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Plant Biology Lesson Plans (13 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.

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Flowers Seeking Pollinators
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-7th
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9 reviews
"European honey bee extracts nectar" by John Severns In this activity, students learn about plant reproduction and use real data to construct explanations about which flowers are the most attractive to different pollinators. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
  • 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
  • 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.
Study Photosynthesis with the Floating Leaf Disk Assay
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
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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.
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Doctor, What Does My Plant Need?
Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten
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5 reviews
In this lesson, students will role-play a consultation between a plant scientist and a plant owner. The goal is for the plant scientist to identify what is wrong with the plant based on the information given by the plant owner. As they evaluate what the unhealthy plant has or doesn't have, students will realize that plants need four things (air, water, light, and soil) to live and grow. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
The Role of Interdependence for Pollination and Seed Dispersal
Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd
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Pollination and seed dispersal are both crucial processes in a plant's reproduction cycle. These processes are helped along by many factors, including different animals. For instance, some animals disperse the plant seeds, while others transfer pollen from one flower to another. In this lesson plan, students will investigate the interdependence between plants and animals for pollination and seed dispersal by creating interdependence webs out of yarn. Based on their created interdependence webs,… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
Water Transport in Plants
Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd
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6 reviews
Your students might know that plants need water to survive. But how does a plant "drink" and get water from the soil all the way up to its' leaves? In this lesson plan, students will observe how plants (flowers and celery) suck up dye-stained water, which makes the petals and leaves change color! This allows students to visualize the process of how water moves through a plant. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
Plant Cycles: Photosynthesis & Transpiration
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
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What do plants need? Students examine the effects of light and air on green plants, learning the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. Student teams plant seeds, placing some in sunlight and others in darkness. They make predictions about the outcomes and record ongoing observations of the condition of the stems, leaves and roots. Then, several healthy plants are placed in glass jars with lids overnight. Condensation forms, illustrating the process of… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 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
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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.
Stomata Printing: Microscope Investigation
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-12th
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"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
Apple Science: Comparing Apples and Onions
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
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Students will explore heredity concepts by comparing observable traits of apples and onions, collecting data on the traits of different apple varieties, and learning about apple production. Additional activities include hands-on methods for testing apple ripeness. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.
Bending Plant Roots with Gravity
Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th
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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.
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