Emma Rozario

Activity Name: Plants

Approximate Length of Experience: 20 minutes each day for a week

Age and Number of Children: 20 second graders

Goal: To become more aware/familiar with the growth and needs of a plant

Domain: Cognitive

Content: Facts include: What do plants need to grow?

Vocabulary words include: Water, Sunshine, soil, time, grow, plants, seed

Objectives: Participation in this activity will increase the childs ability to

1. Construct a pot for a plant to grow

2. Observe and record the changes that occur during plant growth and development

3. List the main things that plants need to grow

Materials:

Clear cups- one per studen

Pack of seeds

Soil

Watering can filled with water

Popsicle stick

Markers

Spoons (scoop soil)

Notebooks for observation

Newspaper
Procedure:

To begin the lesson, ask the students, What do our bodies need to grow? (Divergent). If we

need food, water, and air to grow, how do you think plants grow? (Divergent)

Today, we are going to grow our own plants, to see what they need to grow and how they

grow!

Pass out the materials each student needs to plant their seed. After passing them out, ask the

students, How many of you have seen a seed before? What kind of seed was it? (Memory).

Today, the seeds we have are flower seeds! What do you think is the first thing we need to put in

our cups? (convergent). We first need the soil. What do our bodies need to get bigger and

stronger? (Memory) Something we need to have inside our bodies is food! Soil gives the seed the

food and nutrition it will need to grow into a flower! Have the students place a couple spoonfulls

of soil into their cups.

Next, have the students lay down a seed, and cover it with another very small scoop of soil. Ask

the students, after we put the seed in soil,what do you think the seed needs? (Convergent) Just

like we need water to stay healthy, the seed does, too. Then, have the students each put a few

drops of water into their soil.

The final thing that a seed needs to grow is sunshine. How many of you like to be in the

sunshine? (Memory). I like sunshine! If its sunny, we can go play at the park and go on walks,

and we cant when it rains. However, we dont need sunshine to grow. Plants do. Ask the students

to write their names on the popsicle sticks and stick them in the soil to know whos belongs to

who, and then ask them to bring them over and place it by the window. Ask them what three

things the plants need, and if they do not know yet, walk them through what they did in the

activity and ask again. In the next couple weeks, the children will be eager to watch their plants
grow. Explain to the students that each day they need to water their plants, and write in their

journal how the plant is developing, with a drawing to match. Ask the students, What do you

think is the first thing we will see the plant grow? How long do you think it will take until we

see that? (divergent)

** This activity will not be completed in one class session. Plants will be observed and watered

daily by students**

Simplification: Use lower level questions. Take out the divergent questions.

Extension: If the children are still showing interest and attention, have them draw a picture of

the seed now, and how you think it will look in a week on the first page of their observation

notebook. Do you think it will have begun growing? How do you think it will look, compared

to how it looks now? (Convergent)

Evaluation: Collection of childrens observation notebooks (will be distributed back to students

after evaluation), and direct observation.

Whats next: If this lesson goes well, the next activity and lesson will be on the parts of the

plants (i.e stem, leaves, flower, seed, and how they function, i.e, water goes through stem)

Evaluation of appropriateness of the category (type) of questions used:

I used the best questions I could, which will help the students use their memory and also use

more complex ways of thinking. Because it is a new topic, I used the majority of Memory and

Convergent category questions, however since they are older students (2nd grade), I added a few

divergent questions to get them thinking, such as What do you think is the first thing we will see

the plant grow? and If we need food, water, and air, what do you think plants need to grow?

The question I began the activity with is What do our bodies need to grow? which incorporates

memory and more complex thinking. I incorporated some questions to engage the children by
using their expiriences and interests, such as Have you seen a seed before? What kind of seed

was it? and asking them if they like sunshine, because it is something plants need.