Hampshire House 

Exploring Chia Seeds - The Environment as Third Teacher

For the past few days, my team of young explorers have been engaged in a fascinating journey – studying the growth of Chia seeds. It all began with a simple conversation and drawing of chia seeds. “It’s going to become soggy. I love Chia seeds” said Ryan on day one, as with great excitement and anticipation we placed the seeds onto the cotton wool and added water.  By day three the children’s curiosity was piqued as they started noticing changes to the seeds.

We decided to use the microscopes to have a closer look. “What happened to the seeds?” said Ryan. Yasmin shared her observation that she could see the seeds growing. On day five the green shoots were visible, prompting Mia to comment, “it grew some leaves”, while Isabelle noted that she could see the roots. On the sixth day Jackson was very excited to see the transformation and couldn’t hide his surprise. What? What has happened to our chia seeds Rochelle? 

This activity really highlighted the value of experiential learning, where the environment acts as a third teacher. Through this simple activity the children became active and informed spectators in the plant life cycle. Each member of the group showed a real eagerness to understand science, which reinforces Vygotsky’s theory that children learn best when they navigate and explore their environment.

Miss Rochelle Gil

Hampshire Teacher