Jump to main content

Eighth Grade, Plant Biology Lesson Plans (6 results)

Plants provide us with so much — oxygen to breath, food to eat, materials to make clothing and paper, and beautiful flowers and leaves to admire! How can plants be so diverse and survive in so many kinds of climates? How do they know how to grow towards the sun? Why do some plants not have seeds? Explore the amazing and beautiful world of plants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_HK_9rFBkw
Search
Refine Results
Filter by
Sort by
Study Photosynthesis with the Floating Leaf Disk Assay
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
1
2
3
4
5
3 reviews
Plants carry out photosynthesis to produce sugars that they need as an energy source to live and grow. During photosynthesis, oxygen—a gas that many living beings need to survive—is released. This makes photosynthesis one of the most important biological processes on Earth. In Part 1 of this lesson plan, students will utilize the floating leaf disk assay to demonstrate the production of oxygen gas during photosynthesis. They will then continue to design and conduct their own… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
Stomata Printing: Microscope Investigation
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-12th
1
2
3
4
5
4 reviews
"Backlit Leaf" © 2011 Threthny Plants have many crucial roles on our planet, and among these is the gas exchange that happens within their leaves. As plants take in carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, they release oxygen and retain the carbon. In this lesson, students will investigate leaves up close to look for the structures responsible for gas exchange. Read more
New!
AI-powered Formative Feedback in Science Project Pathways

Instant project feedback generated with AI, guided by Science Buddies rubrics!

Your students now have access to enhanced workbooks that provide an evaluation and guiding questions to help them improve their project question, hypothesis, prediction and variable identification!

Learn More & Try It!

Bubbling Plants Experiment to Quantify Photosynthesis
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
Students learn a simple technique for quantifying the amount of photosynthesis that occurs in a given period of time, using a common water plant (Elodea). They use this technique to compare the amounts of photosynthesis that occur under conditions of low and high light levels. Before they begin the experiment, however, students must come up with a well-worded hypothesis to be tested. After running the experiment, students pool their data to get a large sample size,… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
  • 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Plant Seed Design Challenge
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
1
2
3
4
5
7 reviews
In this small group activity, students will build a plant seed (burr) from a Styrofoam® ball and other crafts materials. The seed needs to be designed in a way that it can be dispersed by attaching to a mockup animal (wool glove). Students will first test if their seed attaches to the wool glove and then carry their attached seed along an obstacle course inside the classroom. As students design their plant seed and mimic its dispersal via an animal, they will realize how some plants grow… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
  • MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Bending Plant Roots with Gravity
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
1
2
3
4
5
9 reviews
How do plants know which way is up or down? How does this affect which direction their roots will grow? In this lesson plan, your students will investigate how changes in a plant's environment, like the direction of gravity, affect the shape of its growing roots over a period of several days. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
From Farms to Phytoplankton
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-11th
"Morganza Spillway" © 2011 NASA Earth Observatory Can we use a model to predict the impacts of nutrient pollutants on an aquatic ecosystem? In this activity, students participate in a kinesthetic simulation to illustrate how nutrient pollution from agricultural runoff can lead to a dead zone at the mouth of a drainage basin. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
1

Explore Our Science Videos

Quick Links X
Top
Free science fair projects.