fruit is sliced and the students taste fruits that aren’t normally brought into their homes. Favorites of the students—mango and star fruit.
