Planting American Chestnut Tree Seeds

Earlier this year at a professional development workshop a fellow Montessorian brought American Chestnut seeds to share with other schools in a project to help with the restoration of the American Chestnut tree population. I thought it would be a great community building project for Meadowbrook as well as an excellent environmental science lesson. The American Chestnut once occupied about 25 percent of the hardwood canopy in the eastern United States. By the 1950s chestnut blight had wiped out most of the American Chestnut trees. After months of dormancy (in the classroom refrigerator) the seeds were ready to be planted. A few weeks ago while the upper elementary students were in New York for Montessori Model United Nations, the primary and lower elementary classrooms got together for a group study of the American Chestnut tree. Each child had a chance to help with planting the seeds and took great care to scoop the soil into pots, carefully place the seeds, and give them their first drink of water.