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Hey there, I am looking for a simple but engaging activity to demonstrate to first grade students that plants need light to grow and thrive. I teach Science Lab and have only 45 minutes for each lesson, in addition, I only see my students every 6 days. An activity that takes time in order to to observe change would be perfect. Anyone have an activity to suggest? Thanks!

Hi Dianne,
There is a nice lesson on plant germination and growth in this article:
Lose the Recipe.

OR

How about the 'ole' bean plant in the box tower trick? You place a young plant in a box that has a twist and/or turn in it. There is a single source where light can shine in that the plant can grow toward. Then students can check and see how it grows toward the light.
I would think that it would be fun to set it up and check the plant's progress over the course of several weeks.
Carolyn

Alive, dead or "never living" are great topics even at the early childhood level. Given lots of time and a variety of media through which to respond, you can get very important formative information from this question.

On that note, Julianna,
Page Keeley has a great probe on that topic:
Is It Living?

Here are some articles from the Journal Science and Children in a section called 'Science 101' (Background boosters for elementary teachers) that might help with background content when teaching about plants: 'How Do Plant Make Their Own Food?' 3/01/2003 'How Does Photosynthesis Work?', April/May 2007 'How do Plants Move?', Sept. 2009 Also found in [u]Science and Children[u]are: 'Editors Note: Plants and Their Partners.', 2/01/2009 'The Early Years: The Sun's Energy', 3/01/2007 'Problem Solver: Teaching Tropisms', 11/01/1999

Hi Diane, You could have the children to plant some seeds in two separate plastic cups and watch it grow over time. Place one in a dark area and the other near the light and they will notice that one will grow faster than the other. The bean sprout plant usually will give pretty fast results. You should be able to see real progress with in a month.

Hello Dianne, I seen my cooperating teaching do an acitvity with her first grades last semesters. She had each student plant two different seeds into plastic cups. The first cups were placed by the window while the others were placed in a cabinet. She and the studnets would water both plants the same days when water was needed and observerd them every other day to see the difference. Hopefully this works out for you.

Hi Diane, I actually did a project with my 1st grade class last year that was very similar to the one described by Linda (Sept. 25 post). I used identical live plants, flowers in bloom. As with Linda's activity, different plants received all basic needs, with one removed. Students wrote to describe their observations as well as drew a picture of what they saw. This was helpful to them as they made observations of the plants over a period of time. The whole class observed and discussed each plant, but students were divided into groups to write and draw one plant. Hope this is useful to you.

One science activity I always remembered doing was placing a bean in between a wet napkin inside a plastic bag and tapping it to a window. As days pass you are able to see roots starting to grow. This can be and example for students to observe the change every 6 days. Also, you can tape bags in different places (the window to get sunlight and inside a cabinet that gets no light) to observe the difference.

Hello, I think it would be cool to give each student a plant and put them by a window. The plants will grow in the direction of the sunlight. Being that you only see your students every six days, that allows the plants enough time to change. So everything the students come for lab they have new and interesting data to record. I would also have students reflect as to why they think the plant is growing in this direction. If you have multiple plants students can even observe the differences between plants. Jaclyn

It would be great to go into the plant lesson and plant a bean plant and show students the change every time they join your class.

I feel like the lima beans are foolproof, and can be observed and recorded day-to-day. I'm sure you can find a time-lapsed video that shows the bean sprouting and growing, too.

I think the kids would really enjoy if y'all made small plants and put them all over the room. Some in sunlight and others in shade, that way the students can see the difference it makes for the plants to receive sunlight. Also make an anchor chart with drawing of a flower and all it needs, so they can relate it to their experiment.

Attachments

Plant_Anchor_Chart.jpg (0.02 Mb)

I wrote a bit about some seed explorations in the Early Years blog--maybe there are some ideas that you can use: http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2009/03/07/seed-sprouting-activity-and-observation/ http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2012/05/12/spring-activities-and-books-to-go-with-them/ http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2010/03/15/gardening-begins-inch-by-inch/ Peggy

Our teachers used small cheap plants and for a week, they sprayed a little bleach onto one and put it in a dark room for a quicker process. They also changed the type of soil; clay, sand, loam, etc.

I did a project when I was in elem. school over how plants grow in the light.

Those are all great ideas. I planned for my students to plan bean seeds, and give them all the basic needs that plants need. We will talk about the misconception that seeds are dead. I am also having my students record their findings every other day in a graphic organizer, in order to deepen their observations.