Budding botanists in Year 5

This week in Year 5, our scientists became experts in plant propogation.  Following our exciting exploration into how plants use flowers, bees, and the wind to create seeds (sexual reproduction), we dove into the plant world’s incredible ability to "clone" itself (asexual reproduction). 

To see this process in action, we focused on a class favourite: the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum). Mrs Cosgrove kindly lent us her well looked after spider plants. 

 Hanging from the ends of the stems are tiny, perfect miniature versions of the parent plant. These are called 'plantlets'.

We learned that the parent plant sends out these long stems (runners) to find new places to grow. Once a plantlet touches the ground, it starts to grow roots. 

We learned that propagation is just a fancy word for making new plants, and our Year 5 scientists were eager to become propagation experts. Here’s what we did:

1. Selection: We carefully chose healthy plantlets that had already developed small, visible bumps on their base—these are the beginnings of roots!

2. The Cut: Using clean scissors, we carefully snipped the plantlet away from the parent "runner" stem. 

3. Water-Rooting: For many of our cuttings, we placed them gently into jars of clean water. We learned that the roots need access to moisture and air to grow. Now, we wait! We’ll be watching the clear jars every day, looking for the first thick, white roots to emerge.

Once the roots have emerged we can then plant these into soil!

'It was a very good learning experience taking a cutting from the live plants.' - Nicola 

'It was really fun to make our own plantlets. I hope mine grows big.' - Emanuela 

'The plantlets will be a genetical clone - it will be interesting to see if it looks the same.' - Elodie

We are so proud of how carefully Year 5 handled the plants and how quickly they grasped the concept of asexual reproduction.