Date: 9/5/2017

Grade: 3
Teacher Name: Leanne Thiec
Subject: Science
1. Topic- Botany: Plant Life Cycle

2. Content-
key terms:
germinate: when a seed starts to grow
seedling: a tiny new plant that comes out of the seed
life cycle: the stages an organism or living thing goes through during its life.
(It begins with a seed. The seed will sprout and produce a seedling. The
seedling will grow into a mature plant. The mature plant will reproduce by
formingnew seeds which will begin the next life cycle.)
roots: anchor the plant in the ground and absorb water and minerals from
the ground
absorb: soak up
leaves: make food for the plant. They take in carbon dioxide and release
oxygen into the air.
stem: holds up or supports the plant. It has many thin tubes that carry
water, minerals, and food to other parts of the plants.
flower: part of a plant that makes seeds.
photosynthesis: the process that plants use to make food. the plant turns
sunlight, chlorophyll and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen.

3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-

1. Students understand the cycle of a plant’s life.

2. Students will understand the parts of a plant.
3. Students will know that plants need water, soil, and sunshine to survive.
4. Students will understand the germination process.

4. Objectives- By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. identify and label parts of a plant.

2. define germination. Also, they will be able to identify, sequence, and
analyze the stages of germination.
4. identify and investigate the needs of a plant.
5. participate in a cooperative lesson.
6. reflect on observations.
5. Materials and Aids-

1. Youtube time lapse video of plants sprouting

2. Examples of plant parts for students to feel/touch.
3. plant life cycle poster
4. blank cycle worksheets
5. pencils
6. seeds, soil, pre labeled paper cups for planting
7. pre marked popsicle sticks with students' name
8. live plant and dead plant
9. 5’ string for each group
10. White paper for each student.
11. observation journals for students

6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-
1. Present a dying or dead potted plant. Explain to the students that you just
do not know what happened! You got this plant as a gift, you put it on a
table, and with in a few weeks, it died. What could be wrong with it?
(needed light, needed water, needed dead-headed...)

2. Next present another plant that is green and healthy. What can i do to
keep this one alive? Where did it come from to begin with? (seed)

3. Mention these are house plants. Discuss with students such things as:
"What are other types of plants we may see?" and "Where do we see plants
grow?”

B. Development-
1. Randomly give students of two types of seeds. (A sunflower seed and a
bean seed.) State: I have this seed. Where can I plant it? (Take answers like
in the ground, in a pot) (Allow students to plant theirs in individual paper
cups.) (Have a popsicle stick with each student's name pre-labeled on it to
identify their planted seed.)

2. What do I need to do now? (Yell at it to grow? Ignore it?) (Demonstrate

watering it. Discuss giving it proper light) (Have students water their seed
using 1/2 cup measuring cup.) (Demonstrate that rulers will be used to
measure the plant’s growth.)

Activity:
*Teacher: be sure there is no poison ivy in the observation areas.

1. Divide students into small groups.

2. Each student will have an observation/record journal.
3. Each group will have a magnifying glass, a white paper, a crayon, and a
string 5’ long.
4. Outside, students will “mark off” their observation area by making a
circle with the string.
5. Students will record what they observe from their observation area.
6. Students will do a crayon rubbing of one plant specimen.
7. The group will collectively choose one plant specimen to take back to the
classroom.
8. Upon returning to class, students will draw their specimen. Students will
label their parts. (pre-assessment)
9. Students will glue their crayon rubbing into their journals.
C. Practice-
1. Teacher will draw a seed on the board and model a life cycle for a plant.
Begin with the seed.
2. Go through each step of the cycle on the board.
3. Display the poster of the life cycle of a plant.
4. Mention that not everyone's seeds were the same kind. Remind them to
notice what theirs looked like.
5. Watch the youtube time lapse video on sprouting seeds: (in the event
there are technical difficulties, three video links are provided:
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=eKo5F87A8a0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyRw597JBVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcixldqDIEQ
5. Ask students what surprised them about the videos. (The plants wiggled
and danced.)

Activity:
1. Students will be placed into the same groups from the previous part of
the lesson.
2. There will be three different centers.
3. Students will all begin at center #1 at the same time. There will be
enough supplies for each group to participate at each center
simultaneously.
4. The students will only know that the next stage of the life cycle is called
“germination,” but do not know any other information. Students will have
the chance to construct their own learning.

Center #1:
1. Students will be given a seed and water dropper.
2. Students will be given time to observe the sunflower seed using their five
senses.
3. Students will then place their seed on a plate. They will take their water
droppers and drop three drops of water on to the seed.
4. The mucus will begin to unfold. (At this time, tell students they are
observing germination.)

Center #2:
1. There will be three plants on the table for each group.
2. All of the plants will be at different stages of the germination process.
3. Plants will be placed out of order.
4. Students will have to collaborate to place the plants in the correct order.
5. Student will place “stage 1, ” “stage 2,” “stage 3,” near the pots they
believe are in the correct order. Then students will look under the bottom of
the pot where there will be cards with the answers of order and brief
description of the stage.
6. After students place the plants in order and verify the order, they will
label each stage in their observation books.

Center #3:
1. Students will watch a brief video of a plant germinating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE6xptjgNR0

2. Student will record observations in their notebooks about the video as

they view it.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES if needed:

http://extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/c1facts3a.html
A slide show on this website that describes the parts of a plant and it’s life
cycle.
D. Independent Practice-
1. Students will make their own life cycle drawings in their journals.
2. Students will personalize their cycle by the type of seed they planted.
[sunflower (black/white striped) or bean (cream colored)]
3.Students will use technology (Google Chrome books) to independently
research whether their seed was a sunflower seed or a bean seed.

NOTES:
Math:
1. Students will use measuring cups to water.
2. Rulers will be used to measure plant roots.
3. Students will record and graph observational data.
4. Students will observe the passage of time.
Art:
Students will do leaf or plant rubbings on a piece of construction paper.
Students will identify their plant and the parts shown.
The rubbing will then be glued into their observations journals.

Formative Assessments:
1. checklist of plant life cycle diagram
2. written observations and summaries of plant life cycle and outdoor
observation area.
3. Exit ticket: “What did you learn?” “What surprised you about this
lesson?” “Is there anything you would do differently next time?”
4. Teacher observations of class understanding.

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

1. Worksheets will be available with label boxes for basic parts of the life
cycle for when students are instructed to draw independently.
2. Labeled pictures of bean seeds and sunflower seeds will be available for
those needing assistance prior to using Google Chrome books.
3. Pre-established mentor students can pair up with a partner to assist with
googling information about the different life cycles.

F. Checking for understanding-

1. Life cycle worksheets are completed correctly.
2. Teacher will walk around the classroom to gauge understanding and
provide encouragement.
2. Use white boards individually to answer questions during discussion,
such as "what comes after the seed has sprouted?" "What does a plant
need?" "Can a plant grow without soil?" Students responses will be written
on the boards and held up.
3. Exit tickets will be given to note something that surprised them about
plant life cycle.
4. Point Rubric for discussion/responses:

Three points: Students were highly engaged in class and group

discussions; used research materials appropriately correctly identified all
parts of the life cycle of a plant.
Two points: Students participated in class and group discussions; used
research materials with little assistance and correctly identified at least
three parts of the life cycle of a plant.
One point: Students participated minimally in class and group
discussions; were unable to use research materials independently/or with
Mentor student assistance; and identified two or fewer parts of a life cycle
of a plant.

Considerations:
Students may not consider leaves an important part of the plant. Students
will understand through the plant parts and life cycle activities that leaves
are a way the plant gets its food.

Students may perceive that the sugar (glucoses) leaves makes is like refined
sugar. Be sure to address this potential misconception.

Formative Assessments:
1. checklist of plant life cycle diagram
2. written observations and summaries of plant life cycle and outdoor
observation area.
3. Exit ticket: “What did you learn?” “What surprised you about this
lesson?” “Is there anything you would do differently next time?”
4. Teacher observations of class understanding.

G. Closure-
1. Students will understand their commitment to water their plant daily and
keep an observation log in their journals. Short sentences will be
acceptable. No fragments will be accepted.
2. Put both the live and mostly dead house plants next to their planted
seeds as a reminder.
3. Let students know that they must continue to water and care for their
plants until their plants are ready to go home.
4. Have students write their predictions in their observation journals. What
do they think will happen to their plants?

7. Evaluation-

1. Teacher will monitor the students’ observation logs without warning.

2. A life cycle (illustrations) will be on the board the next day with the
words omitted. Numbers will be next to each illustration. Students will use
white boards to fill in the blanks using the numbers for references.

Summative Assessments:
1. Assessment will include identifying and labeling the parts of a plant.
2. Assessment will include defining “germination” and identifying and
sequencing the germination process.
3. Assessment will include identifying the needs of a plant and how leaves
help feed a plant.
4. Assessment will include drawing the life cycle of a plant.
5. Assessment will include vocabulary definitions.

8. Teacher Reflection-

Teacher will monitor seed progress. If a student has made the effort to care
for the seed and it does not grow, the teacher will address this properly.