In this lesson, students learn about the life cycle of plants by watching a time-lapse video. This activity provides students with further evidence that all living things grow and change as they progress through their life cycle. Two optional video segments show students how to set up a germination experiment and how to grow seeds they collect on their socks.

1. Show students a flowering potted plant, and ask them to name the parts of the plant: roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. Ask:

2. To help students understand that seeds develop inside fruits, have them examine a variety of fruits that have been cut open to expose their seeds. Discuss the different seed shapes they observe.

3. Make a word or picture splash (randomly scattered words or pictures) on the board that includes the following words or pictures: seed, root, stem, leaves, and fruit. Tell students that they are going to watch a video showing a seed sprouting (germinating) and growing. Ask them to predict which part of the plant starts to grow first, which part grows second, and so on. Put the words/pictures in the order they suggest.

4. Show students the From Seed to Flower video. After watching, have them suggest corrections to the order of the words/pictures on the board. Ask them to describe how plants change as they grow. What happens to their size? Their shape? Their parts?

5. Discuss how the life cycle of plants is similar to and different from the life cycle of animals.

6. Give each student a piece of paper and have them draw and color pictures of plants that they think correspond to each of the stages of human development. (For example, a seed with newly sprouted roots would represent a newborn plant. A tall tree, with many branches, would illustrate a middle-aged tree.) They may want to watch the video again to help them with this project.

7. If possible, take students on a stages-in-the-life-of-a-tree hunt. Can they find a seedling, sapling, young adult tree, and very mature tree? How about a dead tree? Have them carefully draw examples of the stages they are able to find.

Application:
Have students plant bean or pea seeds in soil and observe and measure their growth

State Standards:
Benchmarks for Science Literacy

5C/E1 ( Grades: 3-5 ): Some living things consist of a single cell. Like familiar organisms, they need food, water, and air; a way to dispose of waste; and an environment they can live in.

5E/E2 ( Grades: 3-5 ): Some source of "energy" is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.