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Hi Mustard Munchers! I'm excited to work with you and learn about growing mustard seeds!
A little bit about me - I work with Cornell University through cooperative extension. My job is to help fruit farmers learn new techniques to help them grower better fruits. Specifically, I focus on pest management. So I help them learn how best to keep insects, diseases, or weeds from getting in the way of growing delicious apples, cherries, strawberries, and other fruits. I love my job because I get to meet lots of different fruit farmers, because I have a tangible impact on helping people grow better food, and because I learn something new every single day.
When I'm not working, I like to do all sorts of outdoors activities -- hiking with my dog, running on trails, gardening, fishing, biking....
Tell me a bit about yourselves. What do you like to do in your free time? What is your favorite subject in school? What is something interesting you've learned about plants so far this year?
Also tell me a bit more about the investigations you have in mind. You'll need to get a lot more specific to conduct a scientific experiment. For example, how long it takes the mustard to grow to what specific life stage (until it germinates? it gets it's first "true leaves"? it reaches 10inches tall? etc). What things would you keep the same for all the seeds, and what might you want to vary to test the effect it has on seed growth? If you want to vary sunlight, how would you do that? What do you think would happen if a seed gets more or less sunlight?
Looking forward to your response!
-Janet
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This was one of the best 1st messages from a mentor--personal, encouraging, engaging, asks the students further questions, gets them thinking.
Help us grow!
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Preparing for the
24-25 School Year?
Teachers! If you're thinking of bringing PlantingScience mentoring into your classroom during the 24-25 school year, applications are now open for BOTH sessions!
To apply, log in to your PlantingScience account and locate the application link under 'Resources'. For more information, check out 'Join as a Teacher' above!
Scientists, this is a great time to update your availability and consider adding Investigation Themes to your preferences. If you are new to PlantingScience, check out 'Join as a Mentor'.
We're looking forward to working with you! Please contact us if you have any questions.
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Scientist Mentors Needed!
As we grow and continue to pursue our F2 research, we are sending out this appeal to our Scientist community: please spread the word and invite your students, colleagues, and friends to sign up and mentor with us! Mentors range from late undergraduate students to emeritus scientists. Feel free to download our mentor flyer and post it in your institution to encourage others to join us, too!
Testimonials
“I liked that we didn’t know what was going to happen before we did the experiment. Instead of being taught something and then just doing an experiment to prove it, we made an attempt to find out what would happen ourselves.”
- PlantingScience Student
“At every opportunity, all involved kept reminding my students of the process that real science requires. This helped me to convince my students that they are really doing science - not just play acting until some future date.”
- PlantingScience Teacher
“It is a lot of fun interacting with students from an age group I don’t have the chance to spend a lot of time with. It is a good reminder of where public knowledge of plant science stands, and a great opportunity for me to practice explaining key concepts in a simple and straightforward way.”
- PlantingScience Mentor