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Plant Life Unit
published on: 2/11/2005
Contributing Teacher(s): Bonnie Potter
Subject Area: Science/Life, Communication Arts/Integrated
Grade Range: Lower Elementary (K-3)
Materials Needed:
Objective:
- Students will understand the life cycle of a plant.
- Students will understand the importance of plants in the world.
- Goal 1.5 comprehend and evaluate written, visual and oral presentations and works
- Goal 2.1 plan and make written, oral and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences
- Goal 4.6 identify tasks that require a coordinated effort and work with others to complete those tasks
- Communication Arts 1 - Speaking and writing standard English (including grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, ...)
- Communication Arts 2. Reading and evaluating fiction, poetry and drama
- Science 3. Characteristics and interactions of living organisms
G.L.E.:
- CA - Re - 1 - H - 01
(Reading, Develop and apply skills and strategies to the reading process, Post-reading, Grade 1.)
Time Allowance: Approximately one hour each day for ten days
Description: Lower elementary students explore the stages of plant life.
Comments: Annotated Frameworks: K-4, SC VII/D/4 and K-4, SC VII/E/1
Classroom Component:
Click here to see the video clip of this lesson.
Click here to go to the follow-up lesson titled "Plant Life Unit - Trees."
Recommended Books - CA - Re - 1 - H - 01
- How a Seed Grows, by Helene J. Jordan. Harper Collins Publishers, NY, 1992.
- I'm a Seed, by Jean Marzollo. Scholastic, Inc., NY, 1996.
- The Stories Julian Tells, by Ann Cameron. Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1989.
- The Garden in Our Yard, by Greg Henry Quinn. Scholastic, Inc., NY, 1995.
- Tops & Bottoms, by Janet Stevens. Scholastic, Inc., NY, 1995.
- Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert. Scholastic, Inc., NY, 1987.
- Jack's Garden, by Henry Cole. Scholastic, Inc. (Trumpet Club), NY, 1995.
Lesson 1 - Seeds
Day 1
Before: Do a K-W-L chart with the whole class to find out what the students know about seeds. Chart their knowledge about seeds and what they want to learn. Hang the chart in the room, so what they learn can be added later.
During: Read aloud How a Seed Grows, by Helene J. Jordan, to the class. After reading, discuss what a seed needs to grow: soil, water, sun. This book explains how to plant seeds, so the students are ready to plant. Obtain small pots or use rinsed out milk cartons from students' lunches. Fill with potting soil, plant the seeds, water and set in a sunny window. (We usually plant marigold seeds about 4-6 weeks prior to Mother's Day, so students can take home the marigold for a Mother's Day present.)
After: Review with the students what a seed needs to grow. Have them record in a journal how they planted their seeds. This can be done individually or as a class journal. They can also predict when they will see a change.
Day 2
Before: Review with the students what seeds need to grow by making a web on chart paper. Predict and record what would happen if a seed/plant had no sun, or no water, or no soil.
During: As a group project, plant some seeds in one cup and put it in a cabinet where it gets no sun, plant some seeds in another cup and don't water, plant another cup and give it too much water, and plant a final cup using no soil (lay the seeds on a wet paper towel).
After: Record experiment procedures in class or individual journals.
Day 3
Before: Obtain seed catalogs from the library, Internet sources, etc. Ask students if they or their parents have ever ordered from a catalog.
During: Read I'm a Seed, by Jean Marzollo, using the paired reading method. Students sit in pairs (usually on the floor) with the book on their laps. They take turns reading to each other the page on their lap. This is a good opportunity to pair students of varying ability; put a less able reader with a gifted student. After reading discuss how different seeds grow into different plants, like in the story one seed grew into a marigold and another grew into a pumpkin. Create a Venn Diagram to show similarities and differences of the marigold and pumpkin. Study the seed catalogs and discuss. Students each choose a plant to create a page for a class seed catalog. Each page should include: name of plant, picture of plant, use of the plant (i.e. you can eat the fruit, ornamental, etc.), size, price, any other important information.
Assessment: The teacher may observe or check to see if students have included all required information on their catalog page.
Day 4
This lesson may be done during math or reading time.
Before: Assemble the class catalog. Make several copies. Have an "order" page prepared. (See sample.)
During: Students will "order" from the class catalog, filling out the order form. They may use calculators to total their orders.
After: Read aloud to the class "Catalog Cats" from The Stories Julian Tells, by Ann Cameron. This fun story relates what happens when Julian convinces his brother that they can order cats from the catalog.
Assessment may be made to see if students have correctly filled out order and computed correctly.
Day 5
Before: Obtain seed packets of various vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Discuss plant size with the students; all plants are not the same size.
During: Students select a seed packet and read the packet to find out how big their plant gets. On large chart paper or roll paper, students will draw their plant to the height given on the packet. They should each label their plant; this creates a colorful classroom garden which can be hung in the classroom.
After: Assessment may be made by teacher observation or creation of a scoring guide to check accuracy of plant height.
Ongoing: Be sure to check the "Mother's Day" plants and the seed experiment plants and record observations in journals.
Assessments: Scoring guides can be made to determine students' knowledge. For example, the catalog page can be made into a scoring guide. Drawing the plant to specifications can be checked for accuracy by the teacher.
Lesson 2 - Plant Parts
Day 1
Before: Review with students what a plant needs to grow. Based on what they already know about plants, see if they can name the parts of plants.
During: Read aloud The Garden in Our Yard, by Greg Henry Quinn, which will confirm the plant parts they named. Discuss the different parts and their importance for the plant. For example, the roots get the food that the plant needs.
After: After the students are familiar with the four main plant parts (roots, stem, leaves, flower or fruit), they will complete the plant parts puzzle individually or in a literacy center. Students will cut out the pieces of the puzzle, put them together in correct order, glue the pieces to a half sheet (long way) of construction paper and label the parts. Teacher may check for accuracy, using a scoring guide if desired. (See sample.)
Day 2
Before: Prepare the "Grow a Plant" game. This game is easily made by teacher or students. Use a half piece of blue construction paper and color the bottom 1/3 brown, including a "seed" in the brown soil. Cut green construction paper leaves and green pipe cleaner stems. Draw and cut out roots, flowers, suns, and rain clouds. Prepare a chart or write on the board the following: 1 = sun, 2 = rain cloud, 3 = roots, 4 = stem, 5 = leaf, 6 = flower. (See sample.)
During: Students will play the "Grow a Plant" game in small groups. Each student gets a game board. Students take turns rolling a die to put on the plant parts and sun and rain according to the prepared chart. As the game progresses, students will use some higher level thinking: can there be 2 suns (if he rolls a second 1)? Could a plant have more than one leaf or flower if more than one 5 or 6 are rolled? The student who gets all 6 pieces on his game board is the "winner."
After—Assessment: This is a good time to assess students' knowledge of plant parts and what a plant needs to grow. Assessment can be made by having students draw their own plant, label the parts and add what a plant needs to grow (soil, water, sun). Students can use this simple report form to complete the assessment and then share their reports in small groups.
Plant Parts Report
- Draw a plant with all its parts.
- Label the parts.
- Draw the items a plant needs to grow.
- Label the items.
The teacher can then use a scoring guide for grading purposes:
Plant Parts Scoring Guide
(Circle items that student includes.)
Plant parts: roots leaf seed stem flower (fruit) correct sequence
Other items: soil water (rain) sun
Points for presentation: 1 (needs improvement), 2 (satisfactory), 3 (excellent)
Day 3
During: Take a field trip to the school (or local) greenhouse to see the steps needed to get from seed to a plant ready to be sold. Our Vo-Ag instructor is very cooperative in showing us their greenhouse. Students are able to see how seeds are planted and plants in various stages of growth. They also see the automatic watering system.
After: After returning to the classroom, students will record in their journals what they saw, similarities and differences in how they planted their marigold seeds. They may also write individual thank-you notes to the Vo-Ag instructor or a class note may be written.
Day 4
Before: Students will have been instructed to bring a vegetable to school.
During: Read aloud Tops & Bottoms, by Janet Stevens, a cute story about a hare who plants a garden for a bear and then tricks the bear into taking only the "tops" while the hare gets the "bottoms" (beets, carrots, radishes). Hare plants again, and again tricks the bear into taking the "bottoms" while he takes the "tops" (lettuce, broccoli, and celery). Finally, the hare plants and allows Bear to have both "tops" and "bottoms" while he takes the "middle" (corn). Lazy Bear finally decides to take back ownership of his garden. After reading, students will construct a table graph, using the real vegetables that they brought. They will group the vegetables in graph form according to roots, leaves, fruits.
After: Refrigerate vegetables for tomorrow's soup.
Day 5
Make vegetable soup. Students can help prepare vegetables (peeling, chopping, etc.). While the soup is cooking in a crock pot, read aloud Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert. Students will write how to make vegetable soup. This can be done individually or as a class depending on the abilities of your class.
Ongoing: Students should observe growth of their marigold seeds/plants and record observations in their plant journals every few days or as needed.
Final Fun: As a culminating activity, read aloud Jack's Garden, by Henry Cole. This cumulative book is a fun one for students to act out and includes all the items the students have just studied: soil, seeds, etc. Students can each choose a line to illustrate and then read. Performances may be made for other classes.
Modifications for Special Needs Students:
Enrichment or Gifted: Some modifications are included in the lesson plans. For example, in Lesson 1, Day 3, students are paired for reading a book. Pairing a gifted student with a less able reader will benefit both students. Also, gifted students should be given the opportunity to read other books from our collection of plant books. They may write about the books or give a book talk to the class or read the book to a classmate.
At-Risk or Slow Learner: See modification above as in Lesson 1, Day 3. Often these students need extra help with vocabulary or background of experience. As the Title I teacher, I am able to pull these students to provide extra help with vocabulary or to build their background of experience through discussion, reading other books, etc.
IEP: These students obviously are varied each year. This year, Melody had several IEP students in her classroom. However, I had little contact with them, since they went to the Special Ed. teacher for their reading instruction during the time that I was in the classroom. We did include them for special projects such as planting the Mother's Day marigolds and the field trip.
ESL: We had no ESL students in our school this year. Labeling, such as the plant parts puzzle, would be helpful as well as extra help with vocabulary that the Title I students receive.
Teacher Note:
When enough books are available for each student to share, we are able to do "paired reading." This strategy involves two students reading from the same book. Normally, they sit on the floor with the shared book between them. They then take turns reading pages; the student on the right reads the right side and the student on the left reads the left side. Some assessment changes came from the 4-Block Model. For instance, the "plant parts" assessment, which had been a rubric or scoring guide, evolved into a "plant parts report."
Student Samples:
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For additional information contact :
Bonnie Potter
Laurence J. Daly Elem.
Fayette R-III
(660) 248-3200
EMAIL: bpotter@mail.fayette.k12.mo.us
Instructional Strategy: Prior Knowledge & Connections
Process Standards:
Content Standards:
