life cycles: content literacy sciencemillriverschools.org/documents/drivesync/curriculum...

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Life Cycles: Content Literacy Science

English Language Arts and Literacy and Science, Kindergarten

This unit is designed for two and a half weeks in the spring and focuses on strategies for reading informational text and writing informational/ explanatory text. The unit introduces students to the life cycles of plants and animals, highlighting key stages for each life form, including germination/birth, growth/development, reproduction, and death. Some lessons address the stages of the life cycle at a general level, while others focus on the life cycle of specific plants (e.g., bean, pumpkin, apple tree) or animals (e.g., frog, butterfly, chicken). Literacy learning activities include interactive read-alouds of nonfiction books about plant and animal life cycles, featuring relevant science vocabulary and core concepts and exploration of books in small groups through discussion as well as writing and drawing activities. Science activities include planting beans and recording observations about their development in science journals. These units are designed to be used in conjunction with a core literacy curriculum and do not to address all components necessary for early grades instruction. For suggestions about planning your literacy block, please see General Resources and Notes. These Model Curriculum Units are designed to exemplify the expectations outlined in the MA Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics incorporating the Common Core State Standards as well as all other MA Curriculum Frameworks. These units include lesson plans, Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessments, and resources. In using these units, it is important to consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary.

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This document was prepared by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, an affirmative action employer, is committed to ensuring that all of its programs and facilities are accessible to all members of the public. We do not discriminate on the basis of age color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. © 2015 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). ESE grants permission to use the material it has created under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Additionally, the unit may also contain other third party material used with permission of the copyright holder. Please see Image and Text Credits for specific information regarding third copyrights. The contents of this Model Curriculum Unit were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 75 Pleasant St, Malden, MA 02148-4906. Phone 781-338-3300, TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370, www.doe.mass.edu


http://www.doe.mass.edu/


Table of Contents

Unit Plan ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 General Resources and Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Lessons 1–6 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Lessons 7–12 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 28 CEPA Teacher Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 41 CEPA Student Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 42 CEPA Rubric ............................................................................................................................................................................ 43 Unit Resources ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44



Stage 1 – Desired Results ESTABLISHED GOALS G Science and Technology/Engineering NOTE: These are draft revised STE standards (as of 12/20/13). The final adopted STE standards may be slightly different. K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow. K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow, produce young, and die. English Language Arts and Literacy CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing,

Transfer Students will be able to independently use their learning to… T • Communicate ideas effectively in writing to suit a particular audience and purpose. • Use principles of the physical world to analyze living systems. • Use appropriate evidence and reasoning to develop scientific claims and engage in

discussions of scientific and technical topics.

Meaning UNDERSTANDINGS U Students will understand that… U1. All plants and animals have a life cycle, which includes beginning from seed or egg (germination, hatching, or birth), growing and developing, reproducing (making more seeds or making babies), and dying. U2. All plants and animals need food, water, and air to grow and develop. U3. We can learn how plants and animals live and change over time from many sources, including books, videos, experiments, observations, and field trips.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Q Q1. Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives? Q2. Do plants get old the way animals do? Q3. How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking?

Acquisition Students will know… K K1. A life cycle is a pattern of changes in the lives of plants or animals. K2. Plants make their own food from sunlight, air, and water. Animals get food from plants or other animals. K3. Stages of life cycles shared by plants and animals.

Students will be skilled at… S S1. Using multiple sources (books, videos, or observations) to gather information and learn about a concept. S2. Making and recording observations of plant growth and development. S3. Using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts.



or idea in the text an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Stage 2 – Evidence Evaluative Criteria Assessment Evidence • Students make a claim and explain their

reasoning with evidence. • Student writing, dictation, and

illustrations accurately reflect an understanding of the concept of a life cycle, and what plants and animals need to grow.

• Students write, draw, and dictate an informational/explanatory text.

CURRICULUM EMBEDDED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS) PT Students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals do? Students can use a combination of drawing, writing, and dictating to answer this question. With teacher guidance and support, they use their science journals, their own knowledge, books read, and videos seen as sources to explain and support their claim and reasoning with evidence. On the final day, they display their responses to some of their peers, and answer questions about their response. On the final day, they display, discuss and answer questions about their responses with some of their peers.



Standards assessed: • Science (MA): K-LS-1, KLS1-2 • English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8, CCSS.ELA-

Literacy.SL.K.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 • Classroom interaction and discussion

participation follow agreed-upon rules. • Comprehension strategies are

demonstrated through use of information from provided materials.

• Students use multiple resources.

OTHER EVIDENCE OE • Participation in discussions and activities related to life cycles of plants and animals • Participation in activities related to understanding word meanings and applying

reading comprehension strategies • Participation in informational writing activities

Stage 3 – Learning Plan Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction

Lessons 1–6: Plant Life Cycles • Lesson 1 introduces the unit and the idea of life cycles. Students set up beans to germinate, followed by an interactive read-aloud of

One Bean, by Anne Rockwell. They watch a video about seeds germinating. • Lesson 2 involves students in learning more about the life cycle of a plant and what plants need to grow through an interactive read-

aloud of From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons. Students learn about making observations of beans, and try out the process in their science journals, explaining how a bean plant begins.

• Lesson 3 includes an interactive read-aloud of Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, engaging students in learning more about a plant’s structure and the changes that plants go through during their lives. Students observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants. They explain how plants make new seeds what they know so far about how a seed grows and develops into a plant.

• Lesson 4 engages students in listening to the book, From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer, and discussing the life cycle of a pumpkin plant compared to the life cycle of a bean plant. Students observe and discuss the progress of their bean plants and explain in their science journals how bean plants grow and develop.

• Lesson 5 begins with an interactive read-aloud of A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by Stacey Schuett. Students learn about the life cycle of an apple tree compared to life cycles of other plants as well as about plants growing old and dying.

• Lesson 6 engages students in transplanting their bean plants in cups with potting soil. Students review their science journals and consider how words and pictures can help them learn.

Lessons 7–12: Animal Life Cycles and the CEPA • Lesson 7 engages students in learning about the life cycle of a butterfly through an interactive read-aloud of Born to Be a Butterfly, by

Karen Wallace. Students continue to observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants. • Lesson 8 involves an interactive read-aloud of Frogs, by Gail Gibbons, and associated activities related to learning about the life cycle of

a frog and how it compares to the life cycle of a butterfly. • Lesson 9 focuses students on learning more about making observations through an interactive read-aloud of Growing Frogs, by Vivian

French. Students continue to observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants.



• Lesson 10 introduces the life cycle of birds with a read-aloud of One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury. Students compare the life cycle of a chicken with that of butterflies, frogs, and humans. They watch a video of chickens hatching.

• Lesson 11 includes an interactive read-aloud of Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, in which students learn about how life cycle stages compare across different animals, and watch a video about hatching/birth and newborn animals. Students explain through writing and drawing what plants and animals need to grow.

• Lesson 12 asks students to consider what is common to all animal life cycles and how they compare to plant life cycles. For the CEPA, students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way animals do? and share their thinking and writing with a classmate.

Understanding by Design®. © 2012 Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Used with permission.



General Resources and Notes This unit is intended to impart to three things to students: a beginning understanding of plant and animal life cycles -- what plants and animals need to grow, develop and reproduce; a beginning understanding of scientific observation and speaking, writing and drawing based on observation, and practice making a claim and supporting their reasoning with evidence. There are multiple opportunities through revisiting the Essential Questions for students both to clarify the information that they are learning about life cycles as well as make claims in which they apply their learning and tryout their own ideas. Time: Most lessons are designed for about 45 minutes each day. They may be divided up into parts and taught with breaks in between or at different times of the day. The unit is designed for approximately 13 days, but may be extended as needed. Preparation • Review the Science Standards in this Unit (see the last paragraph at the end of this section and the following page): This page lays out the

continuum between prekindergarten and grade 1 for the two standards used in this unit: K-LS1-1 and K-LS1-2 (MA). This will help in understanding what the content and expectations for these standards are and the background for the unit. This should help to provide context for the unit as well as a sense of where various children are on this continuum of knowledge and skills relevant to the topic of life cycles of plants and animals.

• Growing plants: The lessons in this unit are based on planting beans; however other kinds of seeds can be used. The lessons in this unit are designed around planting beans but can be easily adapted for other plants or Wisconsin Fast Plants. o Plant some plants several weeks before starting the unit to ensure some plants reach “old age” (past flowers and seeds, to

dormancy/death) before the end of the unit. It is important students see the entire life cycle of the plant. o What to plant: Beans typically germinate quickly, but you could plant radishes or some other seed that has a short life cycle instead. If you

decide on beans: Types of beans: All students could plant the same type of bean (e.g., lima beans or kidney beans) or different students could plant

different varieties -- get a bag of mixed beans (e.g., 15-bean soup). The Wisconsin Fast Plants (http://www.fastplants.org) grow quickly and flower within two to three weeks (whereas regular beans can take months to flower).

When to plant: Although students will see germination and growth, the unit probably will not be long enough to see the entire life cycle (depending on the kinds of bean seeds you plant). Calculate the life cycle of type of bean you select, then plant a few (you will need at least one plant) in advance of the beginning of the unit (e.g., a month or six weeks before the start, another group two weeks in advance), so that students will be able to observe later parts of the life cycle by about Lessons 4-6.

How to plant: This unit describes a method for germinating (bean) seeds in clear plastic bags so that students can observe early development of roots and shoots. Students then plant them in soil in large plastic cups and can continue to observe shoot growth. Ultimately, they can take their seedlings home to plant in a larger pot or a garden. You could also plant some seedlings in a school garden, if that is an option.


http://www.fastplants.org/


o The approach to growing beans is described in the “Germinator” video and activity description (see link in the Resources for Lessons for Lessons 1–6). Decide when to plant, what to plant, when to plant, how to plant, and how much to plant: The “Germinator” video and activity includes step-by-step instructions for germinating bean seeds. Find a window or sunlit wall to hang bean bags. You may want to create a bean-bag “germinator” a few days before teaching students to do it. Another resource for ideas about planting seeds in a book read in the unit, From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons. The page on “How to raise bean plants” is at the end. Other variations on this approach to planting and growing seeds in the classroom can be found through an Internet search or other books. How much to plant – You may decide to have each student plant his or her own seeds, which requires enough room in the classroom

or school to grow them in proximity to light, or you might have pairs or small groups of students germinate, plant, and observe one or more plants together (but they will not each be able to take one home). You may want to plant some extra seeds in order to replace those student plants that do not grow and/or experiment under different conditions (e.g., trying to grow a plant without light and/or with too much or too little water) to observe what happens.

Purchase the beans locally in time to plant them (or order the Wisconsin Fast Plants well in advance). • Science journals: Each child will need a science journal. Create journals using binders, folders, spiral notebooks, or individual sheets of paper,

which you will bind into a book at the end of the project. • Science center and extension activities: For this unit and throughout the year, a center for additional hands-on science activities and materials

are is recommended and should be available to students. Use your creativity and students’ curiosity and interests to encourage and support discovery, inquiry and experimentation. o Activities in a science center are listed at the ends of some of the lessons. Depending on how you implement the lessons and the time you

have available for the lessons, science center activities may be done during the allotted lesson time or done at another time of the day. o Place the books read in the unit in the science center. Related, recommended books included in the Resources for Lessons sections for

Lessons 1-6 and 7-12. These books should be available for students to look at, read and refer to. o You could extend plant observations beyond the span of the unit. o Additional extension activities: Take a field trip involving observations of animal life cycles, such as butterflies, frogs, or chicks. Destinations might include a farm,

plant nursery, or butterfly garden. Plant corn seeds (in a school garden or other suitable outdoor space) to enable children to the full (natural) life cycle of a plant, from

planting seeds in the spring to the plant dying in fall. Another possibility would be pumpkins. Coordinate with first grade teachers to enable students to continue observing the plants after they return to school in order for them to observe the full life cycle of a plant.

• A large variety of prints of plants and animals can be seen at the Royal Society Print Shop website (http://prints.royalsociety.org/). These are illustrations of scientific observations of animals and plants made by scientists and artists prior to the availability of the camera. For plants, see in particular a bean sprouting from 1675: http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting or the phases of a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum); for the life cycle of a moth from 1818 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth). Students may be intrigued by the variety and beauty of scientific observations of plants and animals from the past. Consider making color copies or projecting prints of plants and animals.


http://prints.royalsociety.org/

http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting

http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum

http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth


Planning the Literacy Block: • Planning for core literacy instruction should make use of formative and summative data to differentiate instruction for students, and include daily

instruction in all components of reading, ideally in an integrated fashion. The Model Curriculum Units provide instruction in comprehension, speaking and listening, and content vocabulary. Thus, in planning to teach this MCU, you will need to reserve some time from your literacy block to make sure students have instruction or opportunities to practice fluency and phonics. Whenever possible, instruction on these strategies should be integrated or connected to this Model Curriculum Unit. In order for a strong foundational base in literacy to be achieved, these components should be utilized in your students’ literacy block daily, additional foundational reading strategies will need to be introduced and integrated during your daily literacy block. For further information see: http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/nationalreading.pdf

Practices throughout the Unit • Place books that are read in class, any of the recommended books, and other relevant books in a place where students can refer to them on

their own or with each other, such as in the science center. • Reinforcement of foundational reading skills is encouraged during interactive read-alouds (see below) and other activities related to the

books read during the unit. For example, attention might be drawn to words on the page of a book that start with a particular consonant or contain a vowel sound that has been the focus of recent literacy development activities. Similarly, students might be asked to count the number of syllables in a particular word or to identify sight words that have been taught recently.

• To maximize active conversation, offer all students a chance to share their ideas with a partner or in a small group before whole-class discussions. In class discussions, enlist a variety of contributors, use wait time, random selection or other strategies. Ask students to answer questions and/or offer thinking prompts before providing answers.

Vocabulary Protocol Students need multiple exposures to words over time in order to not only recognize them but define and use them correctly in conversation and in writing. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002) divide words into three tiers: • Tier 1 words are the basic words that most people know, such as cat, happy, sad. • Tier 2 words are more sophisticated words that are found across contexts and domains, such as brilliant, embarrassing, enthusiastic. • Tier 3 words are words that are more specific to a content area or domain, such as metamorphosis, peninsula, archaeologist. Tier 2 words are the most useful to teach because they are high-frequency words that are used across contexts. This unit includes a modified version of Margarita Calderon’s Seven Steps for Pre-teaching Vocabulary (2011). The steps are as follows: 1. Say and show the word and then ask students to repeat it. Do this step two more times. 2. Read the word in context from the text (if appropriate). 3. Read the definition from the dictionary or glossary. 4. Explain the meaning of the word in child-friendly language. 5. Highlight an aspect of the word that will help students to remember it; e.g., the number of syllables. 6. Engage students in an activity to practice using the word orally or to recognize examples of when the word can be used correctly; e.g., asking

them to Turn and Talk to a partner about something related to the word, using the target vocabulary word in their sentence. Or, provide examples and non-examples of the word and ask students to put their thumbs up when an example is named.

7. Assign peer reading with oral and written summarization activities. Explain how the new word needs to be used.


http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/nationalreading.pdf


Sources: Beck, Isabel L., McKeown, Margaret, G., and Kucan, Linda. (2002). Bringing Words to Life. New York: Guilford; Beck, Isabel L., McKeown, Margaret, G., and Kucan, Linda. (2008). Creating Robust Vocabulary. New York: Guilford; and Calderon, Margarita (2011). Teaching Reading and Comprehension to English Learners, K–5. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Reading Response Formats • Oral and written responses to reading enhance students’ understanding and connections to the books that they are reading. Consider a

variety of oral response formats that will allow all students to participate in discussion, share their ideas, and listen to the ideas of others. Whatever the format, students should be provided with a common question or topic that will prompt and focus their thinking. Some formats: o Whole-class discussion – Students respond in a whole-class discussion to a question posed by the teacher or a student. The question may

be used to initiate a discussion or to summarize what was learned. o Turn and Talk – This format is used during whole-class instruction and is a way to get all students to participate. After a teacher-posed

question or prompt, students turn to the person next to them and briefly discuss their ideas. While they are doing this, the teacher circulates and listens in, commenting when necessary to focus the students’ thoughts or clarify misunderstandings. The teacher can also use this time to jot down observations. With young children, it is helpful to have them practice the Turn and Talk process during a time other than the lesson when it will be used. A simple prompt, such as, “Turn to your partner and talk about your favorite food,” can be used. Students may also discuss in trios—groups of three—if they are not paired evenly. After students have talked to partners for a few minutes, the class is called back to attention. If desired, a few students can be chosen to share what their partner said. This encourages good listening skills.

o Engaging in argument from evidence. Primarily in response to the EQ: Do plants get old? Students document evidence through plant observations and obtaining information from texts and videos that are used as evidence to justify their claims.

Instructional Models • KWL strategy – This reading strategy is used throughout the unit to emphasize reader practices before, during, and after reading. The

acronym stands for What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned, and is especially useful when reading informational text. This approach activates students’ background knowledge—what do they already know about a topic? What are key terms and concepts they already know? Next, they use this background knowledge to determine questions they have that they want to learn more about. Finally, they read and record information learned. While the chart is linear in format, the thinking process used to complete it is not. Readers continually recall their knowledge; ask questions, during, and after reading; and revise and synthesize their learning. (Source: Ogle, D. (1986). "K-W-L: A Teaching Model That Develops Active Reading of Expository Text," The Reading Teacher, 39: 564–570.)

• Interactive read-alouds – The whole class listens as the teacher reads a text aloud. Students think and talk about the text before, during, and after the reading. This promotes students’ active engagement. Their thinking about the text is extended because of this interaction. Prior to the read-aloud, the teacher may ask students what to think about before reading the text (e.g., a prediction based on the title or illustration or reflection on relevant prior experience).

• Interactive writing (Source: Fountas, Irene C. and Pinnell, Gay Sue. (2006). Teaching for Comprehension and Fluency. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann) -- The teacher and students work together to write a text on chart paper or a screen projection. This provides an opportunity to teach/model/review specific writing skills, such as stating the topic, supporting ideas with details, capitalizing the first letter of each sentence, etc.



1. Talking about the idea and the specific text to write. 2. Deciding on the exact wording of the text (or part of it). 3. Writing the text: the teacher models the writing/transcribing of the ideas. At times during this step, the teacher can “share the marker”

and have a student come to the chart paper and write a letter, a sound, or the word. This practice increases student ownership of the piece and keeps the whole group engaged. Balance “sharing the marker” with the need to complete the writing piece in a timely manner.

4. Reading and rereading chorally, sometimes revising. 5. “Publishing” by displaying the text in the classroom.

Differentiation for ELL Students and Students with Advanced Skills and/or Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: • When you pair ELLs or any other students, you must always consider the WIDA proficiency levels as well as what the students “Can Do” along with

the objectives for the task as you plan the groupings and supports. The groupings will vary depending on the objectives of the task. For example, if the focus of the task is reading comprehension, pair a student with limited English skills with another student who speaks the same language or is bilingual. If the objective is the speaking and listening domain, groupings by common language is not a consideration, but provide students with visual, interactive, graphic, or sensory supports.

• Remember to provide scaffolding for conversations during whole-class discussions and Turn and Talk. For example, supply students with sentence frames of increasing complexity, reflecting the different levels of language proficiency in your classroom, to help students to respond to prompts during the lesson. The sentence frames should model the use of the lesson’s targeted academic language.

• Students with disabilities may need flexibility about the means to accomplishing the goal. For example, if the goal of the lesson is comprehension, what is the appropriate amount of text for the student to read?

• Students with Advanced Skills should be given the opportunity to read independently and answer questions that require a degree of inference. These students should participate in group discussions, such as lesson openings and closings, as much as possible.

• All students, ELLs, students with disabilities, and advanced skills, should be given ample opportunities to apply their learning, including reading selections of the text and discussing evidence from the text.

Resources • Individual texts and resources are detailed in the Resources for Lessons in the lesson overview sections and in the Unit Resources.



• Teacher resources, such as additional videos and books, are listed in the overviews in the Resources for Lessons and in the Instructional Tips sections.

• Science Standards in the Unit: This unit assumes students have a sense that plants and animals grow and change over time, and that plants and animals interact to meet their basic needs (such as for food and shelter). The key focus of this unit is on what plants and animals need to survive and the concept of a life cycle. See the strand map on the next page for a display of the standards relative to prekindergarten and first grade. Note: Sunlight as a form of energy or its role in photosynthesis in plants is not emphasized. Those standards come later.



Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – Plant Life Cycles

Brief Overview of Lessons: In these lessons, students are introduced to and investigate plant life cycles. Students plant bean seeds and keep science journals in which they observe the development of their bean plants. Lesson 1 introduces the idea of life cycles. Students set up beans to germinate, followed by an interactive read-aloud about a bean plant. In Lesson 2 students learn more about the life cycle of plants and what they need to grow. They make observations of beans in their science journals. Lesson 3 includes a read-aloud about plant life cycles and engages students in learning about a plant’s growth and development. Students observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants. In Lesson 4, an interactive read-aloud engages student in the development of flowers, fruits and new seeds. Lesson 5: students learn about the life cycle of an apple tree compared to life cycles of other plants as well as about plants growing old and dying. They continue to observe, discuss, and document the progress of their plants. In Lesson 6, students transplant their bean plants into soil. They review their science journals and consider how words and pictures can help them learn. As you plan, consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary. Prior Knowledge Required: • How to listen to a book, interact appropriately in a group, and follow rules for discussion, including Turn and

Talk • Animals and plants depend on one another to meet their basic needs and organisms grow and change over time.

Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson Resources for Lessons Teacher read-aloud texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book): • One Bean, by Anne Rockwell • From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons • From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by James Graham Hale • Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri • A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett



Recommended books (for optional additional reading): • How a Seed Grows, by Helene Jordan • Once There Was a Seed, by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon • A Bean’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann • From Bean to Bean Plant, by Anita Ganeri • From Seed to Apple, by Anita Ganeri Websites • “Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse” (1:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk

and/or “Fantastic Nature Photography of Plant Growth of Brambles” (1:38): http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304

• Germinator activity instructions: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html • “Germinator” video (2:10):

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/ • “Flower Power” video (1:38): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-

105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/ • “From Seed to Flower” video (1:07):

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/ Teacher Resources • Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL Extension:

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html • “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seed/from-seed-

to-fruit/ • “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-

seed-to-fruit-interactive/ • “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33):

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd.sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/


http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seed/from-seed-to-fruit/


http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-seed-to-fruit-interactive/




• Various plant videos: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets • Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and

animals: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/ • Royal Society Print Shop: http://prints.royalsociety.org/, including a bean sprouting (1675)

(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting); the phases of a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum)

Materials • Materials for growing plants (Lesson 1):

o Presoaked beans (or alternative seeds to plant) o Clear plastic bags with zip tops or plastic cups o Paper towels or black construction paper o Watering cans or containers

• Dried beans (Lesson 1) • A collection of different seeds (for Lesson 1 Science Center activity) • Science journals • Additional presoaked beans (Lesson 2) • Recommended: Already-growing plant (Lesson 2, pre-planted – see General Notes and Resources) • Flowering plant with visible pollen (Lessons 3 and 5) • Apples (Lesson 4 Science Center activity) • Large plastic cups and potting soil (Lesson 6)


http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/





Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Literacy and Science, Kindergarten Unit: Life Cycles Time: 45 minutes for each lesson Lessons 1–6: Plant Life Cycles Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in these lessons: Science K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow. K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow, produce young, and die. English Language Arts CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. Essential Question(s) addressed in these lessons: Q1. Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives? Q3. How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking? Objectives • Students will understand that a plant’s life cycle includes

sprouting from seed, growing and developing, making more seeds, and dying.

• Students will understand that plants need water, air, and sunlight to grow and develop and that they make their own food.

• Students will understand that reading and writing about observations can help us to learn information about nature.

What students should know and be able to do before starting these lessons: • How to listen to a reading, interact appropriately in a group,

and follow rules for discussion, including Turn and Talk. Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions • Plants and animals have little in common besides being alive. • Plants do not need food. • Plants that grow fruits and vegetables do not have flowers.



Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions for Teacher • Review the strand map in the General Resources and Notes

section (page 11) which lays out the continuum between prekindergarten and grade 1 for standards K-LS1-1 and K-LS1-2 (MA). This will provide more context for the content and expectations for these standards. It may also provide a better sense of where various children are on the knowledge and skills relevant to life cycles of plants and animals.

• Plan the logistics of seed germination activities and gather materials. Read the General Notes and Resources – Preparation section for more complete advice on selecting and planting beans/seeds: o Decide if you will do the planting as a whole group or as a

center activity. o Decide on the kinds of bean (or other seed) that you and

students will grow. o You will need demonstration plants that will be old or

dying by Lessons 4-6. o Soak beans overnight before planting.= o Get potting soil and plastic cups for transplanting the

bean seedlings once they have germinated. • Preview read-aloud books before lessons and number pages

for easy reference if they are not numbered. • Preview videos (see Resources for Lessons).. Additional

videos are listed under Teacher Resources to provide backgroung information for you, or to be used in the science center and/or extension activities.

• Review and choose one or both time lapse videos of a plant growing: Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse Video (1:38) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk, showing students the whole life cycle of a bean plant, prefiguring what will happen their own plants; Plant Growth of Brambles (1:28): http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304, showing a bramble (vine) growing in the tropics, or both. (The second one does not show the entire

life cycle, but may be more effective in engaging young children in the life of plants.)

• Prepare charts: o Anchor charts for each of the Essential Questions. o A life cycle chart to be developed over the course of the

unit with details from students. o A KWL chart about plants (used in several lessons) with

three columns: K (what students know), W (what students want to know) and L (what students learned). You could use three pieces of chart paper (to leave plenty of room) or project a digital document.

o A T-chart with the question: Do plants get old and die? o A chart listing observation steps noted in Lesson 3. o A chart listing transplanting steps noted in Lesson 6.

• Prepare science journals (see General Notes and Resources for details), including a template with the steps for observations and/or other handouts.

• Prepare the Science Center for the activities for this unit (see the “Preparation” section in the General Notes and Resources).

• For a short review on plant structures and growth (as much as you will need to know for kindergarten students), see Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL Extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html

• Lessons 1-2: Place a variety of seeds in paper cups for observing and sorting in the science center.

• Lesson 2: Bring in a plant with flowers with pollen for observations.

• Lesson 4: Bring one or more apples for the science center. • Lessons 2-6 and/or Lessons 7-13 (optional): Provide color

copies or projections of plants and animals from the Royal Society Print Shop (http://prints.royalsociety.org/), e.g., a scientific observation of a bean sprouting from 1675 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting) and/or a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum).











• Lessons 1-6 (optional): Review additional videos that may be of interest: o “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01):


o “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-seed-to-fruit-interactive/

o “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd.sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/

o Various plant videos: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets

• For pointers about talking to young children about death, particularly about the death of plants, insects and animals that will come up in the unit, see: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/

Assessment • Observe small-group and whole-class discussion

participation and note individual and group understanding of key concepts.

• Review seed journals and other student writing for evidence of developing skills and concepts and identify needs for individual and/or group reinforcement.

Lesson 1 (45 minutes) Setting up seeds Language Objectives • Students will discuss what they know and want to know

about plants. • Students will talk about what beans need to sprout and grow.

Targeted Academic Language • Change, fact, seed, sprout, grow, predict Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Introduce and discuss Essential Question 1: Do plants and

animals go through the same changes during their lives? Discuss the question and record students’ comments.

• Explain that over the next few weeks, the class will be investigating how plants and animals change over time. Introduce the word change. Say the word as you write it and ask students to repeat it. o Ask students what it means. o Ask for some examples of how they themselves have

changed over time (e.g., grown taller). • Post a T-chart and ask the questions: Do plants get old and

die? (Yes or No). How do you know? Record each suggestion. Keep the chart to return to in Lesson 6 when the questions and “evidence” will be reviewed.

• Tell students that all the books you will be reading in this unit are full of information, or facts, about the lives of plants and animals. o Review the differences between fiction and nonfiction. o Explain what a fact is, share a few examples that can be

easily observed by anyone (e.g., grass is green, tigers have stripes, wings help birds to fly), and ask students to share a few examples of facts that they know about animals or plants.

• Explain: We will explore the facts about what happens to plants and animals during their lives by starting with plants. We will all plant beans (or the type of seed you decide on) and make notes about how they change over time by drawing and writing in science journals, like scientists do.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • As you write the word plant on the board, invite students to

help identify the sounds and letters as you write.













• Ask what they know about the life of a plant. Record their responses in the K (know) section of a KWL chart about plants. o Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about

some questions they have about the life of plants. Discuss responses and record them in the W (want to know) section of the KWL chart. Tell students that they can find out answers to their questions during this unit.

• Say that because they probably don’t see plants move very fast or very far, it is sometimes hard to understand that they move and change at all. o Tell students that they will watch the video of the life

cycle of a plant. It was made in a way that speeds up the life of a plant (bean or bramble).

o Show the time lapsed video of a plant life cycle: Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse video (1:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk or Plant Growth of Brambles (1:38): http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304.

o Ask whether this gave anyone new ideas about the life of a plant.

• Tell students that today they will start to learn how a plant grows by growing their own plants. o Show them dried beans from a bag. Distribute some so

that students can look at them closely. Ask if they know what part of a bean plant they are. Explain that a bean is a seed.

o Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they know about seeds. Discuss responses as a group and add to the “K” section of the KWL chart about plants.

• Introduce the word sprout. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they think seeds might need to sprout and grow into plants. Discuss responses as a group. o Explain that seeds need water and warmth to sprout

(and, ordinarily, soil). Once they grow leaves, they need

light, too. Explain that students will be growing beans in the classroom.

• Show the “Germinator” video (2:10) (http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/) to show students what they will be doing.

• Demonstrate how to set up a bean bag (i.e., germinator). (See the Germinator activity instructions for details at http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html.) o Distribute to each student three to five presoaked beans,

a paper towel, and a plastic bag with a zip top. o Help students to set up their beans to germinate

according to the germinator activity instructions. (Organize logistics as you see fit. For example, help students to staple bags midway down and/or measure and pour water).

o Make sure students’ bean bags are labeled with their names.

o Tape all bean bags to the window or sunlit wall, as clearly visible as possible. (If no window is available in the classroom, try to find one nearby.)

o Point out, if necessary, that this is not the “natural” process for growing a plant. Ordinarily, they need earth to grow.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Show the cover of the book One Bean, by Anne Rockwell.

Distribute copies of the book to small groups of students. Ask them to look at the cover and predict what the book is about.

• Begin reading through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they know about leaves. Discuss responses as a group and add to the K column of the KWL chart about plants.

• Continue reading through page 23. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they know about flowers. Discuss responses as a group and add to the K column of the KWL chart.









• Continue reading to the end of the book. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they predict would happen if the children in the book planted one of the beans that they picked from their bean plant. Discuss their responses as a group. o Explain that students are learning about a bean plant’s

life cycle. A seed grows into a plant and makes new seeds, which can be planted all over again.

• Ask students what they learned from the book that might be helpful for growing their own bean plants (e.g., plants need water and sunlight). Record responses in the L column of the KWL chart.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Provide cups of different kinds of seeds (e.g., dried beans,

sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). Ask students to discuss and/or write about what they notice about what is in the cups. They could also sort/match the seeds.

• If a variety of seeds are not available, open a few copies of the book, From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons, to page 4 for students to look at. o Ask students if they have ever seen any of the seeds. Ask

if anyone recognizes any seeds that they see in the picture and knows what plants those seeds might become (e.g., corn, bean, hazelnut, dandelion, sunflower, oak, maple).

Lesson 2 (45 minutes) Germinating/sprouting Language Objectives • Students will discuss what plants need to grow. • Students will talk about observations of beans and practice

making them.

Targeted Academic Language • Life cycle, Observe/observation, record,

germinate/germination, stage, pollen/pollination/pollinator, sprout

Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Introduce the words observe, observer and observation. Offer

examples of observations and invite students to do so. o Explain that science can help us to learn about nature

through trying things out, observing or noticing what happens using our senses, and recording what we observe through words and pictures so that we can keep track of what happens over time.

• Introduce the word record, both as a verb (to record observations) and a noun (a record of observations). Explain that students will record their observations with words and pictures.

• Distribute science journals to students. Tell students that they will be observing beans and how they change over time and recording their observations in their journals.

• Review what beans need to sprout and grow. Make a list on chart paper. Ask students to check if their plants have what they need.

During the Lesson (30 minutes) • Introduce the word cycle. Remind students that growing

involves predictable changes, which are called cycles, because they are in some ways circular. Ask students to repeat the word. (You might show the word bicycle, noting that it has the word cycle in it, although it is pronounced differently. Discuss why this mode of transportation would have the word cycle in it.) o Explain that the pattern of day changing into night and

then back into day is a cycle because it happens over and over again.

o Ask students for other examples of cycles in nature. Be prepared to offer some (e.g., seasons, tides, moon phases).



• Explain that a life cycle is a pattern of changes that happens to plants and animals, and people, throughout their lives. Say that you will discuss this more throughout the unit. Start a diagram by drawing a circle and labeling it, Life Cycle.

• Place students in pairs and distribute another presoaked bean to each pair. Help students open the beans. o Ask them to look inside the beans, then Turn and Talk

with their partners about what they see. Discuss responses as a group.

o Tell students that you soaked the beans that they placed in bags yesterday in order to loosen their seed coats and make it easier for them to sprout. Show and explain that inside the bean is the beginning of a tiny root as well as stored food for the bean plant to use to start growing.

• Teach students how they will do observations: Using a projector or chart paper, demonstrate a first observation: o Write the date. o Draw the outside and the inside (cross-section) views of

the bean. o Write a brief description of what you observe. o Narrate what you are doing and ask students for input

(e.g., “Now I’m going to describe or observe what I see. What should I write? The bean is white and wrinkly on the outside. The inside is smooth…”).

• Ask students to follow the same process to record their first observation of their soaked beans in their own science journals.

• Introduce the book, From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons. Distribute a copy to each small group.

• Read through page 6. Introduce the word flower. Ask a student to point out a flower on your demonstration plant.

• Read through page 8. Introduce the word pollen. Point out the pollen inside the flower on page 7. (Plants such as lilies, daffodils, tulips, and irises have flowers with clearly visible pollen.)

• Continue reading through page 10. Introduce the words pollination and pollinator. Explain that pollination (by insects,

wind, etc.) is necessary for flowers to produce seeds. The insects, or winds, are the pollinators.

• Continue reading. Stop after page 16. Introduce the words fruit and pod. Ask students to name some of the different fruits and pods that they have seen. Record them on chart paper. o Explain that the bean plants that they are growing will

have pods containing bean seeds. • Read through page 21. Directing students’ attention to the

illustrations on pages 20 and 21, point out and read the labels.

• After reading page 22, point out that what is labeled as “beginning of the plant” is called a sprout. o Introduce the word compare. Ask students to Turn and

Talk with a partner about how the picture in the book compares to the observations that they just recorded in their journals, discussing what is alike and what is different.

o Discuss responses about their comparison as a group. o Note what the illustration in the book includes (e.g.,

detailed drawings, labels, etc.). Invite students to return to their own seed observations and add details they think would make them more complete.

• Read pages 21and 23. Explain that germinate is a word that scientists use for sprout (or to sprout). Germination is the process of a seed sprouting or a plant starting to grow. o Remind students of the Germinator video they watched

in the last class. o Tell students that their beans are germinating in the

plastic bags. They will be able to observe their beans sprouting through the plastic bag. Then they will plant the beans in soil. In a regular garden or in the wild, the seeds would sprout under the ground.

• Read through the end of the book. Review what plants need to grow (e.g., water, warmth, sunlight, air) and update the chart accordingly.



Lesson Closing (5 minutes) • Show the video “From Seed to Flower”:

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/. o Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they observed

in the video. Discuss responses as a group. How did the plants change over time? Was there a pattern to the changes?

• Ask students to write and draw about how a plant’s life begins. Assist students by writing what they dictate, if needed. They may also refer to the books read so far.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • If you have planted seeds/beans prior to the start of the unit

(see General Notes and Resources), place the plant(s) in the science center for students to study, observe and draw.

• Put a collection of seeds (with multiples of at least some seeds) that students can sort and examine closely.

Lesson 3 (45 minutes) Growth and development Language Objectives • Students will discuss the stages of plant life cycles. • Students will talk about whether plants get old. Targeted Academic Language • Pattern, root, shoot, stage, stem, develop Lesson Opening (5-10 minutes) • Ask students to bring in any evidence they can find of plants’

life cycle. This could be anything from seeds or pods to dried-up fruit, wilted or dried up flowers, leaves or twigs. They should place these in a place that you designate in the science center (or elsewhere). Give them a “deadline” day (three days or more).

• Explain that life cycles have different stages. Introduce the word stage. Ask what the first stage in a bean plant’s life cycle is. Discuss responses, probing for accurate explanations.

• Add “Plant” to the Life Cycle diagram. Write: o Stage 1: Germination and sprouting. Note students’

contributions of information (e.g., plants begin as seeds, seeds sprout roots and shoots, etc.), and draw a simple illustration.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Distribute copies of the book Plant Life Cycles, by Anita

Ganeri, to small groups of students. Show students the book’s cover and read the title. Ask them to look at the picture and explain what they think it shows.

• As a group, turn to the glossary and read through the words in the glossary. Discuss which words students know from previous discussions and which words are new.

• Begin reading, stopping after page 5. Introduce the word pattern. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about why a plant’s life cycle is a pattern. o Discuss responses. Note that seeds grow into plants,

make new seeds, and then die, while their seeds grow into new plants, and the cycle (pattern) continues.

• Continue reading through page 9. Ask students to look at pages 8 and 9 in their small group and discuss the changes they observe from page 8 to page 9. Once students have talked, ask for volunteers to explain what is pictured. o Introduce the words root and shoot. Ask students how

their bean plant observations compare to the illustrations.

• Read through page 11. Ask a student to point out the roots of your demonstration plant (they are under the soil) and/or their sprouting bean plants.

• Read pages 12 and 13. Explain that plants make their own food using sunlight, air, and water. Read the explanatory labels/captions and explain how these are to help readers understand the pictures.





• Revisit the chart listing what plants need to grow and ask students if they have anything to add.

• Continue reading pages 14 and 15. Introduce the word stem. Ask a student to point to the stem of your demonstration plant.

• Return to your Plant Life Cycle diagram and add: Stage 2: Grow and Develop. o Introduce the word develop. Ask students to explain what

happens during this stage. Add information to the chart (e.g., plant grows bigger with water and sunlight, leaves develop and make food, etc.) and draw a simple illustration.

• Ask students to write and draw what they know so far about how a seed grows and develops into a plant in their science journals. Assist students who need help by writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use the books read so far to help them.

• Let students know that they can study the pictures at other times in the day to learn about what happens next in a plant’s growth and development.

Lesson Closing (10-15 minutes) • Ask students to look closely at their bean bags and observe

any changes to their beans since they were placed in the bags, following the observation steps on the chart (assist as needed): o Meet with a partner, your seed, and your science journals. o Observe your seed/plant. Turn and Talk to discuss what

you observe. What has changed? o Draw, label, and write about what you observe in your

journal. o Trade journal pages and your seed with your partner.

What do you observe? Which details are the same on the plant and in the drawing and writing? Which details are missing? Talk to your partner and share your observations so he/she can add any missing information.

Lesson 4 (45 minutes) Developing flowers, fruit and seeds Targeted Academic Language • Fruit, seedling, develop, compare, pod Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Show the “Flower Power” video:

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/.

• Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they observed in the video. Discuss responses as a group. o Ask students if they have ever seen bees or butterflies

around flowers. Discuss what they were doing and what an important role that pollinators play in plants’ lives. (You may need to stress the idea that bees are generally doing good things, not just waiting to sting.)

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Today you will read a book about pumpkins. Distribute

copies of the book From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by James Graham Hale, to small groups of students. Show students the cover and read the title. Ask students what they think the book is about.

• Review the word fruit as a container or package for seeds that can be eaten by an animal or insect (a bean pod is a kind of fruit).

• Read through page 9. Introduce the word seedling. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how the first stage of a pumpkin plant’s life cycle compares to the first stage of a bean plant’s life cycle. o Review the word compare. Ask how seeds change as they

start to grow. • Continue reading through page 14. Ask students to Turn and

Talk with a partner about what is different about how plants get food from how they themselves get food.






• Continue reading. Stop after page 17 and ask students to predict how the flower helps the pumpkin plant.

• Read pages 18 through 20 and ask students if this information confirms or changes what they predicted. o Some children will probably notice that page 19 refers to

male and female flowers. The bees move the pollen from male to female flowers. If anyone asks for more details – the flowers are slightly different, but you have to carefully observe a number of flowers on the vine to be able to tell them apart.

• Continue through page 21. Tell students you noticed that the author calls the pumpkins “fruit” and ask if they know why. Explain that a pumpkin is a fruit, even though some people may not call it that. It is actually a kind of squash (also fruits).

• Continue reading. Stop after page 27. Ask students what they would expect to find inside a ripe pumpkin fruit.

• Continue reading to the end. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they think happens to the pumpkin plants in the fall (whether the pumpkins are picked or not). Discuss responses and ensure that students understand that pumpkin plants die, but that new seeds planted in the spring and the life cycle will begin again.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Ask students to Turn and Talk about how plants grow. • Revisit the KWL chart about plants. Ask if students have

anything to add to the L section. Discuss responses. Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Put out a few apples. Cut the apples in half. Ask students to

look at an apple half carefully. • Ask students to draw the sliced apple and label the seeds

with an arrow. • They can discuss their observations with each other.

Lesson 5 (45 minutes) Old age, death or dormancy Language Objectives • Students will talk about their observations of their bean

plants. • Students will talk about whether plants get old. Targeted Academic Language • Blossom, trunk, orchard Note: the discussion about the comparison between the tree’s and the pumpkin’s life cycle on p. 25 as well as the Turn and talk in the lesson closing are practice for the type of claims and reasoning that the students will make in the CEPA. Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Ask students to look closely at their beans and observe any

changes since the previous observation. Remind them to follow the steps to making a good observation to record their observations in their journals by drawing what they see and/or describing it in writing or by dictation.

• Refer back to the T-chart used in Lesson 1. Ask again if plants get old. Ask for students’ additional thoughts about this and whether students have changed their minds about what they thought in Lesson 1.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Tell students that you are going to read A Tree Is a Plant, by

Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by Stacey Schuett. Distribute a copy of the book to each small group.

• Ask students how they think a tree’s life begins. • Read through page 9. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a

partner about what they think will happen next to the apple seed in the ground.

• Read through page 11 and ask students what happened to the seed. Ask if they can figure out what the word blossom



might mean, using the picture to help them. Introduce the word.

• Continue reading through page 13. Ask students why they think the bees are near the flowers. The apple trees, like the pumpkins, need to spread the pollen in their flowers in order to make seeds that will become new plants.

• Read through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how or why the apple makes a good container for seeds. Discuss responses as a group.

• After reading page 16, remind students that the trunk is the stem of the tree. Ask students how the trunk helps the tree.

• Continue reading, stopping after page 21 and asking how the roots help the tree.

• After reading to the end of the book, turn to page 33 and read the section called “How old is your tree?” Ask for, and answer, any questions. Note that trees, like all plants, die.

• Read to the end. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what the stages of a tree’s life cycle are. Are the stages the same or different than the stages of other plants’ life cycles (e.g., beans, pumpkins)? Discuss responses. Note that trees usually live for a long time. Some plants come up year after year until they die. And some plants die after one season.

• Ask students what happens at the end of a plant’s life. Return to the Plant Life Cycle diagram and add: Stage 4: Die. The diagram should now include four stages: 1) begin as seeds; 2) develop and grow; 3) make more seeds; and 4) die. o Explain that when bean plants die, some of their beans

fall to the ground and start new plants the following spring.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner and take turns

explaining the four stages of a plant’s life cycle. • Revisit the KWL chart about plants. Ask if students have

anything to add to the L section. Discuss responses. • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about Essential

Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals do?

Discuss responses as a group. Revisit the anchor chart for Essential Question 2. Ask if students have anything to add.

• Remind students who have not brought in any plant matter that they need to do so by the next lesson.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Ask students look carefully at the plant growing in the center.

They can review the illustrations and words in the books that have been read so far to identify the stage of its life cycle the plant is in.

• They could also identify, draw and label the parts of a real plant, particularly if there is a demonstration plant or plants.

Lesson 6 (45 minutes) A plant’s life cycle Language Objectives • Students will discuss how seeds/plants change over time. • Students will discuss the stages of plant life cycles. Lesson Opening (20 minutes) • Explain to students that they will now plant their germinated

beans in soil. This allows the beans to grow and planted in the ground or in a bigger pot later on at home.

• Show students a chart paper with steps to follow for transplanting beans. Demonstrate as you read each step: o Put soil in the cup (filling it halfway with potting soil). o Place beans in soil. (Open the bean bag and carefully

place the germinated beans on top of the soil, roots down and shoots up. Separate them so they each have space to grow.) Emphasize the importance of handling the beans carefully so that the new roots and shoots do not break.

o Cover beans with a little more soil -- sprinkling enough soil on top to cover them, but leaving the shoots visible.)

o Add enough water. Caution students to be careful to only add enough water to dampen the soil.



o Put the cup(s) near a window so the bean plans can get sunlight.

• Assist students as needed in following the steps to plant their beans.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Review the T-chart on what students know about plants

getting old. Do they have any ideas to add? Are there any ideas to correct?

• Ask students to review their science journals. Then, ask them to Turn and Talk about Essential Question 3: How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking? Discuss responses as a group and document them on the anchor chart for Essential Question 3.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Set up the center for sorting the plant matter students

brought in. o Ask them to sort these items by stage in the life cycle (e.g.,

seeds for the beginning; pods and fruit (and seeds) for reproductive point in the cycle; leaves could go into either the developing or the old age/death parts of the life cycle; flowers (living or dead) in the flowering part of the cycle).

o Have students work together and discuss their decisions about which part of the cycle it belongs to.

o When this is completed, refer back to the T-chart from Lesson 3 that asked if plants get old. Has anyone changed his/her opinion? If so, why?



Lessons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12: Animal Life Cycles

Brief Overview of Lessons: In these lessons, students are introduced to the life cycles of animals through books, videos, and related activities, including discussion, writing, and drawing. They continue to observe, discuss, and document the development of their bean plants. In Lesson 7 students learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. Lesson 8 features a read-aloud and activities related to the life cycle of frogs. Lesson 9 continues the focus on frogs. In Lesson 10, another book and video introduces the life cycle of a bird and compare it to the life cycles of butterflies and frogs. In Lesson 11 a read-aloud of Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, compares the life cycle stages of different animals. Students watch a video about hatching/birth and explain in their science journals what plants and animals need to grow. Lesson 12 concludes the book started in Lesson 11. Students consider what is common across different animals’ life cycles and how these compare to plant life cycles, including the Essential Question: Do plants get old the same way animals do?, which is the beginning of the Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA). The CEPA is completed in Lesson 13, in which students finish writing, dictating and drawing their responses? They then show their work and answer questions about it to a few peers. As you plan, consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary. Prior Knowledge Required: Skills and knowledge from previous lessons Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson Resources for Lessons Teacher read-aloud texts (one copy of each book for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at): • Born to Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace • Frogs, by Gail Gibbons • Growing Frogs, by Vivian French, illustrated by Alison Bartlett • One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury • Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri



Recommended books (suggested books for additional reading): • Once There Was a Caterpillar, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordo • From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Anita Ganeri • From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Bari Weisman • A Frog’s Life, by Ellen Lawrence • From Tadpole to Frog, by Anita Ganeri • Once There Was a Tadpole, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordon • A Chicken’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann • From Egg to Chicken, by Anita Ganeri Websites • Eagle hatching video (3:45): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/

(Lesson 10) • Raptor Resource Project Decorah Eagle Cam:

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html (Lesson 10+) • Lesson 11: Hatchlings and Newborns video (1:45):

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/ • Optional: A frog’s life from egg to life on land, narrated by a child of about kindergarten age (2:50):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs (Lesson 9) • Optional: frog jokes, frog games, and the like: http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml. (Lessons 8 and 9) Teacher Resources • Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and

animals: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/ • Optional: Prints of plants and animals are available at the Royal Society Print Shop:

http://prints.royalsociety.org/, and includes many old scientific observations of animals and plants, e.g., a bean sprouting (1675): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting; the life cycle of a moth (1818): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth


http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs

http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml






o For the science center: print(s) of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant, and contemporary photos of both animals.

• Information about growing and raising frogs: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/. Materials • Chart paper and markers • Science/observation journals • Bean plants (sprouted and planted in Lessons 1-6) • Demonstration plant with seeds/beans planted prior to the beginning of the unit


http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant

http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/


Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Literacy, Kindergarten Unit: Life Cycles Time: 45 minutes for each lesson Lessons 7–12: Animal Life Cycles and the CEPA Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in these lessons: Science K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow. K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow, produce young, and die. English Language Arts CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults,

recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. Essential Question(s) addressed in these lessons Q1. Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives? Q2. Do plants get old the way animals do? Q3. How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking? Objectives • Students will understand that an animal’s life cycle includes

hatching or being born, growing and developing, having babies, and dying.

• Students will understand that animals need water, food, and air to grow and develop.

• Students will understand that a life cycle is a pattern of changes in the lives of plants or animals.

What students should know and be able to do before starting these lessons: • What a life cycle is. • What plants need to grow. • How to record observations through drawing and writing. Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions • All baby animals look like their parents. • Plants and animals do not have much in common.



Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions for Teacher • Review the strand map in the General Resources and Notes

section (page 12), which lays out the continuum between prekindergarten and grade 1 for standards K-LS1-1 and K-LS1-2 (MA), providing context for the content and expectations for these standards.

• Preview read-aloud books before lessons. Number pages for easy reference if they are not already numbered.

• Preview videos before lessons. Cue videos and test play them before lessons to make sure equipment is working. Review the optional videos.

• Prepare the science center for recommended- and other activities.

• Before each lesson, prepare relevant charts. o Charts for creating diagrams of stages in an animal’s life

cycle. You can copy/print pictures of butterflies (Lesson 7), frogs (Lessons 8 and 9), and chickens (Lesson 10) at different stages, or you can draw illustrations.

o Create a KWL chart about animal life cycles (to be used in several lessons) with three columns, or project a digital document on a screen.

o Chart entitled, What to Observe (Lesson 9). • Life cycles for the butterfly and other creatures may be found

through a search for images. • Optional: Make color copies or projecting prints of plants and

animals from the Royal Society Print Shop (http://prints.royalsociety.org/). Scientific observations of animals and plants from the past can be seen. For plants see, for example, the print of a bean sprouting (1675) (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting); or a pea plant’s life cycle (1750) (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum); for animals, the life cycle of a moth (1818): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth. Students should be told that such illustrations were needed before the camera was invented.

o Lesson 8: For fun in the science center, print copies of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant. Find photos of both animals for students to compare with the print. Although not about life cycles or frogs, the activity may build observation skills. Other fanciful renditions of apes and supposed animals are also available for comparisons.

• Lessons 8 and 9: Some students may be interested in more information about raising frogs: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/, which includes some additional facts about tadpoles and frogs.

• For pointers about talking to young children about death, including death of plants, insects and animals see: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/.

• Lesson 12: The last step of the CEPA is for students to review each others’ work. Decide how to organize students to make this run smoothly. They could be divided in half, so that half of the students can display their response to the question and answer questions while the other half of the students visit. (Each student should visit only one to three other students’ displays). If there’s time, students might also enjoy sharing their science journal and their learning from the journal. Additional help from an assistant, another teacher or specialist, or parent(s) should be arranged in advance.

Assessment • Observe small-group and whole-class discussion

participation and note individual and group understanding of key concepts.

• Review observation journals and other student writing for evidence of developing skills and concepts and identify needs for individual and/or group reinforcement.

• Assess student science journals (observations and explanatory text) using the CEPA Rubric.














Lesson 7 (45 minutes) A Butterfly’s Life Cycle Language Objectives • Students will discuss the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. • Students will discuss what caterpillars and butterflies need

to grow. • Students will talk about their observations of their bean

plants. Targeted Academic Language • Butterfly, egg, caterpillar, hatch Note: The T-chart in the lesson opening about if plants get old as well as the discussing during the lesson comparing a caterpillar’s growth to a human’s growth will provide students with practice making a claim and explaining their reasoning. Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Tell students that they are going to learn about the life cycles

of animals. • Start a T-chart with students’ responses to the question: Do

animals get old? Also note comments about how they know. • Note that you are going to start this part of the unit with the

life cycle of a butterfly. Ask students to help you to write the word butterfly.

• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what they know and what questions they have about the life cycle of a butterfly. Discuss responses as a group and record them in the K and W sections of the KWL chart about animal life cycles.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Tell students that you are going to read a book called Born to

Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace. Distribute copies of the book to small groups of students.

• Begin reading. Stop after page 9. Introduce the words caterpillar and hatch. Ask students if they have ever seen a

caterpillar. What did they look like? Where were they? What were they doing?

• Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what they observe in the pictures on pages 8 and 9. Explain that scientists try to observe as many details as they can. Discuss responses as a group, probing for close, detail-oriented observations (e.g., the caterpillar looks like it has tiny hairs all over its body).

• Continue reading, stopping after page 13. Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about how the caterpillar on page 13 has changed compared to the one on page 9. Discuss responses as a group, probing for detail-oriented observations.

• Read through page 17. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about how caterpillar growth is similar to and different from human growth (e.g., both caterpillars and humans grow bigger when we eat; our skin grows with us; a caterpillar molts or loses its skin when it gets too big and ours does not). Discuss responses as a group, clarifying understanding as needed.

• After reading through page 21, ask students what they think crawls out of the chrysalis. Ask them to Turn and Talk with their groups about what they observe in the picture on pages 20 and 21. Discuss responses as a group, probing for detailed observations.

• Continue reading through page 25. Ask what the butterfly is doing for the flowers while eating their nectar. Explain that like bees, butterflies are pollinators, which help plants to make new seeds. o Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what

caterpillars and butterflies need to grow. Discuss responses as a group. Record them on chart paper.

• Continue reading to the end (page 31). Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle.



• Discuss the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle as a class. Create a diagram of a its life cycle like the one you made for a plant’s life cycle, starting with a title and a circle. o Discuss each stage, one at a time (Stage 1: Hatch; Stage 2:

Grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs; Stage 4: Die). Write the stage.

o Then ask students to explain what happens (e.g., butterflies lay eggs on leaves). Record information on the diagram. Draw a simple illustration (or use pictures copied from books or the Internet). Remind students to use their books as a resource.

• Revisit the KWL chart. Ask what students have learned about the life cycle of a butterfly and record responses in the L section. Check to see which of their questions were answered and if any remain that can be answered through discussion or consulting the book.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take

place during a butterfly’s life. You may assist some students by writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use the book to help them.

• Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe any changes since the previous observation. Ask them to follow the steps to record their observations in their science journals by drawing what they see and describing it in writing. Remind students of what makes a good observation. Assist students as needed.

Lesson 8 (45 minutes) A Frog’s Life Cycle Language Objectives • Students will discuss the stages of a frog’s life cycle. • Students will talk about how a frog’s life cycle compares to a

butterfly’s life cycle.

Targeted Academic Language • Frog, tadpole, mature Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Tell students they are going to learn about the life cycle of a

frog. • Ask students to help you to write the word frog. • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what

they know and what questions they have about the life cycle of a frog. Discuss responses as a group and record them in the K and W sections of a KWL chart about animal life cycles.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Tell students that you are going to read a book called Frogs,

by Gail Gibbons. Show the cover and distribute copies of the book to small groups of students.

• Begin reading on page 1 (before the actual title page -- “It is springtime at a pond.”). Stop after page 7. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how the life cycle of a frog begins. Discuss responses.

• Continue reading through page 11. Introduce the word tadpole. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what happens when tadpoles hatch from their eggs. Discuss responses, probing for clarification and elaboration.

• Read through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how tadpoles change as they grow and develop. Discuss responses, probing for clarification and elaboration.

• Continue reading through page 19. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what happens when tadpoles become frogs. Discuss responses.

• Introduce the word mature. Explain that animals must be mature (adult/grown up) to have babies -- the third stage in an animal’s life cycle.

• Ask students what happens at the end of a frog’s life. Explain that like all plants and animals, frogs die, but the life cycle continues with their eggs hatching and those tadpoles developing into frogs.



• On chart paper create a diagram of a frog’s life cycle (Stage 1: Begin as an egg; Stage 2: Grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs; Stage 4: Die) by drawing a circle and labeling the four stages (or search for an image to project). Invite students to help you to identify the stages.

• Next, students will work in groups of three to make posters explaining each stage of a frog’s life cycle. o Ask each student to write and draw about one of the

stages of growth. Show them how to label their pages (e.g., Stage 1: Begin as an egg) and then write and draw about that stage (e.g., Frogs lay eggs in water).

o Then, ask them to put their stage pages together on a piece of chart paper and add the fourth stage together to create a poster of the whole life cycle of a frog,.

o Pair groups with each other to take turns explaining their frog life cycle posters.

• Hang posters where everyone can see. Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Show students the diagram of a butterfly’s life cycle from

Lesson 8 and a diagram of a frog’s life cycle from Lesson 9. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what is similar and different about the two animals’ life cycles. Then ask for some examples of similarities and differences.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Students can listen to someone complete the reading of Frogs,

by Gail Gibbons, pages 20 through 29. Students can discuss one or two facts they each learned about a frog’s life.

• Print or project the image of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant. Children can compare this with contemporary photos of these animals. (There are also fanciful renditions of apes and monkeys as well as some animals only rumored to exist that could be used).

o Afterwards, ask students if they think the artist had ever actually seen a rhinoceros or elephant.

Lesson 9 (45 minutes) Making Observations Language Objectives • Students will discuss what to observe, including examples. • Students will discuss what tadpoles and frogs need to grow. • Students will talk about their observations of their bean

plants.

Targeted Academic Language • Height, texture Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Tell students that you are going to talk more today about

what makes a good observation. • Ask students to look at their science journals and think about

the details that they see as they watch their bean plants change over time. o Then, ask them to Turn and Talk with a partner about

what kinds of details they have been observing. Discuss responses as a group.

o Show the chart entitled: What to Observe. Make a list of the details that students have been observing and recording (e.g., size, color, shape, etc.). Prompt students as needed, using examples from their science journals.

• Introduce the word height. Note that height is something that changes a lot during the growth and development stage for both plants and animals.

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Tell students that you are going to read another book about

observing life cycles: Growing Frogs, by Vivian French and illustrated by Alison Bartlett. Distribute copies of the book to small groups of students.





• Show the cover and ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what the cover illustrations show. Discuss responses.

• Ask students to listen for the observations that the girl and her mother make about growing frogs.

• Begin reading. Stop after page 9. Ask students what observations the girl made. Read the sentence, “The water was dark brown and there was gray jelly stuff floating on the top.” Ask students what observations the mother made.

• Read the sentence, “The frogs were croaking so loudly, I couldn’t get to sleep.” Revisit the list of What to Observe. Ask students if they have anything to add (e.g., sounds). Note that while they might not hear much sound when observing plants, they might when observing animals (e.g., when frogs look for a mate).

• Read through page 13. Ask students what observations the girl made. Add “how many” to list of What to Observe. Ask if anyone has counted how many leaves a bean plant had and included that in their science journal.

• Continue reading through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what the girl observed.

• Read through page 17. Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what the girl observed on these pages.

• After reading through page 19, revisit the list of What to Observe. Ask students if they have anything to add (e.g., how something feels).

• Introduce the word texture. Ask if anyone has recorded observations of texture in their science journals (e.g., soaked beans were wrinkly on the outside and smooth on the inside).

• Continue reading through page 25. Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about the changes that the girl observed in the tadpoles as they changed into frogs while looking together at pages 22 through 24. Discuss responses.

• Read to the end (page 29). Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what tadpoles and frogs need to grow. Discuss responses as a group and record them on chart paper.

• Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take place during a frog’s life. You may assist some students by writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use both frog books to help them.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe

any changes since the previous observation. o Ask them to follow the steps to record their observations

in their science journals by drawing what they see and describing it in writing. Remind students of what they discussed earlier about what to observe. Assist students as needed.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Ask students to record observations of demonstration

plant(s) you started before beginning the unit. They can measure and compare the height of each of the demonstration plants with the height of the ones they planted.

• Ask them to review the T-chart about what they know about plants and animals growing old. Do they have anything to add about animals? Have they changed their minds about anything they may have suggested in earlier lessons?

• View a video of the life cycle of a frog from egg to life outside the water (2:49 minutes), narrated by a child of about kindergarten age: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs.

Lesson 10 (45 minutes) A Bird’s Life Cycle Language Objectives • Students will talk about the stages in bird’s life cycle. • Students will talk about what seeds and eggs have in

common.




• Students will discuss how the life cycles of birds, frogs, butterflies, and humans compare.

Targeted Academic Language • Rooster, hen, chick, yolk Lesson Opening (10 minutes) • Tell students that they are going to learn about the life cycle

of birds. • Ask them to Turn and Talk with a partner about what they

know, and what questions they have about the life cycle of a bird compared to a plant’s life cycle or to our life cycle. Discuss responses as a group and record them in K and W sections of the KWL chart about animal life cycles.

• Ask students to watch the “Hatching” video (http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/) and observe how the eagle parents care for their newly hatched chicks. Watch the last minute of the “Hatching” video (starting at 2:45) without the sound.

• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what they observed. What did the eagle parents do to take care of their chicks? Discuss responses as a group. o Ask students to compare what eagle parents do to take

care of their chicks with what their parents do to take care of them (e.g., feed them).

During the Lesson (25 minutes) • Distribute copies of One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury to small

groups of students. • Show the cover and ask students to Turn and Talk with their

groups about what they think the book is about, based on the cover illustrations. Discuss responses.

• Show the table of contents and explain that you can tell more about what is in a book from the table of contents. Ask students to turn to the table of contents and look at it while you read it aloud.

o Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what they think that they will learn about from this book.

• Explain that if you want to find where in the book a particular topic is explained, you can go directly to the page number listed. Show an example (e.g., find “Inside an Egg” in the contents, then turn to page 10). o Ask students to try it for themselves (e.g., ask students to

use the table of contents to find the page where hatching is explained).

• Read through page 9. Check to see if students know what roosters, hens, and chicks are and clarify if necessary. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about how a chicken’s life cycle begins.

• Continue reading through page 13. Introduce the word yolk. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about how seeds and eggs are similar (e.g., they both need warmth to start growing; they both include stored food for the new life that is developing). Discuss responses as a group.

• After reading through page 17, ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what is alike and what is different about the hatching of chicks, tadpoles, and caterpillars. Discuss responses as a group.

• Continue reading through page 21. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what chickens need to grow. Discuss responses as a group and record them on chart paper.

• Ask students what happens at the end of a chicken’s life. Explain that like all plants and animals, chickens die, but the life cycle continues with their eggs hatching and those chicks maturing into roosters and hens that will have eggs (and chicks) of their own. o Note that chickens, and most birds, go through several

egg-laying cycles and may live beyond that. Correct any misconceptions that chickens (or other birds) die after one generation of chicks.

• Ask students to compare how long chickens live (3 to 7 years) with how long humans live (78-79 years on average).





• Ask students to help you to make a diagram of the life cycle of a bird by explaining each stage as you record it (Stage 1: Egg; Stage 2: Hatch, grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs; Stage 4: Die). Draw simple illustrations (or use pictures copied from books or search for pictures on the Internet).

• Review the life cycle diagrams for butterflies, frogs, and birds. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how they compare. How are they alike? How are they different?

• Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take place during a chicken’s life. You may assist some students by writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use the book to help them.

Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Place all life cycle diagrams in view. Ask students to think

about the life cycles of plants and animals and how they are alike. o Ask them to Turn and Talk about Essential Question 1:

Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives? Discuss responses as a group and record them on anchor chart for Essential Question 1.

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Show students the Decorah eagles' nest via live webcam:

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html. The “About the Eagles” button will take you to video links (e.g., “04/07/2014: 3rd Eaglet Hatches in Decorah”) to view historic moments in young eagles’ lives.

• Return to the site from time to time to keep tabs on the birth and growth process. (This could be on ongoing activity for the science center beyond the time of this unit.)

Lesson 11 (45 minutes) What Animals and Plants Need to Grow Language Objectives • Students will talk about the stages of different animals’ life

cycles. • Students will discuss how animal life cycles compare to plant

life cycles and to each other. • Students will talk about their observations of their bean

plants. Targeted Academic Language • Born, young, adult Lesson Opening (5 minutes) • Show the “Hatchlings and Newborns” video (1:45 minutes):

http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/.

• Ask students to Turn and Talk about how the beginning of an animal’s life cycle compares to the beginning of a plant’s life cycle. How are they similar? How are they different? Discuss responses as a group.

During the Lesson (15 minutes) • Distribute copies of the book Animal Life Cycles, by Anita

Ganeri, to small groups of students. Show students the book’s cover and read the title. Ask them to Turn and Talk with a partner about what the cover picture shows and why they think it was chosen.

• Read through page 7. Introduce the word young, including its use as both an adjective and a noun. Ask students what “have their own young” means. Discuss responses as a group and record them on chart paper.

• Continue reading through page 13. Introduce the word adult, explaining that adult animals are full grown (or mature) and ready to have their own babies.







o Ask students if this is at all similar to a plant’s life cycle (i.e., mature and ready to make seeds).

• Ask students to compare the illustrations on pages 10 and 12, then Turn and Talk with their groups about what is different about the two types of insect life cycles. Discuss responses as a group, clarifying understanding as needed. o Ask students which type of insect life cycle a butterfly has

(it starts as a larva, meaning in a different form from the parent).

• Continue reading. Stop after page 17. Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about the similarities and differences between how fish and frogs hatch (e.g., both hatch from eggs in water, but fish look like their parents; frogs start out in a different form and look like fish). Discuss responses as a group, clarifying understanding as needed.

• Review charts from previous lessons about animals about what butterflies, frogs, and chickens need to grow. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they think all animals, including us, need to grow. Discuss responses as a group and record them on a chart, entitled, What Animals Need to Grow. Clarify that all animals need food, water, and air to grow.

• Return to and review the chart, What Plants Need to Grow. • Ask students to Turn and Talk about comparing what

animals need to grow and what plants need to grow. Discuss responses as a group, addressing what is similar and what is different (e.g., both plants and animals need food to grow, but plants make their own food, while animals eat plants or other animals).

Lesson Closing (15 minutes) • Read the remainder of Animal Life Cycles (pages 18-page 29),

answering questions as they come up. • Ask students to help you to make a diagram titled “Animal

Life Cycle” by explaining each stage as you record it (Stage 1: Begin – emerge from eggs or live birth; Stage 2: Grow and develop; Stage 3: Have eggs/babies; Stage 4: Old age and death).

o Encourage them to use vocabulary that has been introduced to describe what is common across life cycles of all animals (e.g., Stage 1: Begin – animals hatch from eggs or are born from their mother’s bodies).

Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe

any changes since the last observation. Ask them to follow the steps for making a good observation as they draw what they see and write in their science journals. Assist them as needed.

• Show the charts of diagrams of a plant’s life cycle and an animal’s life cycle side by side. Ask students to Turn and Talk about how they are alike and how they are different.

• Discuss responses as a group. Revisit the anchor chart for Essential Question 1: Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives? Ask if students have anything to add.

Lesson 12 (45 minutes) CEPA Note: If needed this lesson can take more than one day. Language Objectives • Students will talk about what animal life cycles have in

common and how they compare to plant life cycles. • Students will discuss whether plants get old. Targeted Academic Language • Old, common Lesson Opening (10-15 minutes) • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about the

following questions: o What happens to people or animals when they get old?



o Does the same thing happen to people as happens to animals? What happens to plants?

o How do you know? During the Lesson (25-30 minutes) • Discuss the CEPA instructions with students. (Students will

write, dictate and/or draw a response to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way animals do? and explain their thinking). o Give students some time to review books, videos, their

own science journals and think about how they to write and draw their answer to the Essential Question.

o Give students a chance to write, draw, or dictate their response.

o Ask students if they have anything to add to what they wrote or said about how people, plants and animals growing old.

o Give students a chance to share their responses. Note the importance of specific details, and evidence.

o Discuss some of the responses, probing for elaboration and clarification to check comprehension.

• After work is finished, have students take their responses to display or share with their fellow students in a designated area.

• Provide sufficient time for students to review, discuss and ask/answer questions about each other’s work.

Lesson Closing (5 minutes) • Ask students to review what they have done in their science

journals so far, and think about Essential Question 3: How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking? o Revisit the anchor chart for this Essential Question.

Lesson and Unit Closing • To finish the unit on the life cycles of plants and animals, ask

students to discuss Essential Question 1: Do plants and animals go through the same changes during their lives?

• Give each student his or her plant to take home, with brief instructions to ensure that each plant needs to have water and light.



Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA) Teacher Instructions

Performance Task (PT): Students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals do? Students can use a combination of drawing, writing, and dictating to answer this question. With teacher guidance and support, they use their science journals, their own knowledge, books read, and videos seen as sources to explain and support their claim and reasoning with evidence. On the final day, they display their responses to some of their peers, and answer questions about their response. Goal: The goal is for students to explain their claim as well as demonstrating their observation skills and their understanding of the life cycles of plants and animals. Audience: Students will share their response with each other, their teachers, and their families. Directions: Although this exercise builds on the entire unit, the specific task is done over Lessons 12. • Arrange for assistance (e.g., assistants, specialists, volunteers) to help students with dictation and writing, and for the display and question

and answer activity. • Decide how to divide the class into small groups in which students can display, explain, discuss and answer questions about their responses to

the Essential Question. Each student should visit only one to three other students’ displays. • Physically arrange the classroom for students to display their work and discuss it in small groups. • Decide on the approximate amount time for students (or small groups) to review and ask questions about each others’ science journals. Standards Assessed Science K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow. K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow, produce young, and die. English Language Arts CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.



Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA) Student Instructions

Performance Task (PT): You will use your science journal to respond to the question: Do plants grow old the way animals do? You can review books, videos, your own science journal, and your observations of your own plant and other plants we looked at in class. You may write or dictate your answer, and illustrate your work. Goal: Is to explain your idea and to show your observation skills, your understanding of what plants and animals need to grow, and your understanding of the life cycles of plants and animals. Audience: The audience is your classmates, teacher and family. Directions • Think and look at the books we read and the videos we watched, the activities in the science center, and your

own science journal about the life cycles of plants and animals. • Using pictures and words, explain your answer to the question: Do plants get old the same way that animals do?

and how you know. • On the last day, you and your classmates will visit each other to discuss your science journals in small groups.

You will have a chance to explain your ideas and ask questions about others’ ideas.



CEPA Rubric Science journals: observations and explanations

4 Exceeds Expectations 3 Meets expectations 2 Developing 1 Emerging

Idea development

Students make a claim and explain their reasoning with evidence. Written/dictated/drawn observations and explanations include key ideas about aging and life cycles and include specific supporting evidence.

Students make a claim and explain their reasoning with evidence. Written/dictated/drawn observations and explanations identify ideas about aging and life cycles are organized and include some supporting evidence.

Students make a claim and provide some explanation of their reasoning with evidence. Written/dictated/drawn observations and explanations include some ideas and organization, and include related details or evidence

Students make a claim and provide little explanation of their reasoning or evidence. Written/dictated/drawn observations and explanations show little organization and few details or little/no evidence.

Scientific accuracy Observations and explanations pertaining to the life cycles of plants and animals are thorough and accurate.

Most of the observations and explanations about the life cycles of plants and animals are accurate.

Some observations and explanations of the life cycles of plants and animals are accurate

Observations and explanation of the life cycles of plants and/or animals are minimal.

Vocabulary and language

Academic vocabulary and language are used to convey ideas clearly and descriptively.

Academic vocabulary and language are relevant and convey ideas clearly.

Occasional use of academic vocabulary and language helps convey ideas.

Academic vocabulary or language is minimal, incorrect or unclear.

Illustrations

Drawings/illustrations include specific details that are clear and accurate.

Drawings/illustrations include details that are mostly accurate.

Some drawings/illustrations include some details that reflect the subject.

Drawings/illustrations include few details and/or inaccurate.



Unit Resources All Lessons (1-6) Recommended texts for students (optional additional reading): • How a Seed Grows, by Helene Jordan • Once There Was a Seed, by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon • A Bean’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann • From Bean to Bean Plant, by Anita Ganeri • From Seed to Apple, by Anita Ganeri Teacher Resources • Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL Extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html • “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seed/from-seed-to-fruit/ • “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-seed-to-fruit-interactive/ • “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd.sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/ • Various plant videos: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets • Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and animals:

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/ • Royal Society Print Shop: http://prints.royalsociety.org/: a bean sprouting (1675)

(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting) or the phases of a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum)

Materials • Recommended: one or more demonstration plants started prior to the unit • Science journals (for all students) • Materials for the science center • Chart paper and markers • Drawing/writing tools • Students’ sprouting and developing beans (or other seeds)












Lesson 1 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • One Bean, by Anne Rockwell Websites • “Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse” (1:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk and/or “Fantastic Nature

Photography of Plant Growth of Brambles” (1:38): http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304 • Germinator activity instructions: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html • “Germinator” video (2:10): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/ Materials • For growing seeds:

o seeds (e.g., presoaked beans) o clear bags with zip tops or plastic cups o paper towels or black construction paper o watering cans or containers (Lesson 1)

• Dried beans (Lesson 1) and other a collection of other seeds (for science center) Lesson 2 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons Materials • A flowering plant (ideally a lily, daffodil, tulip, iris, or other flower with visible pollen) • Presoaked beans Lesson 3 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri







Websites • “From Seed to Flower” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/ Materials • Germinating beans Lesson 4 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer Websites • “Flower Power” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-

105e84f2511f/ Materials • Several apples, cut in half Lesson 5 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett

Lesson 6 Materials • Large plastic cups (one per student) • Potting soil






All Lessons (7-12) Recommended text for students (optional additional reading): • Once There Was a Caterpillar, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordo • From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Anita Ganeri • From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Bari Weisman • A Frog’s Life, by Ellen Lawrence • From Tadpole to Frog, by Anita Ganeri • Once There Was a Tadpole, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordon • A Chicken’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann • From Egg to Chicken, by Anita Ganeri Materials • Chart paper and markers • Science/observation journals • Bean plants (grown in previous lessons) Lesson 7 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • Born to Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace Lessons 8 and 9 Text (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • Frogs, by Gail Gibbons • Growing Frogs, by Vivian French, illustrated by Alison Bartlett Websites • Optional: frog jokes, frog games, and the like: http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml. Growing and raising frogs: see, for example:

http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/ • Information about raising frogs: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/ • Optional: A frog’s life from egg to life on land, narrated by a child of about kindergarten age:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs • For science center: print(s) of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575):

http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant, and contemporary photos of both animals.


http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml






Lesson 10 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury Websites • “Hatching” video (eagle): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/ • Raptor Resource Project, Decorah Eagle Cam: http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html Lessons 11 and 12 Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book) • Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri Websites • “Hatchlings and Newborns” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/ Teacher Resource • Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including some information about death of plants, insects and animals:







life cycles: content literacy sciencemillriverschools.org/documents/drivesync/curriculum...

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