Plants

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Unit of Study: Plants
Author:  Donna Ripp
Subject:  Science and Language Arts
Level: K-2
Time Frame:  The unit will last approximately 12 days

Introduction:  This unit is designed to actively engage students in the study of plants.  They will plant seeds and observe and graph the growth of the plants.  We will celebrate the end of the unit with a “Plant Part Eating party.  The students will participate in various learning activities including shared reading, writing activities, large and small group activities, discussions, and individual projects.

Essential Questions to Guide the Unit and Focus Teaching and Learning:  Do you know how plants begin?  Do you know what they need to survive?   Have you ever observed a plant growing?  What would happen if we didn’t have plants to eat?  

Standards: 

1. describe life needs of green plants. (example: minerals, air, water, light, and a place to grow)
2. classify plants according to parts. (example: seeds, roots, stems, fruit)
3. analyze plants according to characteristics. (example: edible/non-edible, flowering/non-flowering)
4. describe life needs of animals, including people. (example: food, air, water, place to live)
5. classify animals according to physical characteristics. (example: body shape, appendages)
6. observe and care for pets and plants.
7. trace and compare the life cycle of various organisms. (example: frogs, grasshoppers, dogs)
8. describe physical similarities and differences between traits of parents and their offspring.
9. describe various forms of information left by prehistoric animals and their habitats.
10. explore how organisms are dependent upon each other for survival.
11. describe how seasonal changes impact life processes of plants and animals.
12. identify characteristics of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments.
13. describe a variety of habitats.
14. describe factors that affect air and water quality.
15. explain what happens when factors are eliminated from plant growth. (example: no water, sunshine)

1. recognize that people contribute to scientific knowledge.
2. ask questions and explore the world around them.
3. use investigations in science to produce knowledge.
4. enhance observations by using senses and simple instruments to identify differences in properties.
5. measure length, mass, and volume using nonstandard and standard units when appropriate.
6. conduct simple experiments safely to answer questions about familiar objects and events.
7. use scientific thinking skills. (example: observing, communicating, classifying, comparing.

1. understand the relationship between spoken and written work.
2. use knowledge of basic capitalization and punctuation when reading.
3. blend beginning, middle, and ending sounds to form words while reading.
4. read to confirm initial predictions about text.
5. describe how personal knowledge and experience affects understanding of materials read

1. write complete sentences for a specific purpose.
2. use the writing process to create short stories, paragraphs, and poems.
3. write to organize information and ideas.
4. begin sentences with capital letters and use ending punctuation in final copies.
5. use descriptive words and a variety of sentence types when writing about people, places, things, and events.
6. write brief narratives describing personal experiences.
7. use writing to demonstrate understanding of various topics in science, social studies, and mathematics.
8. identify the differences between reports and stories.
9. use pictures and text to tell a story.
10. determine how words are used to create sounds. (example: buzz of the bee)
11. review personal work with others to revise and edit.

1. follow two and three step oral directions.
2. recognize and demonstrate the importance of focusing on the speaker when listening.
3. use appropriate volume and tone of voice when interacting with others.
4. summarize what others say with courtesy and respect.
5. respond appropriately to practical non-verbal signals. (example: flashing lights, street crossings)
6. distinguish between true and false information.
7. explore ways to find factual information. (example: encyclopedias, CD-ROM, Discovery Channel)
8. describe what makes various audio or visual presentations appealing. (example: graphics, animation)
9. ask appropriate questions to clarify information.
10. restate information in a sequence similar to how it was presented. (example: simple directions)
11. apply vocal patterns to information for recall. (example: rhymes, songs, rhythm)

1. tell/retell stories in a logical order or sequence.
2. participate in a variety of oral language activities. (example: role playing, pantomime, choral speaking)
3. give simple one and two step directions.
4. adapt or change oral language to fit the situation.
5. use appropriate voice when asking and responding to questions in small-group settings.
6. express ideas in complete and coherent sentences.
7. follow simple rules for conversation. (example: taking turns, staying on topic)
8. use facial expressions as a means of non-verbal communication.
9. use pictures or drawings when telling or retelling stories.
10. recognize the speaker’s role in assisting others to see and hear a presentation.
11. convey a message and check for listener understanding. (example: show and tell)
    

Objectives:   The objectives of this unit are:
       1.    Students will learn where seeds come from.
       2.    Students will look inside a seed to discover the beginning of a plant.
       3.    Students will be able to identify what plants need to grow.
       4.    Students will graph the growth of a plant.
       5.    Students will learn the names of plant parts.
       6.    Students will learn how plants benefit people.

Assessment: Students will be assessed in a variety of forms including teacher observation, completion of journals and projects, participation in activities, and teacher observation and questioning.

Learning Activities:

Day 1:    Create a KWL of seeds and plants.   Shared reading of The Tiny Seed  by Eric Carle.  Discuss the book.  Play a seed guessing game by having the kids try and guess what plant will come from a collection of seeds.  Make a class list of the student’s guesses to compare as plants begin to grow.

Day 2: Ask students how does a plant begin?  How does a seed turn into a plant?  Chart student’s thoughts and predictions.  Tell them that scientists make predictions and study things to find answers to their questions.  “Today we are going to be scientists!”  Give each student a bean that has been soaked overnight in water.  Show them how to open it carefully.  Ask students to see if they can use a magnifying glass and the open bean to figure out how a seed turns into a plant.  Help the children see the baby plant.  Label a diagram of a bean seed with the parts of the seed.

Day 3: Read How a Seed Grows by Helene Jordan.  Review yesterday’s activity.  Lead a discussion on the things that a plant needs to grow.  Make a list of the student’s ideas and tell them that we will be scientists again to find out what a plant needs.  Put bean seeds and wet paper towels in to four different Ziploc bags to test the following conditions:

    ·      no water (no wet paper towel)
·       no light (cover in black paper and put in the closet
·       no food (take seed apart—baby bean without baby plant)
·        no air (close the Ziploc bag completely)

Today we are also going to plant our garden to be sure that plants require the above elements.   Plant seeds from day 1 in a small swimming filled with dirt.   Assign students to water the garden daily.

Day 4:  Reread and discuss The Tiny Seed  by Eric Carle.  The wind, animals (bury and or deposit seeds by their droppings) are just some of the ways seeds travel.  Demonstrate this by putting socks on the student’s hands and having them go to the playground and rub their hand on the grass.  Discuss what they collected on their sock.  Introduce the following writing activity: "You find an odd-looking seed and plant it. Your seed grows into _____________." Write and illustrate  an ending to the story

Days 5 & 6: Read and discuss The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss.  Point out to students that most plants come from seeds. Some seeds however grow from other plant parts (tubers) and some plants can grow from cutting of other plants. Complete Activity 3 in the Foss New Plants module.  Complete part 1 on Day 4 and Part 2 on Day 5.

Day 7 & 8:  Give the students some potato chips to eat.  Where do potato chips come from?  Discuss the part of the potato that we eat. The bulbs are the part we eat.  Onions also make parts that turn unto bulbs and new plants. Show the children some of the foods that we eat that are bulbs. (Potato, onions etc.)  Complete Activity 4 in the Foss New Plants module.  Complete part 1 on Day 6 and Part 2 on Day 7.

Day 9: Read and discuss the book From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons.  Discuss the life cycle of a seed.  Have the students make a paper bag book of the life cycle of a seed.  Give the students cards that have pictures of the seed, roots, sprout, stem , leaves, and flower on them.  The students will make a paper bag cover by putting coffee grounds for dirt, gluing a seed, and making a sun on the outside of the bag.  The cards go in the bag so that the child can demonstrate the life cycle of a seed.    Students will continue to chart the growth of the plants in the garden.

Day 10:  Sing and act out the song Parts of a Plant by Meish Goldish.  It is sung to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.”    Discuss the job of the roots and the stem.  Pass around enough straws and paper cups for each child.  Tell the children they are the plants and the straws are the roots. Have them drink water  and compare it to the stem drinking water.  Bring in celery or a carnation and show the children the power of the roots. Add colored water to a glass with the celery/carnation in it, and watch for the next few days as the celery/carnation changes colors. You might pre-start one to show what will happen.

Parts of a Plant
Sung to “The  Wheels on the Bus”

The roots of the plant grow underground,
Underground, underground
The roots of the plant grow underground,
Roots are part of a plant.

The stems on a plant hold up the leaves,
Up the leaves, up the leaves,
The stems on a plant hold up the leaves,
Stems are part of a plant.

The leaves on a plant are making food,
Making food, making food
The leaves on a plant are making food,
Leaves are part of a plant.

The flowers on a plant are growing seeds,
Growing seeds, growing seeds,
The flowers on a plant are growing seeds,
Flowers are part of a plant.

Day 11:  People Need Plants.  What benefits do people and animals get from plants? Let the children brainstorm the many 'things' we get from plants. Fibers, food, medicine, wood, fuel, paper, etc.  Have the children fold a blank piece of white art paper into eight squares. Let the children illustrate eight different things they know we get from plants. Graph all the items that the children have put on their charts. Tally which items are the most common, unusual, etc.

Day 12:  Read Grandpa’s Garden Lunch by Judith Casely.  Review the fact that we said yesterday that people get food from plants.   Discuss what parts we eat.   Cut pictures out of garden catalogs  http://www.clyderobin.com/company/request.html. and glue the pictures on a chart under the correct plant part.  Discuss our “Plant part” party that we will be having tomorrow.

Day 12:  Celebrate the completion of our plant unit with our “Plant part party”!!!!   Tell what part of each food that is brought to the party is before we add it to our salad.   Students can go online and play plant part salad http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/vegquiz/plantparts.html

We may need to continue to observe and record our garden and the bean seeds in the Ziploc bags.

A fun Mother’s Day gift that we could make during this unit would be a garden stone.  Pour plaster of Paris in a pie tin and have the children press their hands in it.  Write the name an d year with a toothpick.  Either paint the stone or add small squares of ceramic tile and glass stones.

Internet Resource Link

http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/vegquiz/plantparts.html

http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Agriculture/AGR0010.html

http://www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/plants.htm

Credit is also given to the Foss Science System

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