Lesson Plan 2
Plant growth
Growth conditions – plants need light and water
Drop and drag activity – 1 page (page 6 of flipchart)
Discuss the conditions a plant needs to grow using the picture as stimulus – 1 page (page 7 of flipchart)
Objectives
To know that plants grow from a seed; that flowering plants produce seeds; that seeds can be bought from local garden centres in packets; that plants need light and water to grow.
Desirable Outcomes/National Curriculum
KS1 Science: ‘Green plants and organisms’ “…that plants need light and water to grow” “…that flowering plants grow and produce seeds which, in turn, produce new plants”
KS1 Scientific Enquiry: ‘The Nature of Science’ “to ask questions about their ideas in science, e.g.…what happens if a plant has no water”
‘Knowledge and Understanding of the World’ “Children should have experience of …living things”
Resources
If possible, packets of seeds and real flowers for the children to handle, touch, smell and talk about.
Introduction
Ask the children what they know about the life of a plant – have they ever planted seeds with a member of their family? In school? What did they need to do to make sure that their plant grew?
Group Work
Whole class - use page 6 of the flipchart. Choose a child to put the pictures into the correct order (as decided by the group) by selecting, dragging and dropping each picture into the boxes provided. Talk about each picture as you go through the sequence. Use target vocabulary such as: seed packet, seeds, germination, growth, plant, water, flower, healthy, etc. Now turn to page 7 of the flipchart. Use the picture as a stimulus to talk about what a plant needs in order to grow. The children can click on the watering can and drag and ‘tip’ it over the plant.
The children could work in small groups planting seeds in pots both indoors and outside. They could look after the plants and keep a diary, either pictorial or both pictorial and written, of the growth of the seeds.
Individual work
Look at the packets of seeds you have in class. Each child could design and make a seed packet.
Plenary
Ask the children to draw or talk about the growth of a plant. What sort of information would they expect to note in their group diaries.