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The Needs of a Plant (song for kids about 5 things plants need to live)

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Life Cycle of a Plant - Cool Facts for Kids

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Every single person in the whole world is either a boy or a girl; a male or a female. Most plants aren't like that, though. Most plants have male parts called stamens and female parts called carpels. The stamens in a plant make the tiny grains called pollen.

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How Do Plants Grow? | Knowsy Nina Wants to Know

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This post may contain affiliate ads at no cost to you. See my disclosures for more information.

After my kids and I sprouted seeds to see what the process entailed, we decided to carry out a series of seed experiments to learn more about seeds. Our seed experiments were designed to answer questions about what kinds of conditions seeds grow best in.

In previous posts I shared the results of our experiments that asked the questions:

In this fifth seed experiment, we have been addressing the question: " What liquids help seeds to grow? "
Note: For more seed activities your kids will love, see my Botany Unit Study page.
For the purposes of this experiment, we decided to test how seeds grow when given one of four different liquids:

For any experiment, it is important to set up conditions so that the only difference between the conditions is related to what you want to test. Because we wanted to test how seeds grow in a variety of liquids, it was important that all of the growing conditions for our seeds be the same EXCEPT for the liquid added to the dirt.

We started with four plastic cups, each filled about 1/3 full with dirt from our yard. To all cups we added three different seeds: a broccoli seed, a lettuce seed, and a pea seed. (The seeds were part of this set of heirloom seeds I purchased.)

Then we added labels that said "plain water," "salt water," "sugar water," and "vinegar."

To create our salt water, we added two teaspoons of salt to a cup of water.

And to create our sugar water we added two teaspoons of sugar to a cup of water.

Then to each of the seed cups we added the indicated liquid. We then placed the cups on our kitchen window sill to see how the seeds would grow. Over the next several days we continued to add liquid to each of the cups as needed to keep the dirt moist. I used the extra salt water and sugar water we created to continue watering the seeds in the salt water and sugar water conditions.

After one week, we noticed the following results:

Plain water: all three seeds had begun to sprout, with nice leaves already forming from the broccoli and lettuce seeds

Salt water: none of the seeds had begun to sprout

Sugar water: one of the seeds had just barely begun to sprout

Vinegar: none of the seeds had begun to sprout, although a strange, off-white colored substance had formed on the surface of the dirt

So after conducting this experiment, how would we answer our question "What liquids help seeds grow?"

The results of our experiment indicate that plain water is the best growing liquid for seeds. However, seeds may also grow in sugar water. Per our expectations, the seeds failed to sprout in either the salt water or the vinegar. Apparently mother nature, with her plain water, does know best when it comes to providing for seeds!

More resources for learning about seeds

More posts about seeds from Gift of Curiosity:

For more seed activities your kids will love, see my Botany Unit Study page and my Botany & Gardening Pinterest board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity's board Unit Ideas: Botany & Gardening on Pinterest.

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Seed experiment #5: What liquids help seeds grow?

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Teach kids about the needs of seeds with this seed experiment that answers the question: "What liquids help seeds grow?"

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Learn about plant life and how plants grow with this set of 14 printables from Woo Jr.! There's a sequencing activity or matching game, word search, vocabulary list and two printable mini-books that children can color and easily assemble.

10 Plant Life Cycle Lesson Plan Activity Ideas

1 - Print out the color or b/w sequencing squares below twice to make a matching game.

2 - Plant seeds in newspaper seedling pots.

3 - Have children collect seeds from everyday foods to bring into the classroom for identification.

4 - Grow a Chia Pet. For added fun use seeds like alfalfa or onion so that the resulting sprouts are edible!

5 - Sprout an avocado seed.

6 - Woo! Jr has several pages dedicated to nature crafts.

7 - Plant a tree in the school yard, local park, or other organization.

8 - Our school does their planting activities early in the year, and then lets the children take their full grown plants home as a Mother's Day gift in May.

9 - Take a field trip to a local greenhouse, or ask your local greenhouse if they would be willing to send in a person to do a presentation for the school. Stores like Home Depot and Lowe's already have classroom/scouting activities in place, too.

10 - Plant a mini garden in your classroom or in the school yard. Grass, lettuce, radishes, green onions, and some varieties of beans and peas all grow very quickly, some in as little as 30 days. Additionally, plants like broccoli, lettuce and asparagus are extremely cold tolerant and will grow well into late fall, even in cooler climates.

Plant Life Worksheets

How Do Plants Grow Printable Mini Book - For Young Children

Use this mini book for younger children who are able to color the pictures, cut apart the pages, and assemble them into a book. Staple the pages together, or punch holes and tie string as a book binding.

Blank How Do Plants Grow Printable Mini Book - For Older Kids

Use this mini book for older children who have the skills to construct their own sentences. They can describe what is in the pictures and use the vocabulary words from the word search above.

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How Do Plants Grow? Plant Life Worksheets for Kids

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Learn about plant life and how plants grow with this set of 14 printables from Woo Jr.! There's a sequencing activity or matching game, word search, vocabulary list and two printable mini-books that children can color and easily assemble. 1 - Print out the color or b/w sequencing squares below twice to make a matching game.

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TINYBOP is an app for children.

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Explore interactive dioramas of the forest, desert, and grasslands. Play and learn about plant lifecycles, seasons, and weather.

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Growing a Seed at home or in Class activity. 

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Growing a Seed at home or in Class activity. 

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Download this activity (pdf)
Materials

Seeds, beans usually work well

Potting soil

Cups or other small containers to plant the seeds

Plain wooden stick (a paint stirrer is perfect), a piece of sturdy cardboard, or a ruler to measure plants as they grow

Preparation

We suggest using cardboard or a piece of wood so that you can write the dates of each measurement right on the measuring tool.

If you choose to use a ruler, you can describe the plant as "almost four inches tall" or "between 3 and 4 inches tall." Don't worry too much about exact measurements.

Directions

1. Put soil into the cups or containers.

2. Following the instructions on the seed packet, plant as many seeds as you like. (Plant at least a few in case some don't grow.) Add a little water.

3. Record what the cups look like when they were first planted. You can do this by taking a photograph, by drawing pictures, or by writing down children's observations of the cups. Don't forget to write down the date.

4. Put the cups in a sunny spot. (A sunny window should work if it isn't quite growing season in your area. Check the seed packet for information.

5. WAIT. Growing takes time. Check the cups regularly-every day or every other day. Water the plants if the soil is dry.

6. One day you will see that the seeds have sprouted, and the plants are coming out of the soil. Be sure to record what the plants look like now. Write down the date. Talk with children about how many days you waited between planting the seed and seeing the new plant.

7. You might want to measure the plant. You can use a ruler or just use a plain piece of wood or cardboard. Place one end on the top of the soil and mark how tall the plant is. Write the date.

8. Measure and record your observations of the plant regularly - once a week is good. (You'll probably need to water the plants more often.)

9. Over a number of weeks you'll observe how the plant changes and grows. You'll also have records of the changes. Talk with children about how the plant has changed. Talk about how long it took. How many days has it been growing?

10. Transplant the seedlings into the garden or a larger pot so that they can continue to grow. With water, sun, and a little luck you'll observe more changes when flowers and beans grow.

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Sid the Science Kid . Activities. Growing Plants | PBS Parents

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Download this activity (pdf) Seeds, beans usually work well Potting soil Cups or other small containers to plant the seeds Plain wooden stick (a paint stirrer is perfect), a piece of sturdy cardboard, or a ruler to measure plants as they grow We suggest using cardboard or a piece of wood so that you can write the dates of each measurement right on the measuring tool.

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Worksheets to help students understand how plants grow. 

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Worksheets to help students understand how plants grow. 

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What plants need to grow worksheets for preschools

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what do plants need to grow worksheets for preschools and kindergartens

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A plant is a living system. It needs sunlight, water, air, nutrients, and space to function and grow. In this activity, children design an experiment to test these requirements.

Doing the Activity

While exploring a forest, park, farm, or other green space, challenge children to find signs of new plant growth. While examining samples, ask what factors are necessary for plants to grow (sunlight, water, soil, space).

Ask children how they might design an experiment to test the necessity of these requirements. Help them write and illustrate the steps to their experimental design.

Ask children to look at the drawings below. Of the four options (A, B, C and D), which two should be used to test how sunlight affects plant growth? Use this example to explain the importance of experimental control.

If possible, obtain two plants of the same size and species to give the experiment YOU designed a try. Allow one plant access to a single requirement, while denying the same requirement to the other. At set intervals, let children measure the seedlings. After a period of time, measure and compare the two plants. Ask whether they look different, and if so, why?

Try the following:

Take digital photos every few days, and use presentation software to create a visual timeline of plant growth.

Compare children's growth to that of the experimental plants by measuring child height at the beginning and end of the experiment.

Create a "flip-book" that shows plant growth in animation. Index cards work great!

Get the Full Activity

This family activity is adapted from Project Learning Tree's PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide which can be obtained through an in-person professional development workshop or online course.

All PLT activities are copyright protected. Please remember to reproduce responsibly.

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A plant is a living system. It needs sunlight, water, air, nutrients, and space to function and grow. In this activity, children design an experiment to test these requirements. While exploring a forest, park, farm, or other green space, challenge children to find signs of new plant growth.