Grow A Seed

My kids and I love looking through and doing my old lessons which I had used when I taught. Here is one of my favorite lessons, both in school and out. I actually had more fun with it at home since there were no time constraints.

The purpose of this lesson is to demonstrate the stages of plants life cycle and to explain where our food comes from. (when I taught I did this along with a Harvest Festival during the Fall). Students will be able to describe the life cycle of a plant and apply their knowledge to grow their very own pumpkin. The students will each walk away with an extensive knowledge of plant growth as well as their own personal plant, which they can watch grow.

Motivation:
Take students outside to take a look at the garden. Tell them that this is how your food grows.

Materials:
Plastic bags to line the Flower Pots
Art supplies
Flower Pots
How a Seed Grows
Pumpkin seeds
The Carrot Seed

Procedure:
1. Read and discuss the book The Carrot Seed.
2. Ask the students if they have ever grown a plant before. Ask them to describe what they had to do in order to grow and care for the plant.
3. Next draw a diagram of the life cycle of a plant on the board. Use fun drawings such as watering cans, flowers, and bright pots. This will allow the children to see the process. Let them explain what they see.
4. Have the students draw a picture of their favorite plant or flower. They will then do “research” by looking at a board with pictures and names of plants and flowers to determine the name of the flower they drew. Hang the pictures on a wall to display.
5. As a fun introduction to the next part of the lesson let the students make their own flowerpots. Supply plain brown flowerpots, which are easy to decorate. Let them be creative and decorate the pots however they would like. Give them paint, stencils, and beads, and let them go to work. After they are finished leave to pots overnight to dry.
6. Read the book How a Seed Grows to the class.
7. Break the class up into groups.
8. Each group will have the book and will follow along with the story in order to plant their own seeds in the pots they decorated. The groups are purely supportive to help guide the reading process since each student will have their own pot to plant a seed in. Let the students use the book to figure out the instructions on their own. The teacher should not be telling the students the instructions but merely guide them if they should stumble.
9. Display the pots in the classroom and have students care for them daily. Have them keep a journal of the plants growth in which they can draw how the plant looks and write a word underneath it.

Educational Connections: