Kids, Fun,..... and Science?

Lesson Details

Introduction

The lesson began with introducing Sabrina and I to the class and explaining our reasons for teaching the lesson that day.   We described the purpose of the lesson, which was to teach about the different parts of a plant, how plants grow, and why they are important.  We also wrote the objectives on the board for future reference.

Plant Parts and Functions

We began the first lesson with a diagram of a strawberry plant.   We asked the class to name the various parts of a plant and as they listed them we wrote the names on the diagram.  We then asked them to explain what the function of each part of the plant was including; the stem, leaf, roots, seeds, flower, and fruit.  We then discussed each of the responses. 

So that the children could see the developing roots and leaves of a plant, we passed around two test tubes containing potato plants that have been grown in tissue culture media. 

Story

A story was read to the class about what plants need to grow.   The story was by J. E. Mincure and was called What Plants Need - The Rabbit Who Knew.  The story was about a rabbit who thought that every plant needed watering twice a day, needed bright sunlight, and needed to be pruned.  The moral of this story was that not all plants need the same things and they each should be treated differently.   After reading the story, we asked the children follow up questions about what was read. Such as “So what do plants need to grow?” and “Has anyone ever taken care of a plant before?”  We also asked a question about things plants need that wasn’t mentioned in the story –mainly soil, fertilizer, and nutrients.

Lesson on soil, using the apple analogy

We then discussed the presence of soil around us and how important it is for growing plants.   We used the handout "Soil is not dirt" to show all the components that make up the soil and also used the pictures as a sheet for the class to color. 

We then talked about the amount of land used for food production and how this is a small quantity with respect to the entire world.  We used the apple analogy to explain this concept.  By making a giant apple out of bristol board, we used it to represent the world and how much of the world is actually used to produce food. 

First the apple was cut into four equal fractions; three quarters of the fractions were representative of the water in the world and were discarded.  The quarter that remained was then cut into two equal halves, one half was removed because it was the deserts, swamps, arctic, and mountains, areas where food production is limited. The half that was left was then cut into four fractions; three of those fractions represent areas that are too rocky, too wet, too dry, or too poor for production.  The peel of the apple for the remaining fraction represents the tiny amount of soil on the earth that is used to grow food for the entire world.  Based on this demonstration we then asked the class what they thought of this and what that means about the importance of keeping our soil (and the environment) clean.

Vegetable Lesson

We then wanted to discuss with the class about the types of fruits and vegetables that we eat as food.  We asked questions to the class about vegetables/fruits such as “Does anyone know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?” or   “Has anyone ever eaten a flower/root?”  We then passed out different vegetables that are representative of each part of the plant, including broccoli (flower), radishes (root), strawberries (seeds and fruit), brussel sprouts (leaf), and potato (stem). 

An activity for the class was to divide the class into groups and give each group a set of pictures, depicting different vegetables/fruits.  They then had to decide which part of the plant the vegetable was from.  We then asked them to come up and place each card on a chart into different categories depending on what part they are eating (stem, leaf, etc.).   The chart was then corrected with the help of the class.

Song

We sang with the class, “The Roots of the Plant” to the tune of the wheels on the bus song.  We passed out the words to each child and also followed along on the board.

The roots of a plant grow underground.
Underground, underground.     
The roots of a plant grow underground,
Roots are part of a plant. 

The stems on a plant hold up the leaves,           
Up the leaves, up the leaves.    
The stems on a plant hold up the leaves,           
Stems are part of a plant. 

The leaves on a plant are making food, 
Making food, making food.      
The leaves on a plant are making food, 
Leaves are part of a plant. 

The flowers on a plant are growing seeds,        
Growing seeds, growing seeds,
The flowers on a plant are growing seeds,        
Flowers are part of a plant.  

Planting

Each child then was allowed to plant his/her own marigold plant in a pot to take home.  They filled each pot with soil, placed the plant in the soil, and watered them.  We asked them questions about what the soil felt like and how they liked planting, while they were doing the activity.  The children had many questions about the care of the plant and didn’t want to over water or give it too much sunlight as in the story we had read them.

Finishing Up

Finally we asked the class to tell us what they had learned today about plants and vegetables.  They seemed to really enjoy the lesson and we got a big thank you from the entire class. 

We were also told by the teacher that, the class would draw us pictures of what they had learned and write us thank you notes.  We are excited to see the pictures and notes from the class.