Stefanie Gonzales

ECE 152

Fall 2017

Science Experiences/Lesson Plan 1

Theme: Leaves-How do the leaves breath?

Age & Number of Children: 2 four year olds and 3 three year olds

Process Skill: Classifying, Experimenting, Observing

Pre-K Content Standards:

1. Nature of Science: N.PK.1a Observe their world

2. Nature of Science: N.PK.1b Ask questions about their world
3. Nature of Science: N.PK.2 Share ideas with others

Behavioral Objectives: This experience will increase the childrens understanding on

1. How a leaf indicates that plants/trees are living

2. How a leaf uses the sun for energy: Photosynthesis process

New Awarenesses:

1. How different plants all breath the same

2. How the process of photosynthesis works

Materials: 3 different active leaves, 1 clear glass bowl, magnifying glass, book (Biology life as we

know it), photosynthesis diagram, water & towel

Activity:
1. Introduce the children to the lesson and begin by reading the book Biology life as we

know it! (pg 114)

2. Show the photosynthesis diagram and read aloud what it says and point out each step to

the children.
3. Now begin the activity by asking the question, By a show of hands how many of you

think a plant or a tree is alive? (The children will answer). Some will say the plants and

trees are alive and then the follow up question will be asked, If the plant/tree is alive,

how do you think it can breathe? (The children will give answers). Leave room for

opened ended discussion. If the children think the plants and trees are non-living, ask

such questions as, Why do you say they are non-living? Be flexible with the discussion.
4. Next tell the children that you are going to SHOW them how a plant or tree is alive and

how it breathes.
5. Inform the children that they are going to go outside to collect 3 different leaves from

active plants (plants that are still in the ground/soil). If you cannot go outside, provide 3

different plants that you can cut the leaves from in the classroom.
6. Hand out several magnifying glasses and have them pass around the leaves and

investigate.
7. Discuss with the children similarities and differences with the plants and leaves. Ask the

question, What do you see?, How does it feel?, What does the plant or leaf smell

like?, Do you think they will all breathe? Breathe the same?.
8. Have the children gather around a table next to a window with a good source of sun so

that they can participate and observe together and to also have discussion as they

experiment. If there is no sunlight available in the classroom do this experience outside.

9. Cover the table with a towel so that you have easy clean up if spill occur.
10. Place a glass bowl on the table and fill them with water (only half way).
11. Now ask the children, How do you think these leaves breathe?, Do you think that one

of these leaves will breathe differently than the others? How?, Do you think that one

of these leaves might not breathe at all? Why do you think this?
12. Have several children then take the leaves and place them in the bowl. Make sure you

have a rock or something with weight to submerge the leaves completely in the water.
13. This process takes about two hours.
14. During the wait continue with your daily routine. Other options are to go for a nature

walk and discuss the books you just read. You can also make a craft using leaves.
15. After the two hours is done, have the children gather back around the table with the

science experience on it.

16. The leaves will now have bubbles around them. Have the children take turns

investigating the leaves (still in the water) and the bubbles that surround them. They can

use the magnifying glasses during this observation as well.

17. Ask the children, What do you see? Most likely they will respond with how the

bubbles are now in the water. Ask them, Why do you think the bubbles have now

appeared? If no one responds with something along the lines of the leaf is breathing

you can prompt with questions such as, When we are in a pool and go under water

what happens when we let out air? What do you see under the water?
18. After the children understand why the bubbles are now in the water around the leaf,

explain to them how this is part of photosynthesis. The leaf is using the sunlight and

converting it into energy. Once the leaf has the energy from the sun, it then needs to get

rid of what it no longer needs.

19. Ask the question, What is it that you think the plant no longer needs?, When we

breathe, what are we exhaling out of our bodies?

20. Oxygen is what the leaf is getting rid of, along with water. This creates the bubbles that

surround the leaf. This is the process of photosynthesis.

 21. To end this science experience ask the question, Do you think that plants/trees and

humans breathe the same way? Why or why not?

22. After the children discuss and answer (hopefully with the conclusion that they do not

breathe the same) tell them that they will next learn about how humans breathe in the

next lesson.

What Happened: While reading the book the children seemed interested. Two of the children in

my group thought that plants and trees were non-living. One of the other children discussed

that they are living because we give them water and if they have no water they shrink. This child

understood that plants and trees were living but didnt fully understand the concept with it

needing sunlight and the right amount of water. The other two children didnt respond when

asked the question and then they said they didnt know. When discussing similarity and

differences of the leaves the children all said the sizes and coloring was different. Bigger,

smaller, dark green, brown green, regular green. One child said the leaves (all of them) smelled

plain. The other children agreed with this and when I asked if they were sure, they still went

with that the leaves smelled plain. One child ask if she could eat it. (I wasnt sure so I said no.)

The children enjoyed using the magnifying glass to investigate the leaves. One child said one

leaf felt rubbery and one felt crunchy. The children placed the leaves in the bowl. We then went

and played at the park. (The children in this experience are neighbors and there is a park

nearby.) We came back to the experience a couple hours later to investigate the leaves. The

children immediately noticed the bubbles without me asking questions. We discussed why the

bubbles were there. One answered with wondering if someone put soap in the bowl while we

were gone and a couple answered with I dont know and one answered with that it was the rock
that we submerged the leaves with that made the bubbles. I asked why they thought that and

they said the rock makes bubbles because its heavy. The children were intrigued when we

discussed that the bubble were caused from the process of photosynthesis and that the leaf

was getting rid of what it didnt need. The children that first thought the plants and trees were

non-living were now excited that they ARE living. When I ask the children at the end if they

thought plants or leaves and humans breathe the same way all responded with no. One child

said it was because we eat human food and plants dont. Another child said we breathe air in

the sky and plants breathe air in the water. One child did say humans have lungs and

plants/trees dont. From the answer of this child I went on to tell them that humans have a

respiratory system and maybe their parents could read to them about it.

What Next: The follow up lesson would be on learning about how humans breathe. We would

explore the respiratory system. This would be a good follow up lesson so that the children

would start to understand that even though things are living (breathing), they may not live

(breathe) the same way.