School Days: First Graders' Morning Glories

After the Sports Day events last Wednesday, I took this picture of the first graders' morning glories on the east side of the school. First graders plant morning glory seeds and take care of them at school. They observe their growth, take notes, and draw pictures of them. As the morning glory gets bigger, a support is attached to the pot for it to grow on.

As the summer break approaches at the end of July, parents receive a note to come to pick up their child's morning glory. You see mothers riding their bicycles down the street with tall morning glory structures in their back basket. Children take care of them at home and continue recording their growth as part of their summer homework. At the end of the break, the morning glories are taken back to school. The seeds are harvested. A small envelope is made for some seeds to be given to the new first graders the following year. Some seeds are taken home, too.