Ainsworth, NE 4th Grade Students
March 12, 2024
Over 150 youth in Brown, Keya Paha and Rock counties got to see a glimpse of what 4-H can offer through Garden in a Glove program this year. Garden in a Glove not only is a lesson on seed germination, but it also opens an opportunity for kids to talk about America’s food supply.
This is the first year this lesson has been incorporated into Nebraska 4-H Month in the BKR Counties. Nebraska 4-H Month is an opportunity for to spread the word about 4-H and share how 4-H can truly impact youth lives. In 4-H, “we believe that every child has valuable strengths and real influence to improve the world around us,” said Blaire Speck, 4-H Extension educator.
4-H empowers kids to cultivate relationships with their community, mentors, other youth and more. It allows them learning opportunities to develop skills they need to create positive change in their lives and their communities.
According to Speck, this lesson allows them to explore how plants provide not only food for us and animals but also oxygen. “Starting that process through germination is simple to demonstrate in the classroom and youth love the hands-on activity,” she said.
One of the 7th grade teachers stated, “This is a valuable lesson for the kids to participate in, as they are able to see the germination process happen in the classroom and then take the plants out and grow them in their garden.” Speck also mentioned that many of the younger kids were excited to plant these wildflowers at their house.
According to Speck, “since germination happens underground, you aren’t able to witness the cycle that the plants go through. Through Garden in a Glove, you can witness the magic that happens from just a tiny seed.”
“To show the parts of a plant easier, we dissected a lima bean. Lima beans help us show the youth on a larger scale the parts of the seed,” said Speck. The 4-H members were able to find the seed coat, food storage, and most importantly the embryo. “Most of the kids expressed that they thought the entire seed was where life started, so it was a cool learning opportunity for them to see that life starts at the embryo.”
Speck continued, “This year we decided to plant wildflowers in our gloves as an opportunity to increase pollination in the community. By planting wildflowers, we were able to talk about pollinators and how we can play an important role in keep thing them around. Through this activity, youth gain a larger knowledge of the life cycle of crops and plants and the importance that plants play in our lives.”
“Throughout my time in the classrooms,” Speck said, “I loved overhearing the youth express how they thought this was a neat experiment and that they were excited to plant these in their garden.”
Want to join Nebraska 4-H? Follow this link for step-by-step directions on how to enroll: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll.
“I love watching them grow and learn throughout the years,” Speck stated, “and truly find their spark and passion.”