LIFE CYCLE MYSTERY

wheat
At my last school in Melbourne, my class planted a wheat crop to investigate plant life cycles. When we returned to school after the Term Three holidays, we noticed that our class wheat crop had changed. The wheat was dead. The life cycle of our wheat crop had been disrupted.
What do you think might have caused this life cycle disruption? Is there anything that you are wondering about the wheat crop? How do you feel about what has happened? Please comment here. Your thinking will help us solve the mystery and it may help us find solutions for our families who are growing plants at home.

23 thoughts on “LIFE CYCLE MYSTERY

  • June 2, 2015 at 5:57 pm
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    I was wondering what the weather was like during the school holidays. Was there lots of rain? Did it get very cold with frost? Did the wheat have any bugs on it when you came back to school? I think maybe a cold frost or too much rain or bugs might have killed the wheat. I would feel very disappointed if My plants had died!

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    • June 3, 2015 at 7:16 pm
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      Maybe the soil was not wet enough for the wheat to grow in. I would water the wheat enough so it would grow in the holidays.

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:58 am
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      Thanks for the ideas Callum. I checked the weather records for that month and I will show the class this week. Sometimes we had frost as we were near a mountain. There were definitely no bugs on the plant, but plenty of earthworms in the soil from the class worm farm. Yes we were disappointed but we grew a new crop of herbs.

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  • June 3, 2015 at 5:44 pm
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    I thought that it might have to depend on the whether it could be cold, sunny, rainy and cloudy. I feel very sad for you. Did you feel sad?

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:56 am
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      Good ideas here Makayla. The weather in Melbourne is interesting – it can change quickly in one day. Yes, I did feel sad for losing the wheat crop, but my class really enjoyed solving the mystery. We asked friends all over the world. We solved it by skyping a farmer who told us what had happened by looking at it. We cleared away the dead wheat plants and grew a new crop of parsley and mint soon after.

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  • June 3, 2015 at 6:01 pm
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    Was the soil moist ? Did it die of dehydration? Were the buds there maybe someone harvested them ?

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:52 am
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      I love how you are asking me more questions Ethan. Yes, the soil was moist and I know the plants did not die of dehydration. There were no buds yet and nobody had harvested them. Do you have any more ideas?

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  • June 3, 2015 at 6:44 pm
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    I think they forgot to water it. Or it was summer and there was too much sun. Or it got too much rain and not enough sun and the soil was too wet and the roots got rotten.

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:51 am
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      Lots of good ideas here Asha. What did you notice that made you think of these?

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  • June 3, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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    I wonder if there was too much sun and not enough rain. Also maybe because it was the holidays there was no one at school to water the plants. I felt disappointed for the people that we’re growing the weat crop.

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:49 am
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      Good ideas Tom. What made you think that? Was there something interesting you noticed in the photo?

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  • June 3, 2015 at 9:17 pm
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    I think maybe there was not much rain during the holidays so there was not enough water to keep the wheat crop alive. Also, maybe there was not enough sunlight during that time. Maybe the wheat crop was not watered enough.

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    • June 4, 2015 at 6:09 am
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      Thanks Hannah, I like your ideas. Sunlight is always an issue in Melbourne. At any time of the year you might have a cloudy day.

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  • June 7, 2015 at 8:29 am
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    I think that no light could reach your plant. I think that no rain could water the plant. Or an animal interrupted it growing by standing on it.

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    • June 7, 2015 at 9:48 am
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      Thanks for your ideas Austin. What made you think of these? What did you notice about the plants? At which stage of the life cycle do you think the disruption happened?

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  • June 7, 2015 at 4:52 pm
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    I think that someone was supposed to water them
    while everyone else was on holidays. Also I think
    that they had to much sun light that the crop died.

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    • June 7, 2015 at 4:57 pm
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      Interesting ideas Kanin. Why do you think the wheat did not get enough water?

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  • June 7, 2015 at 6:16 pm
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    Would it have been harvest time then in Melbourne? I wonder if there was a Thunderstorm one night?

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  • June 7, 2015 at 6:16 pm
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    I think when you were gone you could not water your wheat crops maybe that is why it died? Maybe a storm came and killed it? Maybe it was to cold for i to grow?

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  • June 7, 2015 at 7:50 pm
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    I wonder if some pests like caterpillars might have eaten some of the wheat. So when it tries to grow it can’t because it is to weak and it dies. (you must get rid of your pests before you grow something)

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  • June 8, 2015 at 7:18 am
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    Maybe no one watered them over the holidays. We have a rain gauge next to veggie garden to see how much rain the garden has received.

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  • June 22, 2015 at 7:22 pm
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    I wonder that probably it was the weather or someone forgotten to water them.

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