Lesson 1 – Growing Plants/Plant Parts

Students’ Assumed Previous Knowledge:

Students know about living and non-living things. Students know that plants are living things and they need sunlight, water, and nutrients in order to grow.

Standards/Benchmarks:

Board: Edexcel (written as given by the board)

All pupils must know

1. The basic parts of a plant2. That we eat some plants for food3. How to tell that a plant is growing4. That plants need leaves to grow5. How to measure length; the words leaf, root, stem.

Most pupils should know

6. Living things are called organisms7. How to make careful measurements and observations of plant growth; the word organism.

Some pupil could know

8. That plants lose water through their leaves9. Why cactus plants have spines

Lesson Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, all students must:

1. The basic parts of a planto Identify and name the major parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf, seed) and discuss their

functions looking at real plants and models; o Investigate the different colors, shapes, sizes, textures, smell and taste of different

plants.

2. That we eat some plants for foodo Discover the parts of plants that are a part of our regular diet. o Discover few medicines (herbal) made from plants.

3. How to tell that a plant is growingo Distinguish between a healthy and unhealthy plant.

4. That plants need leaves to growo Explain the function and importance of leaves.o Discover the various leaves available in our surrounding and marvel at Allah’s creativity

in His creation.

5. How to measure length; the words leaf, root, stem. o Inspect, calculate and write the measurements of growing plants.

By the end of this lesson, most students should:

6. Living things are called organismso Explain what are organisms

7. How to make careful measurements and observations of plant growth; the word organism.o Observe and examine plant growth

By the end of this lesson, some students could:

10. That plants lose water through their leaveso Relate the term ‘transpiration’ to ‘sweating’.

11. Why cactus plants have spineso Explain why cactus plants have spines

Lesson Content:

Key Stage 2 basics

Plants are living things. The scientific word for living things is organisms. Animals are also organisms but animals and plants have very different parts. The main parts of a plant are roots, stems and leaves. All organisms can grow and reproduce. In plants, growth usually means an increase in dimensions or the number of leaves.

We eat different parts of different plants. We eat the roots of carrot plants. We eat the leaves of spinach plants. We eat the stems of celery plants. We can eat the stems of rhubarb plants but we must never eat the leaves because they are poisonous. The leaves of potatoes and tomato plants are also poisonous. When tomatoes were first discovered, people in Europe wouldn’t eat them because

Plants need healthy leaves, roots, and stems in order to grow properly. There are other parts of plants (flowers and fruits) but these are not dealt with in this Unit; both flowers and fruits are involved in reproduction, whereas this Unit concentrates on growth.

However, it is worth pointing out that a fruit is any part of a plant that contains seeds (e.g. orange, tomato, lemon, courgette, cucumber). A vegetable is any other part of a plant that we use for food. Stems (e.g. celery), roots (e.g. carrots), leaves (e.g. lettuce), flowers (e.g. broccoli) and buds (e.g. Brussel sprouts) are all used for food.

Progressing beyond KS2

Many pupils will think of potatoes and onions as being roots. At key stage 2 this is a fair simplification. However, potatoes are actually tubers that are swollen underground stems. That why you can see buds on old potatoes – they are stems and not roots. Onions are bulbs, which are also short stems rather than roots. This is why yams (sweet potatoes) have been used in pupil’s materials as an example, since yams are swollen storage roots (similar to the tap roots of carrots and parsnips).

Procedure:

A schedule of the Unit will be given to the students with end of the unit expectations, learning objectives, and list of activities they will be doing through “I do”, “We do”, and “You do” strategy. Attached separately.

Lesson Introduction

Objectives:o Differentiate between a healthy and unhealthy plant. o Inspect, calculate and write the measurements of growing plants. o Develop friendship with plants and model ways to take care of them.o Recall prior knowledge

1. Story Time

Read aloud the story “Justine’s TREE” written by Bertrand Fichou. The story could be shown on the screen (without the text) as the teacher reads through, so the students could enjoy the illustrations. A small pocket book can also be printed for the students to have their own personal copy of the story. The story will allow the students to observe and compare the growth of the tree/plant and actually make note of why Justine’s plant/tree is growing so well. (I do)

o After the story the teacher will ask the students what two things they liked the most in the story and write the responses on the board. (We do)

o The teacher then (very excitedly) breaks the news to the students that they will be going to a plant nursery the next day to buy a plant for themselves! And they will be taking care of their plants just like Justine. (I do)

o The teacher then asks the students to get in groups and brainstorm ideas/ways on how will they take care of the plant that they will buy tomorrow. The students will write those ideas (minimum 5) in their respective journals after discussing in groups. The students will answer the following questions: (You do)

How will I take care of my plant? What did I learn from Justine?What will I do if my tree grows as big as Justine’s? Can trees listen to us?Am I excited to get my own tree? What are the things I want to share with my tree? Imagine and draw your tree coming out of the schools roof!Is it important to love your tree even if it has only one leaf on it?

Required Materials:

Story book Papers Pencils

2. Quick Quiz

The students will do a quick quiz to get an overview of what the pupils already know about the topic matter in this Unit. (You do)

The teacher can use the existing the worksheet provided by the course:

Or

Informal/Fun Method: The teacher can give A3 size art papers and crayons to the students and ask them to go around the school, observe the plants in their surrounding, choose one plant, draw and then label the parts. Once the students are back in class they will self-evaluate themselves by seeing the teachers labeled diagram on the board. And rectify where needed. The teacher will collect and go through the papers to see which student needs help. (You do)

3. KWL

The teacher then can do a brief discussion on what they remember about plants through a KWL chart. Through this, the pupils will be encouraged to list what they know about the topic, what they would like to know about the topic and then, after the learning episode, they can list what they have learned. The teacher will discuss the Unit schedule with the students, lesson topics, lesson objectives and brainstorm questions on what they want to learn in the Unit and start making question chits for the following day. (We do)

Required Materials:

Worksheets A3 size Art papers Crayons Schedule

Teaching Procedure:

4. Field Trip – A Visit to the Nursery/Botanic Garden

Objectives:o Identify and name the major parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, seed)

and discuss their functions looking at real plants and models; o Distinguish between a healthy and unhealthy plant.o Explain the function and importance of leaves.o Discover the various leaves available in our surrounding and marvel at Allah’s

creativity in His creation. o Investigate and illustrate the different colors, shapes, sizes, textures, smell and

taste of different plants. o Explain why do cactus plants have spines.o Explain what are organisms.

Before the Trip

The students will be asked to bring between Rupees 300-500 to buy their own plants. The students will be taken to a nearby plant nursery to choose and buy a plant which they would observe, measure, take note, water and talk to. Basically they will take care of that plant during the next two-three weeks.

During the Trip

a) The gardener/botanist will explain ‘what do plants need to grow?’ [plants need air, sunshine and water to grow]. (I do)

b) The gardener/botanist will show and compare the healthy plants with the unhealthy plants and pose questions in order to make the students think. (We do)

c) The students would be given time to interact with the nursery workers and encouraged to ask questions. A better way of making sure that every child interacts and asks questions is that the teacher prepares small paper chits with questions based on her lesson objectives and asks students to pick one chit in pairs of two to ask the gardener. (We do)

o ‘How can we tell that a plant is growing?’o ‘How can we measure plant growth?’o Are the plants that we see living or not?o How can we tell whether they are living?o How can we help plants to grow well?o Why do we need plants to grow well?o Why do cactus have spines?o What is transpiration?o What does organism mean?o What is the function of a stem?o What is the function of a root?o Why are leaves important?o Can plants grow without leaves?o Why do we need to plant more trees?o How are plants beneficial for us? And how are we beneficial to plants?o Why do we need to take care of them? And how?

She could also include the question she has brainstormed with the students during her KWL activity. The students will be given time to write the answers in their journals in their own words.

d) The gardener will explain and model how to measure the growing plants. Worksheet 3ba/5 will help reinforce these ideas. (I do) Pupils could measure the height of the plant that they have chosen over a series of weeks, taking accurate readings. (You do)

e) The students are then given free space in the garden to observe and investigate (see, smell, touch, feel, and taste) the different colors, shapes and sizes of the plants. They can choose any one plant to draw. They should include any 5 details which they might notice. We want the students to go into details when observing. (I do)

Required Materials:

Money Transport Arrangement (if its not walking distance) Drinking Water Snacks for students Worksheets Pencils Personal Journals Rulers Chits with questions

5. Kitchen Hunt

Objective:o Discover the parts of plants that are a part of our regular diet.

The students will be asked to bring parts of plants (stems, roots and leaves) which are edible from their home kitchen (minimum of 2 each) – potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery, mint leaves, lemon grass, and so on. They will label the parts in terms of whether it is stem, a leaf or a root. The children will ‘show and tell’ in groups of 4 what they have got from home. The teacher will keep 3 baskets ready labeled - leaves, stems, and roots for students to sort their vegetables. The students will make a vegetable soup in their cooking class. (We do)

Required Materials:

Baskets/Containers

6. Special Guest

Objective:o Discover few medicines (herbal) made from plants. o Discuss and compare the benefits of herbal medicines with other medicines.

Any herbal doctor could be called to give a brief idea to the students on why herbal medicines are more safe than the regular medicines. And show the students different brands of herbal medicines which they could look for in a medical store. After every 10 minutes of discussion the students will be given time to take notes in their journals. (We do)

Required Materials:

Journals Pencils Herbal medicines or pictures

Closing Activity/Evaluation Strategy:

7. Just A Minute

The teacher will prepare chits on which she will write various keywords such as – roots, leaves, stem, water, soil, cactus, organism, transpiration, fruit, vegetable, love, care. The child will pick a chit from the bag. Students will be given one minute to speak or enact the keyword to explain what they have learned in the lesson. The students will be given 5 minutes to prepare what they want to say and elaborate on any 3 points. The students could even discuss with their peers and take help from them. Teacher will take the opportunity to talk on the words students are not familiar with. The teacher will lead and start the one-minute talk to model it for the students what is expected from them. She will give clear guidelines like – the speed should be not very fast, voice has to be clear, clarity of thought, body language and so on. (I do)

Required Materials:

A microphone could be provided as children love to use them while speaking.

References:

Johnson, P. & Levesley, M. 2005. Exploring Science 3, Teachers Guide, 58-79.

Johnson, P. & Levesley, M. 2005. Exploring Science 3, Copy Master File, 52-87.

Resources:

Exploring Science 3, Copy Master File, p. 51, 52, 63, 64.