Eggheads

Supplies:

One eggshell, cracked near the top, and "lid" removed, for each student

Bottle caps that are fairly tall rather than wide

Hot-glue gun and gluesticks

Colored permanent markers, such as fine-point Sharpies

Soilless potting mix | spoon | ryegrass seed | water spray mister

            Here's a crazy introduction to indoor seed-starting. You can have your students collect as many eggshells as they would like to make into "eggheads." The "hair" will be grass that they grow from seed.

To begin, make sure the eggshell "empty heads" are clean and dry.

            Place some hot-glue on the inner rim of a bottle cap so that the eggshell rests inside it. Let dry.

            Draw and decorate a face on the eggshell.

            With a small spoon, carefully place soilless potting mix in the eggshell, about ¾ of the way to the top. Moisten the soil with about 5 sprays of water mist.

            Pinch a small quantity of ryegrass seeds and sprinkle onto the soilless mix. With the spoon, place about one-fourth inch more soilless mix on top. Moisten with another 5 sprays of water mist.

            Place on a flat tray or other sturdy surface and put in a sunny, south-facing window. Mist daily. Don't let the soil get soggy - just keep it moist.

            After about three days, the ryegrass should sprout. As the grass grows, each student can decide whether to cut it into a crewcut, let it grow long, make dreadlocks, or whatever they'd like to do with their eggheads!