WACO Some people think that giving house plants tap water is as good as it can get, but “I say no,’ ” says fifth grader David Dean of Woodway.
And Dean does more than tout the troubles of tap. He devised a water filtering system for plants, wrote a lesson aimed at showing other youngsters how to do it, and won first place and $500 in a contest from the Junior Master Gardener program that pitted his lesson plans against adults from around the nation.
JMG is a youth gardening program, developed by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, that uses fun, hands-on activities to teach horticulture and environmental science concepts. According to the JMG Web site, http://jmg.tamu.edu, “Children can get involved in exploring their world through meaningful activities that encourage leadership development, personal pride and responsibility, and community involvement.
“Older youth are trained to become mentors for younger children participating in the program. Youth involved in the program develop critical thinking skills and the ability to identify community concerns and take action to address them through individual and group projects.”
Level One of the JMG program is currently available and is geared for students in third through fifth grades. Level Two of the program, which is scheduled to be available this time next year, is for sixth through eighth graders.
JMG curriculum coordinator Randy Seagraves said an activity/lesson writing competition was held for teachers and youths across the United States for the JMG Level Two program.
“Entries were judged on age appropriateness for the sixth through eighth grade audience,” Seagraves said, “and on originality/novelty, use of common household materials, effectiveness of lesson and classroom extensions in one or more subject such as language art, math, science or social studies.”
Dean’s submission was a very creative, fresh idea, Seagraves said.
The fifth grader said his involvement in JMG began after some gardeners visited his home schooling co-op to help the youngsters learn how to attract monarch butterflies with certain plants. His interest in plants grew and soon he was pondering ways to help them flourish.
“It’s about making water better for your plants,” Dean said of his idea of filtering with charcoal powder and sand.
“The thing is, a lot of people like giving their plants tap water, but I’m like, OK, that tap water still has chemicals and other stuff in it that we do not need,'” he said. “So, I was giving my plants plenty of water, but it was tap water. And I started thinking about how to make my own filter so I wouldn’t have to put all the plant water through the family’s water filter.”
Dean is quick to note that his friends helped him make six filters total last year, his mother helped him phrase the instructions for his idea and that he is glad for the win but “sad for my friends” who also entered other curriculum ideas.
“Actually, I didn’t think I would win,” he said.
Still, he is adamant about the necessity of good water to help plants grow best.
“I told the other kids (in the curriculum) that if you make this filter, you can give your plants the second best water there is … only God could give us better,” Dean said. “And then told them how to do it.”
Dean puts the filters into practice both with his house plants and at a friend’s house.
“I’ll go to my friend’s who made it with me and his mom will ask have you watered all the plants?'” Dean said. “And I grab the filters and give the plants some of that water.”
But whether his leanings as a fifth grader will remain as a career can’t be sure. “I probably want to be a gardener … or a painter or someone who designs and makes statues,” he said, noting that there always will be plants around regardless of his profession.
Other winners in the curriculum competition included: Margie Bemis Klein, Las Vegas, Nev., second place and $200; and, Mary Alice Trumble, Houston, third place and $100.
Honorable mentions include: Sarah Lineberger, Christianburg, Va.; Marlene Deaton, Weatherford; Eloise Taylor, Midland; Brenton Tice Parker, San Antonio; Nancy Beckham Capra, Abilene; Emily Healy, Waco; Tim Van Treuren, Waco; Klein; and, Martha Sealy, Baton Rouge, La.
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