This Sunday, November 1, West Virginia sets its clocks back an hour. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m., and on Sunday evening sunset arrives about an hour earlier on the clock than it did on Saturday (FOX 5 DC).
The Farmers' Almanac puts Charleston's sunset at 5:27 p.m. on November 1 and 5:14 p.m. by November 15. Across the Mountain State, the afternoons are about to feel very short.
Kids notice this. Plants notice it too. So here's a question for your homeschool this week: what does a young plant do when light is in short supply? A sunflower sprout gives you the answer quickly and clearly. If you give it light from just one side, it will bend toward that light, and your kids can watch it happen over a few days.
What your kids will learn
This project covers several of the science ideas that matter most, using a few seeds, some cups and a shoebox.
Grades K–5
- The parts of a seed: seed coat, embryo and stored food
- What a seed needs to sprout: water, warmth and air
- What a growing plant needs next: light
- Making a prediction, then checking it
- Measuring a root or stem with a ruler and drawing what they see each day
Grades 6–12
- Germination physiology: water uptake (imbibition), enzyme activation and the first root (radicle) breaking out
- Phototropism: a growth hormone called auxin builds up on the shaded side of a stem, those cells stretch more, and the stem curves toward the light
- Etiolation: why seedlings grown in the dark turn tall, pale and spindly
- Experimental design: one independent variable (light), controlled variables (seed, soil, water, temperature) and a measured result
- Recording data, calculating germination rate and writing a lab conclusion
This week's activity: the Sunflower Light Box
You can do this with things you already have at home. Plan on about two weeks from dry seed to a clear result.
You'll need: sunflower seeds, a paper towel, a zip-top bag, three small cups with drainage holes, potting soil, a shoebox with a lid, a ruler and a notebook.
- Sprout the seeds. Dampen a paper towel so it's moist but not dripping. Fold five or six sunflower seeds inside it, slide it into a zip-top bag and keep it somewhere warm, such as the top of the fridge. Check every day. Sunflower seeds usually sprout in 2 to 5 days.
- Plant three sprouts. When the little roots are about half an inch long, plant one sprout in each cup, root pointing down, about half an inch deep. Label the cups A, B and C.
- Build the light box. An adult cuts a hole about the size of a quarter in one short end of the shoebox. Set Cup B inside, at the far end from the hole, and close the lid so the only light comes in through that hole.
- Set up the three conditions. Cup A goes on a bright windowsill. Cup B goes in the light box, with the hole facing the window. Cup C goes in a dark cupboard. Give all three the same amount of water on the same days.
- Predict. Before anything comes up, have each child write or draw what they think each plant will look like in a week.
- Observe every day. At the same time each day, measure each stem from the soil to the top, note which way it's leaning and describe the leaf color. When the clocks fall back on Sunday, talk about how many hours of daylight are left after school work is done.
- Compare and conclude. After 7 to 10 days of growth, line the cups up. Which plant is tallest? Which is greenest? Which one bent, and toward what? Was each prediction right?
You'll most likely see a short, sturdy green plant in Cup A, a stem in Cup B that curves toward the hole, and a tall, pale, floppy stem in Cup C. If your results look different, that's fine. Talking about why is real science too.
Make it easier with the kit. The Sunflower Seed Germination Science Kit gives you a ready-made start for step 1: 10 sunflower seeds, absorbent germination paper and a resealable germination pouch, plus a four-lesson curriculum for your grade band and printable worksheets (a daily observation log, a root-length chart and a reflection page for K–5, or a lab report template for 6–12). The curriculum and worksheets are emailed to you after purchase, so you can start planning while the seeds are on their way.
Join the growing community
Every kit comes with an invitation to Aardvark's Seed Planting For Little Hands, our private group for families using our kits. Post a photo of your light box, share whose sprout bent the most, ask questions when a seed won't cooperate, and see what other young growers are working on.
Whether you homeschool in the Eastern Panhandle or the southern coalfields, your kids can compare notes with young growers in Arkansas, Arizona and beyond. It's a fun way for them to see they're part of a bigger group of young scientists running the same experiments.
Start your light experiment before the clocks change
Sprouts started this week will be ready to plant just as West Virginia settles into its early sunsets, which is good timing for a lesson about light.
- Sunflower Seed Germination Science Kit – Plant Biology Curriculum & Worksheets: $25.00. Choose Grades K–5 or Grades 6–12 at checkout.
