Pop Bottle Planters

I’d recently been scouring Pinterest to find some interesting, fun and engaging ways to teach some of the science topics in Year 3 when I came across these pop bottle biomes. They looked great and I thought they would provide our classes with a great opportunity to engage in some design technology and our science topic for this term; plants.

I always like the chance to show the children in my class science in action and this small project is easy to set up and has continued to provide our classes with learning opportunities, interesting discussions and a way to bring nature into the classroom.

As we move from spring to summer, it is the perfect time of year to explore the topic of plants both inside and out of the classroom. There are only a handful of resources needed, at very little cost and, more importantly, it doesn’t take any time to set up but will provide weeks of science.  Details of what you need can be found at the end.

When it came to building them, the children were so engaged. In the session prior to building they were given a simple brief to design a container that would provide everything a plant needs to survive. We looked at what those needs were and how other products out in the world had achieved that; from high tech solutions in industry to low tech solutions they could make at home. 

They came up with some wonderful ideas but many we just couldn’t make a reality so these pop bottle biomes were a great way to allow them to build something close to their own designs.  The boys loved it. They had a chance to use hand drills, scissors, files and compost; dirty compost. It was one of those wonderful lessons where everyone is on task and there is this positive hum in the room. The real sense of pride from both the children and, surprisingly, myself at the end of the lesson was great; a real reminder of why I got into teaching. 

They’ve now sat on the children’s desks for the last two weeks and they’ve watched them grow everyday whilst they work– we’re eagerly waiting for the first flowers to open any day now.

The science we’ve got from these has been wonderful and valuable. They continue to demonstrate the very things we are learning about right in front of their eyes. 

We’ve looked at the parts of a plant – drawing from life, holding them, turning them, observing them under a magnifying glass. 

We’ve looked at how water is transported through a plant – the way in which these sub-irrigated planters water the plants (absorbing water up the cotton string) provided a useful model to compare against a real plant stem. Moreover, the plastic cloches that some of the children included collected condensation through the transpiration of the plants which sparked the children’s curiosity and led to us all going outside and setting up some transpiration bags over tree branches to see how much water they release. 

And, once they flower, we will look at pollination and the parts of the flower involved. Finally, when they have outgrown their containers, we will plant them in the school nature area.  

Reflecting on the experience, what I most liked about this project was that it allowed the children to get hands on with both plants and science. Some children had never held a plant before or seen roots up close. Their enthusiasm was contagious and many went home inspired to build their own. 

It reminded me that we need to get out of the classroom sometimes and, equally, bring nature and the outside world into it. It can feel sometimes that maths and English dominate our curriculum and subjects like science and design technology, which can often get squeezed out of the timetable, don’t get the same attention. However, these subjects are just as important and, arguably, provide some of the richest learning experiences. 

Sub-irrigated planter

What you need:

2 x 2l pop bottle

Cotton string

Potting soil or multi-purpose compost

Something to plant – Most supermarkets are currently selling trays of various plant types for very little cost- We used petunias, verbena and pea shoots in packs of 20 for £3. 

Hand drill to drill the holes for the string to pass through

A metal or wood file to clean up the hole in the lid

Scissors to cut the bottles

Read our blog article, Taking the Class Outside

Are you interested in sharing your school experiences on our blog? Contact kent.teach@kent.gov.uk for more information.