Like many Americans this past Sunday, I celebrated the largest sporting event of the year by eating my fair share of avocado. I realized it might be a fun science project for my kids and me to watch the pits sprout in water. After just one day, the skins had already cracked. I have them sitting on my windowsill and we check to see the progress every morning.

The word of the day in my mother's kindergarten class on Tuesday was "seed" so there have been a couple new additions to the windowsill: A cup with wet paper towels and beans as well as a plastic salad clamshell filled with dirt and chi...