A Little Care

Picture: A Little Care

Narrator: The next morning, four new friends came back to school.

Pax: Same table?

Zion: Same table.

Lux: I was hoping you remembered.

Jahari: I remembered all the way here.

Jahman: Good morning, Little Nauts. Ready to find out something new?

Pax: At our table?

Narrator: Jahman set a mysterious bag on the table.

Jahman: We'll begin here.

Jahman: All right, kids, guess where we're going today?

Lux: Somewhere outside?

Jahman: I have beds, but nobody sleeps in them. I have growing things, but no roof over their heads. People help care for me. Where are we going?

Your turn: What do you think? Make your guess before you turn the page.

Pax: Beds with no pillows?

Zion: Flower beds?

Jahari: A garden!

Jahman: Our school garden. Today, we'll find out how to care for it.

Pax: One, two, three. Ready!

Zion: There are four of us.

Your turn: Three stakes. Four children. How many more stakes do they need?

Lux: One more makes four.

Jahari: Now there's one for each of us.

Jahman: Stay together on the paths. Ask before picking or pulling anything.

Pax: Even if it looks like a weed?

Jahman: Especially when we're not sure.

Narrator: Their first field trip was only a short walk away.

Lux: It's like another classroom.

Zion: A much rustlier one.

Pax: Where are the chairs?

Jahman: Today, the path will do. Let's see what we notice.

Narrator: Leaves rustled overhead. For a moment, everyone just looked.

Lux: We came to look at plants. Does that big tree count?

Jahman: What do you think?

Jahari: It's got leaves.

Zion: And it grows out of the ground.

Jahman: Yes. A tree is a plant. Its roots help hold it in place and take in water. The trunk supports its branches and leaves.

Pax: A very tall plant.

Zion: And a very shady one.

Jahman: Leaves use light to help make food. Different plants need different amounts of light and water.

Jahari: I'll water both. Then we've helped both.

Lux: What if one already had a drink?

Jahari: Oh. How would we know?

Jahman: We can check. The leaves don't tell us everything. Let's find out what happens when water meets soil first.

Narrator: Jahman brought out a practice pot. There was soil inside, but no plant.

Pax: Does it all stay in the pot?

Zion: Or come out underneath?

Jahman: This practice pot has holes underneath. The stand holds it above the tray.

Jahman: When I pour a little water slowly, where do you think it will go?

Your turn: Into the soil? Through the holes? Some of each? Make a prediction.

Narrator: Jahman poured slowly. They watched and waited.

Jahari: It's going into the soil.

Zion: I can see drops underneath!

Lux: Some is staying in the soil, and some is coming through.

Jahman: That's what happened in our pot. Soil can hold water, and extra water can drain through the holes.

Narrator: Back at the mint pots, Jahman helped them check gently below the soil surface.

Lux: This one's drier.

Jahari: This soil still feels damp.

Jahman: I've checked too. The left mint needs water today. The right one has enough for now.

Your turn: Which mint shall they water today?

Zion: The dry one. And check the other one again another day.

Jahari: I'm glad we looked first.

Jahman: Roots need air as well as water. More and more water isn't always better.

Jahari: So we check what each plant needs.

Narrator: Jahman filled the little can. Then they shared the garden jobs.

Jahari: Slowly?

Jahman: That's it. Onto the soil.

Lux: Pot's steady.

Zion: A little water's reached the saucer.

Narrator: Jahman helped with the extra water in the saucer. The other mint could wait.

Jahman: That's enough for this one. We'll let it drain.

Pax: Notebook's dry. Very dry. I checked.

Lux: How will we remember what it looked like today?

Jahari: Draw it in our notebook.

Your turn: Count the open leaves on this one marked shoot. Touch each leaf once.

Lux: One, two, three, four. Four open leaves on this shoot. I'll write today's date too.

Jahari: Today's picture is the beginning.

Pax: Has it grown yet?

Jahman: We won't expect to see growth in a few minutes. We'll care for it and look again over time.

Pax: Four stakes back in the box.

Zion: Ready for next time.

Lux: One picture to bring with us.

Jahari: And we didn't water everything.

Narrator: The plants were the same size. Their care was the part that had changed.

Jahman: You noticed what needed doing. That's garden care.

Narrator: Back at school, they washed their hands. The notebook came to the table too.

Jahman: What shall we remember from our first field trip?

Lux: Look closely.

Zion: Check what you notice.

Jahari: Then choose how to help.

Pax: And don't water the notebook!

Jahman: Another field trip next week? A different place, a new question.

Narrator: Same table. Same team. Something new to notice next time.

Lux: Can we check our mint again too?

Jahman: Yes. We'll keep caring for it between visits.

Try it afterwards: With a grown-up, look at the same plant again another day. What is the same? What is different?