The first snow of the season is heading for the West Virginia mountains. According to WDTV's forecast published November 11, rain on Thursday gives way to mountain snow Thursday night, with the snow line dropping toward 2,000 feet on Friday and a chance of flakes almost everywhere on Saturday morning. Highs fall into the 30s, and Sunday mornings start near or below freezing.
For most of us that means the outdoor garden is done for the year. But it doesn't mean the plant science has to stop. In fact, the gray, short days of a mountain November are the perfect moment to ask a question kids can actually answer with their own hands: how much does a seedling really depend on light?
This week, while the high ridges pick up their first light snow, your kitchen can turn into a small indoor grow lab.
What your kids will learn
Grades K-5
- What a seed needs to sprout (water, warmth and air) and what a seedling needs next (light)
- The parts of a young plant: root, stem and the first seed leaves
- How to measure with a ruler and record the same thing every day
- How to compare two plants and say which grew "more" with real evidence
Grades 6-12
- Photosynthesis: how plants turn light energy into food
- Phototropism: why seedlings bend toward a light source
- Etiolation: why seedlings grown with too little light get tall, pale and floppy
- Controlled experiments: changing one variable (light) while keeping water, seeds and temperature the same, then graphing the results
This week's activity: the Light vs. Dark Seedling Test
You can run this with any fast seeds you have in the pantry, such as dried beans or peas, or with sunflower seeds from a kit.
- Sprout the seeds. Lay 6 to 10 seeds on a damp (not dripping) paper towel, fold it over, and slip it into a zip bag. Keep it somewhere warm. Check every day.
- Plant two matching cups. When the first roots appear, plant the same number of sprouted seeds in two cups of the same potting soil. Label one "Light" and one "Dark."
- Make it fair. Give both cups the same amount of water and keep them at the same room temperature. The only difference should be light.
- Split them up. Put the "Light" cup in your brightest window or under a lamp. Put the "Dark" cup in a closet or under a box.
- Measure daily. Each day, measure the tallest seedling in each cup with a ruler and note its color: deep green, pale green or yellow.
- Graph and explain. After a week, make a simple line graph. Older students can write a hypothesis first and a short conclusion at the end. Younger kids can draw both cups side by side.
Most families are surprised by the result: the dark seedlings often grow taller at first, but they are pale and weak because they are stretching to find light. That one surprise opens up a great conversation about photosynthesis.
Make it easier (and keep it going all winter)
A window works, but a West Virginia window in late November doesn't give much. Our LED Grow Light Plant Stand Science Kit gives you a steady light source: a two-shelf stand with two full-spectrum LED light bars mounted 10 inches above each shelf. Kids can compare seedlings on the top and bottom shelves, change the hours of light per day as their one variable, and keep growing seeds and microgreens through the winter. Each shelf fits a standard 10x20 tray (trays are sold separately, and the stand needs some assembly). The kit comes with curriculum and worksheets for your grade band, emailed after purchase.
Need seeds that sprout fast? The Sunflower Seed Germination Science Kit includes 10 sunflower seeds, germination paper and a resealable pouch. Sunflower seeds typically sprout in 2 to 5 days, so kids see roots within the first week, and the worksheets include a daily log and a root-length chart.
Join the growing community
Every kit purchase includes an invitation to Aardvark's Seed Planting For Little Hands, our private group for families using our kits. Post a photo of your light and dark cups, share your graph, ask a question when something doesn't sprout, and see what other young growers are discovering. Kids from snowy West Virginia hollows are growing right alongside families in the Arkansas Ozarks and the Arizona desert, and it's fun to compare what's happening in each place.
Bring the garden inside this weekend
The snow will melt, but your kids' curiosity doesn't have to go into hibernation. Set up a light experiment this week and keep a living science lab growing until spring.
- LED Grow Light Plant Stand Science Kit: $167.99 (Grades K-5 or 6-12)
- Sunflower Seed Germination Science Kit: $25.00 (Grades K-5 or 6-12)
