Potato bag monster

Activity

Create a bag monster in the dark with a shop bought potato.

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Location: Indoors
  • School term: All year round
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s): English, Science, Art&DT

Learning objectives

  • Explore the requirements a plant needs for growth
  • Look at the functions of different parts of a plant
  • Grow a plant from a tuber
  • Record your findings in a report or as a story
  • Be creative in producing an individual potato character

Preparation 

Choose a potato from any variety of supermarket potatoes. Create a character by giving your potato a face and put it in a paper bag. Place the bag in a dark place for as long as you can (be patient!)

Equipment

  • Potato
  • Paper bag
  • Permanent marker
  • Dark place

Step by step

Create your potato character

  1. Select your own potato.
  2. Create a character by giving your potato eyes, nose and mouth with a permanent marker pen.
  3. Put your potato into a paper bag.
  4. Put the bag into a dark place for at least a week.
  5. After some time open up the bag and see if your potato has turned into a monster.

Record your findings

  1. Write a news report about what you have found out.
  2. Create a narrative about your potato monster, describe the setting and what happened in the dark to turn your character into a monster.
  3. Write your story from the potato's point of view.

Hints & tips

  • Make holes in the bag with a hole puncher and see if this has any effect on the growing.
  • Try keeping the bag at different temperatures.
  • Grow a potato in a container and harvest potatoes to see the full life cycle.