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Using Community Development grants, the Oconto University Cooperative Extension is working in collaboration with Oconto County Health and Human Services to improve the nutritional intake of Wisconsin's low-income residents. They're accomplishing this by training people to install and maintain container gardens at their homes. The goal is to help the many area residents who would enjoy growing their own fresh vegetables if they had space to do so. The project overcomes the problem of limited gardening space by using the versatile EarthBox system.

In May and June 2009, project leaders held workshops to distribute more than 50 EarthBox kits to residents in both Marinette and Oconto Counties as part of a project organized by the UW-Extension Nutrition Education Program. NEWCAP, Inc. sponsors the program, and the 2009 effort was supported by a grant from by the Child Wellness Partnership of Marinette and Oconto Counties. This organization encourages fresh vegetable consumption among residents of both counties.

Workers from vocational services provider New View Industries in Gillett volunteered their time to plant tomato and pepper seeds in representative EarthBoxes, which were then taken to Lena High School's new greenhouse and grown until the project held the abovementioned workshops. Those interested could sign up to receive their EarthBoxes at both NEWCAP and the local Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program offices.

How do seeds know which way to grow? Why do they push roots down into the soil, and stems toward the sky? As it turns out, most of the cues come from gravity, and, here's a little experiment that you can use to help your students understand the concept.

Because plants live on a different time-scale than we do, their lives are largely a mystery to us. It's not obvious, but they're in constant motion as they grow, develop, search for food, and reproduce. In the process they produce a large proportion of our food and raw materials, and almost every atom of the oxygen we need to breathe.

The process by which plants align themselves by means of gravity is called gravitropism. Specific hormones let them "see" the direction of gravity whatever their own orientation might be, which is why stems grow up against gravity (negative gravitropism) and roots grow down towards gravity (positive gravitropism). That way, plants always grow in the right direction -- no matter if they were deposited by wind, water, a farmer, or a forgetful squirrel. 

One way to see gravitropism in action is to create a seed clock. They're easy to make, and this allows you a simple way to observe how roots and stems react to gravity.

Step 1: Loosely pack enough cotton into the container to fill it.

Step 2: Spray enough water on the cotton to dampen it thoroughly.

Step 3: Put the seeds on top of the cotton in a circle, with the narrow ends pointing inward. Make sure the wider ends are spaced about ½-¾ inches away from the edge of the container. The seeds should be in the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 positions.

Step 4: Put the lid back on and tape it to the container with two pieces of clear tape.

Step 5: Make a legible mark on the lid right above one seed using the wax pencil or marker.

Step 6: Put the container in a warm, sunny place, such as a windowsill, oriented so the mark is on top. Make sure the cotton is still moist every couple of days.

3-4 Days Later...

Once the seeds have sprouted, take a look at your seed clock and you'll note several interesting facts. One is that roots and stems will always grow out of the opposite ends of the seed. Also, you'll see the stems reaching for the sky, while the roots head toward the ground. That's gravitropism at work. So, ask yourself this: given what you know about gravitropism, what would happen to seeds planted on the International Space Station, where there is almost no gravity at all?

Experimental Options

Once you have a nice seed clock growing, we recommend that you transplant your seedlings into an EarthBox to watch them grow into full-fledged plants. By doing this, you can learn a lot about the nutrient cycle, water needs, general nutrition, and biology. Plus, if you choose the right seeds, you can eat what comes out of the EarthBox!

If you grew the seeds of a small, fast-growing plant like Coleus, turn the container on its side for a few days to see what happens. The stem should start bending upwards!

To prove that it's gravity that determines how a seed grows, plant a seed in a water-filled tube and expose the lower part to light while keeping the top in the dark. You'll see that the stem still grows upward, and the roots downward.

If you like this experiment, then we've got plenty more for you! Check out our EarthBox Elementary School Curricula, which includes this and 16 other experiments that will help you teach kids the science behind plants, light, soil, water and nutrition. For more information, contact our Education Department at: 1-800-821-8838 x8348 or x8369.