Organisms
Lesson 3
Planting our Seeds
Lesson 3 gives students the opportunity to plant one of the four types of seeds and to then observe the resulting plants as they move through the life cycle. This lesson also provides students with the opportunity to record data about the changes in their plants and the experience of caring for a living thing. Students EXPLORE and begin to REFLECT.
3. Lesson set up and Management
SYSTEMS GLE 1.1.6 Understand characteristics of living organisms: identify observable characteristics of living organisms and observe and describe characteristics of living organisms.
SYSTEMS GLE 1.2.7 Understand that plants and animals have life cycles: observe and describe the life cycle of a plant or animal.
INQUIRY GLE 2.1.1 Understand how to ask a question about objects, organisms and events in the environment: Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events based on observations of the natural world.
INQUIRY GLE 2.1.5 Understand how to record and report investigations, results, and explanations
INQUIRY GLE 2.2.2 Understand that observations and measurement are used by scientists to describe the world.
- Students will explore the needs of living things and plant seeds
- Students will predict what will happen to their seeds
- Students will record seed growth and changes in drawings and words
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
- It is important to moisten the seed starter before students attempt to plant. If the seed starter is dry it is difficult to work with. Fill a gallon Ziploc type bag about 2/3 full of seed starter and add about ½ cup of water. Knead the seed starter from the outside of the bag. Add more water until it is moist and clumps but not until it is soggy. Then the bag can be sealed to keep soil moist until needed. The class many need two or three bags of soil prepared this way.
- Assemble a plastic bag with the planting materials (planter cup, 3 seeds of same type, plastic spoon, paper towel) ahead of time. Have students save the bag to use as a mini "greenhouse" during the first few days of plant growth.
- One of the three seeds need not be a plantable seed as it will be taped to the side of the cup.
- Don't forget to make a few small holes in the bottom of the cups for drainage. Don’t forget that this means the plants will need to be placed in a tray or on paper towels as they may drain.
Student Management:
- Instead of colored dots on each student cup, have them write their names on the cup directly and have four colored plastic picnic plates for students to place similar planter cups upon: white, blue, red, and yellow. Since a sample of the seed type planted is taped on the cup it is easy to group cups by seed type instead of colored dot. If students write their names directly on the cup instead of on a colored dot be sure it is written above the soil line and do not place seeds so that the name (or dot) hides the seed. Also, tape the seed on the outside well below where the seeds are placed so that the taped seed does not hide the planted seeds.
- If possible spread plant groups out somewhat to avoid a traffic jam in retrieving them to observe and in caring for them.
Use colored plastic plates to group like planted cups.
Keep spray bottles near each plant type so
students can water plants as an entry task.
- It is important to circle the seed placement where they are planted right against the cup wall as they can be hard to spot. Interestingly seeds move at times as they are watered or shifted as the plant grows and the circle can be a point of reference for the initial placement and subsequent movement.
- Run copies of the Planting Cards if they will be used. Some teachers have students write the same information and observations in their science notebooks.
- This lesson gives the step by step process for leading students through planting the seeds. Use an extra planting cup and model each step and then have the students do that step before moving to the next.
- Students can draw and write periodic observations of plant growth in their science notebooks. This will give them more room to draw and write than the extension recording sheet provided in the unit materials.
- Planting guidelines table:
Seed
Days to Germination
Planting Depth
Kidney Bean
4-8
2.5 cm (about 1 in.)
Pea
5-10
2.5 cm (about 1 in.)
Sunflower
5-10
1.3 cm (about ½ in.)
Pumpkin
5-10
2.5 cm (about 1 in.)
- It is important to keep the soil moist but not wet. Tell students to stick their fingers gently into the soil in the center of their planter cups. If the soil sticks to their fingers or feels moist the plant does not need water.
- Plants should be placed near a window. While they don’t necessarily need the sunlight in the germination phase they do need warmth.
- As plants get taller you many need to prop them against a planter stick and gently fasten them to the stick with a plastic ring. This is hard for children to do without breaking the stems and the teacher may need an adult to do this.
- Once the true leaves emerge teachers should skip ahead and teach lesson 6. They can then return to Lessons 4 and 5 if those haven’t been taught.
Writing Support:
- Have students document the changes in their plants by writing the observation information and drawing labeled diagrams in their science notebooks.
- Students can practice procedural writing by writing a logically sequenced set of directions for planting the seed after they have planted the seed. This begins the skill of writing a logical procedure that they will need for the science WASL.
Reading Support:
- The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss is a book that is readable by first graders and second graders. It tells the story of a little boy planting a seed.
- Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehler is a very colorful very simple book about planting flowers.
- How a Seed Grows by Helen Jordan combines planting activities with text to explain how a kidney bean grows.
Math Support:
- Have students use rulers, Unifix cubes or centimeter cubes to measure plant height at various intervals as it grows. They can then create a plant growth bar graph to illustrate that growth.
Students measure plant growth periodically.
Students draw labeled diagrams and
write about their plant's growth.
