The students in Chenggong Elementary School in Chiayi County’s Shueishang Township are lucky. Lin Hsin-an, warden in neighboring Guosing Village, has provided approximately 200 square meters of land close to the school for planting pumpkins. Lin also gave the students instructions about what to pay attention to during cultivation. The students are looking forward to the harvest, which is expected sometime after the Lunar New Year.
Lin said that although they live in the countryside, he had realized that students have little opportunity to gain direct experience planting crops. He therefore wanted to give the children a farming experience and show them the hardships farmers have to endure, so in November last year, the students started to plant pumpkins. Lin instructed the students, providing information and skills advice from the sidelines. For example, he would tell them how to differentiate between male and female flowers and how to pull out excess sprouts so that the nutrients would be concentrated, enabling them to produce sweeter, larger pumpkins.
Wu Shu-ju, president of Chenggong Elementary School, said that the planting of pumpkins was part of the integrated curriculum, and that all 59 students at the school planted one pumpkin each and had to water and care for it regularly. The students participate in the process from planting to harvest and write a diary about their experience. Because it has been raining a lot lately, pollination conditions have been less than ideal, and the students have thus had to learn about artificial pollination. Wu said the whole experience is very informative.
Photo: Lin I-chang, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者林宜樟
Students in the lower levels say that this was the first time they planted crops and that they are excited about harvesting their pumpkins. Wu says the children have been weeding the land and watering the pumpkin seedlings and watching them grow, and that this is a very special kind of practical learning experience.
(Liberty Times, translated by Perry Svensson)
嘉義縣水上鄉成功國小學童有福氣,鄰近的國姓村長林信安,提供在學校附近約兩分農地種植南瓜,還指導學生栽培時的注意事項,預計農曆春節後採收,學童們都很期待。
林信安說,雖然位於鄉下,但他發現親身有種植作物機會的學童還是很少,因此希望能讓孩子們體驗農事,瞭解農民的辛苦。去年十一月時學童開始種起南瓜,他從旁邊指導相關知識與技巧,譬如如何辨別雌、雄花,或是拔掉多餘的芽,讓養分集中,培育出更甜更大的南瓜。
成功國小校長吳淑茹說,種植南瓜結合學校綜合課程,全校五十九名學生各種一株,定期澆水照顧,參與從種植到採收的過程,並撰寫心情日記。最近因為常下雨,導致授粉狀況不佳,學童進而學習如何人工授粉等,很有意義。
有低年級學童表示,第一次自己種植物,好期待採收南瓜的時刻。吳淑茹說,孩子們為南瓜苗澆水除草,看著作物一天天長大,可說是最特殊的體驗教學。
(自由時報記者林宜樟)
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