Yesterday I took my class on a field trip to the Botanic Gardens as an ending activity to our plant unit. The kids were able to plant a seed, dissect a flower and walk around the gardens. Before we left I told them the one rule was they had to stay on the path and not touch any of the flowers. Once at the gardens, our guide also told them the same rule. Well after lunch they were allowed to explore the gardens with their group for about 40 minutes. So we all broke up into our groups and I wandered from group to group. Fast forward to us back in the classroom, with 30 minutes until we go home. One of my boys starts scratching his head furiously and asks to go to the nurse. I inform him she has left for the day and that I am sure he is fine. Then one of the other boys in the class shouts out, your probably itchy cuz you ate that flower. All I could do was stand there speechless. He looks at me and says what it was on the ground, to which the nark yells out no it wasn't you pulled it off. And there I stood still speechless.
Now the irony he this very smart boy watched the same Bill Nye video with us weeks before were Bill informed us that while you can eat some flowers, some are poisonous so don't eat them unless an adult says it's ok. Sigh...I guess I should have mentioned in my rules that you may not touch or eat the plants. Just another day in the life of a 4th grade teacher.
