Planting Daffodils: Kids Dig Their Hands-On Science Lesson

Think back to all the things you learned in kindergarten, Principal Cynthia Healy told her students at Harrison. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup?

The roots go down and the plant goes up.

Throughout the day on November 15, the lesson was repeated as elementary students stepped outside for some hands-on science, planting daffodil bulbs for Livingston @ 200.

With younger students, Healy reminded the classes about the difference between seeds and bulbs. “These are bulbs, but not like a light bulb,” she said to giggles.

Thousands of daffodil bulbs have been planted all around town. Hurricane Sandy delayed the project at Harrison, but earlier this week, the district’s Buildings and Grounds Department prepared the flower beds at the school's entrance.

Come spring, the entrance will bloom yellow and white as 550 bulbs purchased by the Harrison PTA spring to life, a cycle that will repeat every spring.

Christine Piccoli, Harrison’s guidance counselor, and Karin Pinto, GTE teacher, assisted in the planting, with teachers and staff getting their own hands dirty in the process.

Inside the school, classes also are observing an Amaryllis bulb grow in each homeroom so they can see how the process works in a shorter time frame.

While it will be months before their bulbs bloom, it was clear the Harrison kids were digging this lesson in the dirt.