People buy a lot of bottled water. But the trouble is that the bottles are used only once, and then thrown away. Here’s an activity where you can use a bottle again, to make something good happen.
You need:
- Clear plastic bottle, any size
- Egg carton
- Soil
- Spoon ( to mix and scoop soil)
- Spray bottle
- Seeds
- Low Tack Tape ( to help mark half of the bottle for cutting)
- cissors ( to cut egg carton)
Rinse out the bottle, let it dry, and put the cap back on.
Ask an adult to help you cut the bottle in half with a craft knife. Place the top half right side up and the bottom half upside down. Each half of the bottle will be a miniature greenhouse.
Cut out some individual cups from the egg carton. Depending on the size of the bottle, you might be able to fit just one egg cup under each greenhouse, or several.
Fill the egg cups with soil. You can buy potting soil at the store, or just collect some from outside. You want the soil to be nice and wet, so mix it with water in a bowl first if it’s too dry.
Bury a seed in each cup. Try it with seeds that you get from fruit! You can even try a few different kinds of seeds, and stick popsicle sticks in the egg cups, labeled with the kind of seed you’ve used.
Now place the two halves of the plastic bottle over the egg cups. Poke a couple of holes in the top of each bottle half for air circulation.
Put everything next to a window where it will get some sun. You’ve just made two greenhouses!
Greenhouses are used to grow plants all year long, even in the winter when it’s too cold outside. Because the plastic bottle is clear, sunlight can get in and warm things up. But the bottle holds the heat inside, so it stays warm all the time.
The climate change that we’re experiencing now is happening because the Earth is acting like a giant greenhouse. Sunlight warms the Earth, but the heat can’t escape because of the gases we’ve polluted in the atmosphere, so the planet keeps getting warmer.
Every couple of days, use the spray bottle to mist the soil with water. You’ll notice that the bottle also keeps moisture from escaping, so your plants will stay nice and damp.
Watch your plants sprout and grow over time. When they get bigger, you can transfer them out of the greenhouses, and plant them in a pot or outside.
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Contributor
Grant Harding is a puppeteer with a degree in biology and a passion for education and the environment. Follow Grant on Twitter, or check out his website.
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