Activities for Grades 3 - 5

Food Corps: Rocks to Radishes – Understanding the Food System

Students will make the connection between their food sources and geology. They will make the connection between the origins of food in nature and understand the important actors and stages involved from seed to fork. Students will develop a concept of what a “food system” is.

Arizona State University: Radish Germination and Inquiry

Introduce students to germination, plant needs and how to set up a scientific experiment. Radish seed germination will be the focus as students choose a problem to investigate, design and conduct an experiment, then make observations and a conclusion.

Note: Students are required to calculate the percentage of germination. Calculating percentage is introduced in Grade 6. However, students can calculate the percentage on calculators, if instructed or with teacher assistance.

National Science Teaching Association: The Radish Party

Students learn that stem strength and color, in addition to growth, are indicative of a healthy plant and healthy soil. Students will grow radish seeds in three soil types and predict which will grow the biggest radish. When the set investigation time is up, bring students together to compare their earlier predictions to the actual plants grown. Ask the students to make observations and look for differences (advanced students may even make a few measurements).

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies: Cycles – From Rot to Radishes

The central investigation of this unit helps students answer the question, "Where does the stuff living things are made of go after those organisms die?" Throughout the unit, students grapple with the notion that matter is neither created nor destroyed, but it takes different forms as it cycles — as part of a living thing at one point in time, and as part of the non-living environment at another. This is a unit with eight lessons. Here are the links to the PDFs for each lesson:

Lesson 1: A Challenge from GROW Students observe soil samples, talk about where soil nutrients come from, receive a letter from a company that wants to know if dead plants can be used as fertilizer, and then develop research questions.

Lesson 2: Plans and Peer Reviews Students work in groups to design a fair test that will yield information for GROW, and then review each other's plans and decide on a final design. Supplemental resource: Research Proposal

Lesson 3: Up and Running Students set up experiments to test the effects of compost tea on plant growth, learn about plant development, and then monitor their experiments for 3-5 weeks.

Lesson 4: Exploring Plant and Soil Connection Students prepare for and conduct an outdoor investigation of soil in areas where plants and other landscape features differ, and then use their findings to think about plant and soil connections.

Lesson 5: Planting Preferences Students work in groups to rank four sites according to their suitability for planting shrubs, and then independently complete a diagram showing a nutrient cycle for the preferred site.

Lesson 6: Radish Results Students make and process final observations of their plants and graphs, discuss their data in groups, compile data for the whole class, discuss conclusions, and then write letters to GROW. Supplemental resource: Group Work Evaluation

Lesson 7: GROW Gets an Answer Students complete their work for GROW by working in groups to create advertisements that teach the public about nutrient cycling and GROW's research and products. Supplemental resource: Group Work Evaluation and Portfolio Cover Sheet

Lesson 8: Hiring a Scientist Students recommend who GROW should hire as a scientist after reviewing three job applications.

Whole Kids Foundation and American Heart Association: Root Study

Root Study Lesson on Pages 59-64. Root vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Students will explore the function of roots by dissecting a radish. Students will keep a dissection log of their findings in their Garden Journal.

Center for Ecoliteracy: Raising Radishes

Students will learn about composting as a way to recycle food waste, and then conduct an experiment with radish seeds to see which type of soil is best for radishes: soil only, compost only, or a mixture of soil and compost. Using composting to lessen the human impact on the environment could be discussed.

Supplemental resource: Comparative Tasting of Fruits and Vegetables — Students taste two or more varieties of a particular kind of fruit or vegetable, develop language to describe its nuances, and learn about its growing requirements and seasonality.