# data[].attributes.body
What standard(s) am I teaching?

What do I want students to know and understand?

What are my lesson objective(s)?

What do my students need before coming into this lesson?

How will I focus on rigor and relevance in this lesson?

# data[].attributes.body
What resources am I using to teach the standard(s) and move students toward mastery of my lesson objective(s)?

What resources in my curriculum are useful here?

What is missing from my curriculum resources?

Where can I find resources to support the curriculum I already have?

Where can I make connections to other subject areas and find the resources to do so?

# data[].attributes.body
What instructional delivery method will I use?

How will I create opportunities for strategic productive struggle?

What teacher moves will I use (e.g., explicit teacher talk, modeling, providing support based on specific student struggles)?

How will I provide opportunities for cooperative learning in my lesson?

Where will students be leading the work?

# data[].attributes.body
What do I have?

What is missing?

How am I supporting diverse student needs?

How will I provide multiple access points for equitable student engagement?

# data[].attributes.body
What am I going to use/not use?

What do I need to adjust?

What is my plan for implementation with the materials?

Are these materials and my instructional design meeting all students' needs?

# data[].attributes.body
At the end of Unit 1 in Benchmark, students will have an understanding of what plants need to grow and the parts of a plant that help it survive. Our texts emphasize that plants need soil. After reading this text, students will investigate different growing conditions for plants that do not incorporate soil into the environment.

# data[].attributes.body
I will have 3 examples for students to observe plants living without soil. First, students will observe the carnation experiment and discuss how cut flowers use the water to survive but do not necessarily "grow."

We will then look at 2 examples of seeds sprouting and plants growing without soil- the hydroponic water bottle example and the Ziploc bag "greenhouse". Students will identify what is needed in each example "ecosystem" for the seed to sprout and for the plant to grow.

# data[].attributes.body
On their own, students will design their "plant environment" in order to grow the seeds. They can choose to base their design on the hydroponic bottle example or the greenhouse example, but will need to identify what they need and how to assemble their product in order to grow their seeds.

# data[].attributes.body
Students will work in groups to assemble a self-contained "ecosystem" to grow their plants in. Groups will be based on students' choice of either the Ziploc bag greenhouse model or the hydroponic model.

# data[].attributes.body
For Unit 1 in the kindergarten Benchmark Advance, students investigate the needs of plants and animals. In this lesson sequence, students will investigate the plant parts and environmental factors that help plants live and grow.

# data[].attributes.body
Students will introduce seeds into their ecosystem and watch them grow! Students will record their observations over the course of 2 weeks!

# data[].attributes.body
After 2 weeks, students who do not have a sprouting seed can discuss with other students and modify their ecosystem to better support plant growth.

# data[].attributes.body
Teach Engineering Lesson:
This is the lesson I started from because it does discuss the variables needed for plants to grow and ways for students to manipulate variables and observe effects. However, I don't think this lesson had a robust procedure for students producing a product, limited creativity and student choice, and I wanted students to investigate the role of soil instead of the role of light.

Suck It Up! Lesson:
This is an activity I did with my class last year during this ELA unit, but I felt like I didn't get everything out of it that I really wanted. It was a great way to illustrate to students how water moves through plants, an introduction to observing change, and was really exciting for students. I would like to still incorporate it for this reason, and because it did lead to some good discussions with students, but I wanted to also find resources that gave students the opportunity to design and control their own product.

Hydroponics Lesson and "Greenhouse" TPT Bundle:
I think these lessons are both great resources that can be paired together to help students explore plant growth without soil. Using both lessons will give students examples to compare and contrast as well as more choice and ownership over the development of their own product.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Quick Look

Grade Level: 1 (K-2)

Time Required: 30 minutes

Lesson Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Life Science, Measurement, Number and Operations

NGSS Performance Expectations:

Summary In an introductory discussion, students identify the physical needs of animals and then speculate on the needs of plants. With teacher guidance, students then design an experiment that can take place in the classroom to test whether or not plants need light and water in order to grow. This prepares them to conduct the associated activity in which sunflower seeds are planted in plastic cups, and once germinated, are exposed to different conditions. In a classroom setting it is easy to test for the effects of light versus darkness, and watered versus non-watered conditions. During exposure of the plants to these different conditions, students measure growth of the seedlings every few days using non-standard measurement. After a few weeks, they compare the growth of plants exposed to the different conditions, and make pictorial bar graphs that demonstrate these comparisons.
This engineering curriculum aligns to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Engineering Connection

Determining the optimal environments for growing crops and other plants used to produce products is agricultural engineering.

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, students should be able to:

Discuss what plants and animals need to survive.

Describe how a simple experiment can be conducted in order to determine whether or not plants need light and/or water in order to grow.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS Performance Expectation

Click to view other curriculum aligned to this Performance Expectation

This lesson focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:

Science & Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions. Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.

Suggest an alignment not listed above

Introduction/Motivation

Begin with a brief discussion about the needs of animals, using the familiar examples of humans, dogs and cats. Expect students to be able to recognize that these animals all need food to eat, water to drink and air to breathe. They might also suggest that animals need clothing and shelter in order to keep warm and dry.

Then ask students what they think plants need in order to live and grow. It is helpful to have a few house plants in the classroom to refer to. Perhaps students have seen you water them, or if houseplants are not available, perhaps they have seen lawns and gardens being watered. If students do not suggest light as a need of plants, simply ask them if they think plants need light. You could help them reason out the answer by asking if gardens and farms are planted in forests or in open areas. Expect them to make the connection that gardens would not get as much light if they were planted in the shade of a forest, but instead, in an open area with lots more sunshine.

Ask students if they would like to plant some seeds and then see if their plants grow better in light or in the dark (Refer to the associated activity Light Plants and Dark Plants, Wet Plants and Dry Ones for more information). Point out that they can also find out if their plants need water or not. Since young children generally enjoy growing plants from seeds, and will monitor their progress with enthusiasm, at this point expect them to be well motivated to continue investigating the needs of plants.

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers

Body of Lesson:

Announce that you have materials so that each student can grow some plants from seeds. Then point out that this provides as opportunity to do an experiment to determine if plants really do need water or light. Ask for ideas as to how this could be done. Be sure to listen to all ideas, and without directly stating that an idea or some aspect of it won't work; instead, ask leading questions to get the student to realize that a better way might exist.

Point out that if the class wants to see if water is necessary, it is important that the non-watered plants be otherwise treated just the same as the watered ones, that is, placed in the light alongside the watered plants. Otherwise the class will not be able to tell if it was the lack of water that was responsible for any differences that occurred, or if it was some other difference in the plants' locations that was responsible. (Students may not understand this idea, but it is worth mentioning with the hope that it comes to memory when students are asked to conduct other experiments in the future.) Likewise, if the class wants to find out if plants will grow in darkness, explain that they, too, must otherwise be treated the same as the plants grown in the light, that is, they should be watered just like those grown in the light.

Try to let students come up with a way to keep some of the plants in the dark by asking for suggestions. The more input they have into the design of the experiment, the better. A dark closet or cabinet is ideal, or a space can be created from a large cardboard box draped in black felt.

Associated Activities

Lesson Closure

Once the basic questions of what the experiment (or experiments) will be about, and how the room can be used to conduct the experiment(s), have students prepare to conduct the associated activity.

Assessment

Patterns: Have students use their observations to describe patterns of what plants need to survive.

Perform student assessment after completion of the associated activity.

Copyright © 2013 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2004 Duke University

Contributors Mary R. Hebrank, project and lesson/activity consultant

Supporting Program Engineering K-PhD Program, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University

Acknowledgements

This content was developed by the MUSIC (Math Understanding through Science Integrated with Curriculum) Program in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. DGE 0338262. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the NSF, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: May 13, 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Let's Plan an Experiment: What Do Plants Need? - Lesson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In an introductory discussion, students identify the physical needs of animals and then speculate on the needs of plants. With teacher guidance, students then design an experiment that can take place in the classroom to test whether or not plants need light and water in order to grow.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Summary

Introduction

Have you ever heard someone say, "That plant is thirsty," or, "Give that plant a drink of water"? We know that all plants need water to survive, even bouquets of cut flowers and plants living in deserts. But have you ever thought about how the water moves within the plant? In this activity, you will put carnations in dyed water to figure out where the water goes. Where do you think the dyed water will travel, and what will this tell you about how the water moves in the cut flowers?

This activity is not recommended for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.

Materials

Several white carnations or other white flowers (at least 3). Tip: Younger flowers work better than older ones.

Food coloring; blue or red are the easiest to see

Optional: Celery stalks with leaves

Instructions

1. Measure out ½ cup of water and pour it into the glass or vase.

2. Add 1 teaspoon of the food color to the water in the glass.

3. With the help of an adult, use a knife to cut the stems of several (at least three) white flowers at a 45 degree angle. Tip: Be sure not to use scissors, as they will crush the stems, making it harder for them to absorb water. Also, shorter stems work better than longer stems.

4. Place the flowers in the colored water. As you do this, use the stems of the flowers to stir the water until the dye has fully dissolved.

5. Observe the flowers immediately after you put them in the water. If you have a camera, you can use it to take a picture of the flowers. How do the flowers look now?

6. Observe the flowers around 2, 4, 24, and 48 hours after you put them in the dyed water. Be sure to also observe their stems, especially the bumps where the leaves branch from the stem and it is lighter green (it may be easier to see the dye here). If you have a camera, you can use it to take a picture of the flowers at these time points.

7. How did the flowers look after 2 hours? What about after 4, 24, and 48 hours? How did their appearance change over this time period?

What does the flowers' change in appearance tell you about how water moves through the plants?

What Happened?

After 2 hours of being in the dyed water, some flowers should have clearly showed dyed spots near the edges of their petals. By 24 hours, the flowers should have gained an overall dyed hue, which darkened a little over time. The stems should have also become slightly dyed in places, particularly where the leaves branch off.

Water moves through the plant due to capillary action - which can pull liquids through narrow tubes like the stems - and transpiration. Water that is pulled through the stem by capillary action then makes its way up to the flower and leaves. Once in the leaves and petals, the water evaporates in a process called transpiration. Because the dye does not evaporate, it stays around and dyes the plant - especially the petal tips. When water is lost from the plant due to transpiration, this causes low water pressure in the plant, which triggers more capillary action and makes fresh water be pulled up through the stem, from the vase. Since the water is dyed, this also pulls more dye into the plant over time, dyeing it darker.

Digging Deeper

Plants use water to keep their roots, stems, leaves, and flowers healthy and to prevent them from drying out and wilting. The water is also used to carry dissolved nutrients throughout the plant.

Most of the time, plants get their water from the ground. This means that the plant has to transport the water from its roots up throughout the rest of the plant. How does it do this? Water moves through the plant by means of transpiration and capillary action. Capillary action occurs when the forces binding a liquid together (cohesion and surface tension) and the forces attracting that bound liquid to another surface (adhesion) are greater than the force of gravity. The plant's stem basically sucks up water like a straw! A simple way of observing capillary action is to take a teaspoon of water and gently pour it in a pool on a countertop. You will notice that the water stays together in the pool, rather than flattening out across the countertop. (This happens because of cohesion and surface tension.) Now gently dip the corner of a paper towel in the pool of water. The water clings to the paper and "climbs" up the paper towel. This is capillary action.

Ask an Expert

For Further Exploration

In this activity, you used white flowers, but do you think you would see the same results with other flowers and plants? Try this activity a plant that is mostly stem, like a stalk of celery.

Try doing this activity again but use more or less food color, such as one-half, twice, four times, or ten times as much food color. What happens if you increase or decrease the concentration of food color in the water?

How would you make a multi-colored carnation? Hint: You could try (1) leaving the flower for a day in one color of water and then putting it in another color of water for a second day or (2) splitting the stem in two and putting each half of the stem in a different color of water.

Project Ideas

Science Fair Project Idea

Have you ever heard someone say, "that plant is thirsty" or "give that plant a drink of water"? We know that plants, and even bouquets of cut flowers, need water to survive, but have you ever thought about how the water moves within the plant? In this science project, you will use colored water and carnations to figure out where the water goes. Read more

Links

Careers

With a growing world population, making sure that there is enough food for everyone is critical. Plant scientists work to ensure that agricultural practices result in an abundance of nutritious food in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. Read more

As the world's population grows larger, it is important to improve the quality and yield of food crops and animal food sources. Agricultural technicians work in the forefront of this very important research area by helping scientists conduct novel experiments. If you would like to combine technology with the desire to see things grow, then read further to learn more about this exciting career. Read more

Life is all around us, in beauty and abundance, and the people who introduce students to how life forms live and interact are biology teachers. Their work helps develop the next generation of doctors, nurses, life scientists, and engineers. Their enthusiasm and appreciation for all life helps students understand their own bodies, and how life forms are all connected to each other and to their environments. Read more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Suck It Up! How Water Moves Through Plants | STEM Activity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn how to dye flowers while discovering how capillary action helps keep flowers watered and fed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Transform a two-liter bottle into a hydroponics container and grow a plant in it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Integrate STEM in your classroom with Grow a Plant STEM Activity!
This activity helps students develop observational learning skills through watching and writing about their seed growing into a plant. Seed and Plant Illustrations aid students as they observe different parts of the plant grow from the seed.

Students place seeds in a self-contained ecosystem and watch it grow over 3 weeks! Each student creates a Paper Bag Plant STEM Journal to help them record observations about the growth of the plant.

Aligns with NGSS (2-LS2-1, 5-LS1-1)
Includes:

Teacher Instructions

Student Instructions

Parts of a Seed and Plant Illustrations (Color and Black/White)

Student Paper Bag STEM Journal

NGSS Standards

TpT Digital Version for Distance Learning with Google Classroom

Digital Activity:
To use Easel for Distance Learning, select "Open in Easel" on this listing. Works with computers, laptops, chromebooks, ipads, and tablets.
Materials List: Follow us!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Grow A Plant STEM Activity with TpT Digital Distance Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Includes TpT Digital version for Google Classroom remote learning.Integrate STEM in your classroom with Grow a Plant STEM Activity!This activity helps students develop observational learning skills through watching and writing about their seed growing into a plant. Seed and Plant Illustrations aid s...