Title: How Do Plants Grow?

Grade Level: 3, 4, 5

Subject: Science

Technology Integration: PowerPoint Presentation, Digital Imaging, Video Production

Recommended Time to Completion: Planting and Recording Growth - 10 days (20-30 minutes a day) for recording data and making observations. Multimedia Presentation - 5 days (40 minutes a day) for multimedia presentation after the tenth day.

INTRODUCTION:

What would happen to a plant if it did not receive sunlight or water? Are there certain things needed for a plant to grow? Students will study the conditions needed to obtain growth from a plant and create a multimedia presentation that explains the growth.

PREREQUISITE EXPERIENCE:

Students should have covered the concepts of measurement in centimeters, and making and reading line graphs prior to the lesson.

TEACHER PREP TIME: 1-2 Hours

Teacher should be comfortable using Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Movie Maker and a digital camcorder.

http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/PowerPoint_Presentations/

http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Video_Productions/ http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Imaging/

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx

http://www.niu.edu/~lynch/camcorder.pdf

MATERIALS:

Digital Camera

Digital Camcorder

Laptop cart (enough for each pair of students to share one)

Lima Beans

Clear plastic cups

Potting Soil

Rulers

Observation Journal (attached file)

PROJECT:

Students will experiment growing plants in two different conditions – one with good light, one with little to no light. They will record and chart the growth of each plant daily and create a spreadsheet with the data, and eventually a line graph showing change over time. Students will then create a multimedia performance using digital video, time-lapse photos of their plants and the data from their experiment to share with other classes.

ASSESSMENT/GRADING:

Student work will be evaluated using the attached rubrics. There is one for the entire project, and another for the multimedia presentation.

TIME MANAGEMENT TIP:

Students should be placed in table groups for the entirety of this project. These groups should be a racially diverse group of students ranging in academic ability. Consideration should be given to pairs of students that work well to help and challenge each other.

Engage

Activity 1

Teachers: Begin your lesson explaining the importance of plants to our environment. You may use some of the videos and web sites listed below for reference material.

· Growing Plants: Science in a School Garden. AIMS Multimedia. 2003.
unitedstreaming. 15 January 2008
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

· How Plants Grow. 100% Educational Videos. 1998.
unitedstreaming. 15 January 2008
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

· Plant Life Cycles. 100% Educational Videos. 2002.
unitedstreaming. 15 January 2008
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

· Importance of Plants, The. 100% Educational Videos. 2002.
unitedstreaming. 15 January 2008
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

“Discovery Education streaming is a digital video-on-demand and online teaching service to help improve students' retention and test scores; it is aligned to U.S. state and provincial standards.” If you do not have access to United Streaming, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial at www.unitedstreaming.com

Students: What does a plant need to grow?

You will work together with the other students in your group to answer this question: What does a plant need to grow? Your group will be responsible for making a poster that shows using pictures or tells using words what a plant needs. Everyone in your group will be able to participate.

You will share your poster with the class. When every group has given shared, you will be asked to discuss in your group this question: What would happen if a plant did not get one of these things? (Example: the plant did not receive light)

Each group will be asked to make a prediction about what would happen if a plant did not receive one of the items discussed above. Illustrate your group’s prediction.

What kind of experiment would show what would happen to plants that are grown in a well lit environment versus plants grown in a dark environment?

Write down your ideas.

Teachers: It is important that you listen to and record the ideas of the students so they have ownership on the project.

Explore

Activity 2

Planting Lima Beans

Each student will be responsible for planting one lima bean. You will view a PowerPoint and follow the directions given. The directions have pictures for each step so everyone can participate.

(See: How to Plant Lima Beans, which is available at the Nortel LearniT web site location for this lesson plan.)

You may work in small groups or pairs and help each other. Ask your teacher if you need any further assistance.

When you are finished planting your seed, you will need to make your first observations in your Observation Journal. This is explained in the directions of the handout. You can write what you observe and any predictions you have at this point.

(See: Observation Journal, which is available at the Nortel LearniT web site location for this lesson plan)

You will place your cup in the pre-selected area that the teacher has set up.

Teachers: There will be a light section and a dark section. Each section will have the letters A, B, C…M, so that there are two plants with the letter A, B, C…M, (one of each in the lighted section, one in the dark) and so on. This will generate pairs of students to work together for the project. The student with the “Light A” will work with the student with the “Dark A.” There should be an even number of plants, so if there are any that do not have a pair, you can use the teacher model to make the extra one needed.

Time-lapse photography -

Time lapse photography is when you take pictures or a short video from the exact same spot several times over an extended amount of time. Then the images are strung together using animation to give the illusion of growth or movement. For this project, we will set up the video camera on “Interval Recording” so that it takes images at the same time (2:30pm, for example). At the end of 10 days, we will be able to see a time-lapse of the lima bean growth.

Set up a digital camera on a tripod so that all of the plants are visible in one frame. You, or a student, will need to take a picture of the plants each day at or around the same time. It is very important that the camera stays in one position for the entire time, so that the time-lapse photo is most accurate.

Activities 3-10

Students: Over the next 8-10 days, you will make daily observations and take measurements of your plants. You will work with your partner to complete this. After taking the measurements, you will record the height of each of the plants in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, and then write your observations in their Observation Journal.

Here is a blank worksheet you can use as a template.

(See: Plant Height Graph – Blank, which is available at the Nortel LearniT web site location for this lesson plan)

At the end of the 10 days, using Excel, create a line graph to show your results. To give you some ideas, here is an example of a completed worksheet with a line graph of the results.

See attachment: Plant Height Graph – Teacher Example)

Teacher: It is important to check with each student each day to make sure that their observation journal and their spreadsheet show the same information.

For the remainder of the 10 days, make sure there are 20-30 minutes each day to make observations and record new data. Students should be able to do this independently.

Explain

Create a multimedia presentation. Examples are PowerPoint presentations, movie with Windows Movie Maker or a news broadcast that describes the project and shows what you’ve learned. You will present your projects to the class. Other students and teachers may ask you questions about your project.

Use the references below for help in creating this presentation.

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/PowerPoint_Presentations/

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Video_Productions/

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Imaging/

Each presentation will need to cover all questions asked and be at least 3 minutes in length.

Elaborate

Students: At the end of the 10 days, you will have 10 days of observations in your Observation Journal, a time-lapse animation of the growth, an Excel spreadsheet with data and a line graph that shows the two plants growth over 10 days.

You will meet with your partner to discuss the results. With your partner, discuss these questions:

1 – Look at your Observation Journal. What were your predictions at the beginning of this project?

2 – How were the results like/unlike your predictions?

3 – Why do you think one plant grew more than the other?

4 – If you were to plant lima beans at your house, describe the ideal environment.

These questions will need to be answered in your multimedia presentation.

Explain

Use the references below for help in creating this presentation.

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/PowerPoint_Presentations/

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Video_Productions/

· http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Imaging/

Each presentation will need to cover all questions asked and be at least 3 minutes in length.

Evaluate

Student work will be evaluated using the following rubrics.

Plant Growth over Time

4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Organization / Observation Journal and Excel spreadsheet are completed neatly. / Observation Journal and Excel spreadsheet are mostly completed neatly. / Some of the Observation Journal and Excel spreadsheet are completed neatly. / Very little of the Observation Journal and Excel spreadsheet are completed neatly.
Timeliness / Used all of his/her time wisely. / Used most of his/her time wisely. / Used some of his/her time wisely. / Used very little of his/her time wisely.
Cooperation / Worked with partners and made a strong team with each other. / Worked with partners and made good choices on his/her own. / Worked with partners with adult support. / Would not work with partners.
Comprehension / Understands content and can explain to other people clearly. / Mostly understands content and can explain to other people. / Understands some of the content, but has 1-2 misunderstandings. / Understands very little of the content and is unable to explain it to other people.

Name ______

Total Score _____

(out of 16

Multimedia Presentation

~ Plant Growth over Time ~

4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Content / Understanding of is correct and student made insightful observations. / Understanding of plant growth is mostly correct. / Understanding of plant growth is partly correct, but with 1-2 major errors. / Understanding of plant growth is minimal.
Length / 3-4 minutes / 2 minutes / 1 minute / Shorter than 1 minute, or longer than 5 minutes.
Presentation / Presentation is well-rehearsed, clear and keeps audience attention. / Presentation is clear, but student needed a little more practice. / Presentation is a little hard to follow. / Presentation is very hard to follow.

Name ______

Total Score _____

(out of 12)

Extend

Consider extending this activity using any of these suggestions:

Continue observations for another week (or other amount of time) and update your presentation to reflect the new data. What new information did you discover? How did your plant develop?

Have you ever heard of talking to your plants to help them grow? Or do plants outside grow better than plants indoors? Plan an experiment that charts the height of plants in different environments (plants growing with classical music playing vs. plants with no music, plants inside vs. outside, etc.)

Invite other classrooms to come and see your presentation. Hold a question and answer session afterwards.

Create a webpage that has links your presentations, making sure there is no personal or identifying information.

http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Webpage_Creation/

Using the data collected, find the average height of all of the plants in the lighted section, and of all of the plants in the dark section.

Teach the song “A Plant Will Grow” from

http://www.songsforteaching.com/

Have students choreograph dance moves to accompany the song and perform it for another class.

“A Plant Will Grow”

My plants are growing, from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
Just plant a seed, and when you're done
Give it air and water and lots of sun
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
A seed sprouts a root, isn't that cute?
My plants are growing, from the roots and the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
It grows some roots, which uncoil
To soak up nutrients from the soil
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
Plants grow a stem, every one of them!
My plants are growing, from the stems to the roots from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
At first just a tiny stem is seen
You know it's growing 'cause it's green
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
Look what the stem achieves - it's growing some leaves!
My plants are growing,
from the leaves to the stems to the roots from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
The leaves get bigger by the hour
Then it might grow fruit, it might grow a flower
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
From the fruit or the flower
to the leaves
to the stem
to the roots
from the seeds down in the ground
And now you know - just how a plant will grow!

Related Resources:

http://www.funbrain.com/measure/index.html

The Great Plant Escape:

This web site lets kids find clues and solve plant mysteries with Detective LePlant and his partners Bud and Sprout. This web site is geared for 4th/5th grade, but high achieving 3rd graders would enjoy this.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/index.html

Books:

3D Eyewitness: Plant
by Theresa Greenaway

A Seed Grows

by Pamela Hickman

Edward Plants a Garden: A Busy Little Hands Book
by Dale Gottlieb

Dig and Sow! : How Do Plants Grow?
by Janice Lobb

http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/Science/HowPlantsGrow/HowPlantsGrow.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/3715/root2.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/plants_grow.shtml