© PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit Sujan’s family have to go for a long time with very little food. Page 1 Sujan (aged 8) Images courtesy: Practical Action Bangladesh How could Sujan’s family grow crops in the sand? Big question Every year the land his family grows crops on gets washed away by flooding. The flooding leaves the land covered with sand. Sujan lives near a river in Bangladesh.

© PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit Page 2 How will you record your observations? What will you record? © PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit

Page 3 I don’t think the seed in the sand will grow because I have never seen a plant growing in sand. When sand gets wet it is stronger than soil so it will be hard for the root to grow. I think the seeds in both pots will grow because they have water and sunlight and that is all they need. What do you think will happen next? compost sand I think that the seed in the sand might grow because I have grown cress seeds on cotton wool so I know that they don’t need soil. I think the seed in the compost will grow best because compost has something in it that helps plants to grow.

© PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit Sujan’s family dug holes in the sand. Page 4 They filled the holes with compost and planted pumpkin seeds. The seeds grew! Images courtesy: Practical Action Bangladesh

© PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit Page 5 Sujan and his dad harvesting pumpkins Sujan’s family now have food to eat and enough pumpkins left over to sell in the market. Look at all the pumpkins Sujan’s community have grown! Images courtesy: Practical Action Bangladesh This means there is enough money for Sujan to go to school.

© PrimaryUpd8 To subscribe, visit This activity was produced by the Association for Science Education in partnership with Practical Action as part of the Global Learning Programme. The GLP is a ground-breaking new programme which will create a national network of like-minded schools, committed to equipping their students to succeed in a globalised world by helping them to deliver effective teaching and learning about international development and global issues at Key Stages 2 and 3. Thank you to the children of Year 6 at Camp Primary and Nursery School, St. Albans for sharing their ideas and to their teachers for making time available for this project. Promoting Excellence in Science Teaching and Learning ASE is providing the science education support for the Global Learning Programme which is funded by the Department for International Development. This activity can be found on the Global Learning Programme glp-e.org.uk, ASE Primary upd8 primaryupd8.org.uk and Practical Action practicalaction.org.uk/schools websites. glp-e.org.uk primaryupd8.org.uk practicalaction.org.uk/schools Page 6