Hello teachers, learners, and science folks of Reddit!
My name is Jackson (proof here); I've been growing Wisconsin Fast Plants (a rapid-cycling variety of Brassica rapa) for over 10 years! Fast Plants are true to their name: they have a rapid life cycle, flowering in ~14 days after planting and completing their life cycle with harvestable seed in ~40 days. They are easy to grow, they just need continuous 24hr lighting, small soil volumes, and continuous water availability.
Fast Plants were initially developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Brassica disease resistance research. Due to their rapid life cycle and simple growth requirements, they are an ideal model organism for classroom teaching and learning. Fast Plants have been for used for teaching in classrooms since the 1980s, and the Wisconsin Fast Plants program has been developing resources and supporting teachers since the very beginning.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants program's resources are created to be Open Education Resources, via Creative Commons licenses. Our resources are freely available on our website http://fastplants.org and in our digital library with many resources being fully printable/editable via Google Drive.
We are here to support our audience of teachers, learners, and anyone who wants to learn more about the world around them through the plant's perspective. The best way to learn with Fast Plants is to grow your own, and we are here to help you get started and answer any questions you may have along the way. As we say, to know a plant, grow a plant!
Ask me anything!
Find more info at https://fastplants.org --- Fast Plants seeds are available for purchase from Carolina Biological Supply Company --- Find us on Facebook (Wisconsin Fast Plants Program), Instagram (@fastplants), Twitter (@fastplants), YouTube (FastPlants)
Crossposted to r/biology and r/teachingresources
Hello! I’m Tove (rhymes with “nova”) and I wrote the book Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them which was published in the US and UK earlier this year.
Under the Henfluence is a reported memoir about getting to know my own chickens, who chickens are as a species, and our long history together. In addition to a lot of historical research, I also traveled around the country to learn about chickens. I got to visit the biggest chicken show in America, see feral chickens that roost in trees at night, and even went to a camp where people learn how to clicker train chickens. (They are very food motivated and can be trained!) Those are just some of the adventures I talk about in the book. Most people don’t think much about chickens if they think about them at all but they are social, communicative, and even have culture!
I keep a flock of eight chickens in my yard in Portland, Oregon and catalogue the girl’s antics on their Instagram @bestlittlehenhouse.
I’ve talked about chickens on Ologies, Science Friday, Short Wave, and a number of other places. You can learn more about me and my work on my website https://tovedanovich.com/ and follow me on Twitter @TKDano, Bluesky @TKDano.bsky.social, or Instagram @ToveKDanovich
Proof that I am who I say: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwlRpRTyGh5/