homework about plants

• Grades 6-12
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50 Fun Earth Day Crafts and Activities 🌎!

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33 Free Plant Life Cycle Activities That Grow the Learning Fun

Cultivate a love of the natural world.

Looking for creative plant life cycle activities? We have 33 fun and free teaching ideas including videos, hands-on experiments, printables, and more. Your students will love learning about the plant life cycle and how they can help plants grow and thrive.

1. Read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed is one of the best plant life cycle references for little ones. Listen to it for story time, then use the book as a springboard for further activities.

2. Start with an anchor chart

Have your students help you create an anchor chart of the plant life cycle, then post it in your classroom for reference as you do some hands-on learning.

Learn more: Plant Anchor Chart at First Grade Fanatic on Pinterest

3. Discover how a seed grows into a plant

If you need a strong video to kick off a lesson about seeds or the plant life cycle, this video is a good place to start.

4. See it grow in slow-mo

Check out this time-lapse video that shows the fascinating details of how a plant’s root system grows quickly over the course of a few days. After this, kids will definitely want to see it happen for themselves!

5. Spin a plant life cycle wheel

Grab the free printables and watch this video to learn how to turn them into an interactive learning tool with paper plates.

Learn more: Plant Life Cycle Printables at We Are Teachers

6. Germinate in a jar

This is one of those classic plant life cycle activities every kid should try. Grow a bean seed in wet paper towels up against the side of a glass jar. Students will be able to see the roots form, the sprout take off, and the seedling reach for the sky!

Learn more: Germination Jars at How Wee Learn

7. Build a sprout house

This is another great idea for watching seeds sprout. For this one, all you need is a sunny window (no soil required).

Learn more: Sprout House at Playdough to Plato

8. Sort sprouted seeds

As your seeds begin to grow, sort and draw the various stages. Little ones can learn simple vocab like root, sprout, and seedling. Older students can tackle advanced terms like cotyledon, monocot, and dicot.

Learn more: Seed Sorting at Montessori Nature

9. Conduct a plant dissection experiment

Using magnifying glasses and tweezers, students will dissect flowers or food plants to learn the different parts. Handy tip: You don’t need separate plants for every student. Bring in one plant and give each student a different part.

Learn more: Plant Dissection at Royal, Baloo, and Logi Bear Too

10. Create living art with cress

Watercress is fun to watch because it grows very quickly on damp cotton. Try growing it as “hair,” or sow the seeds to create patterns or letters.

Learn more: Watercress Growing at The Imagination Tree

11. Sprout sweet potatoes

Not every plant needs seeds to reproduce! Grow a sweet potato to learn about a different kind of plant life cycle.

Learn more: Sprouting Sweet Potatoes at Pre-K Pages

12. Discover why seeds have coats

Seed coats provide protection, but what happens if you remove them? Go hands-on and find out in this interesting experiment.

Learn more: Seed Coating Experiment at Gift of Curiosity

13. Sculpt the plant life cycle in clay

Can’t grow a plant yourself? Sculpt one from clay instead! Watch this Claymation video for inspiration, then pull out the Play-Doh and get to work!

14. Don’t forget about pollinators!

Seed-bearing plants require pollination, often helped along by insects like bees and butterflies. This pipe cleaner activity shows little ones how pollination works.

Learn more: Pipe Cleaner Pollinators at Around the Kampfire

15. Grow an avocado

Did you know that an avocado seed has a fault line? Learn this and more in this DIY activity that teaches kids how to grow their own avocado plant.

Learn more: Grow an Avocado at Generation Genius

16. Explode a seed pod

Plants that rely on seeds as part of their life cycle need to ensure they spread far and wide. Some plants even have exploding seed pods that help the process along! Learn about them in this cool activity.

Learn more: Seed Pods Activity at Around the Kampfire

17. Display a life cycle bulletin board

We love how clean and easy to understand this plant life cycle bulletin board is. And those colorful flowers are a fantastic touch!

Source: Life Cycle Bulletin Board at Leslie Anderson on Pinterest

18. Go outside to conduct a plant study

After reading a story about what botanists do, students head outside to do a little field work themselves. Not only will they learn a lot, they may help clean up the school grounds!

Learn more: Going on a Plant Field Study at Firstieland

19. Create a plant life cycle hat

Get some practice sequencing as you cut out and paste together this sweet little topper. Kids will love wearing it as they learn.

Learn more: Plant Life Cycle Hats at Herding Kats in Kindergarten

20. Learn how seeds spread

Using a piece of paper and a paper clip, students will make a model of a maple seed. After they launch their seeds, they can watch them spin to the ground like helicopters.

Learn more: Make a Seed Model at Generation Genius

21. Fold a flower flip-book

The petals of this free printable flower unfold to reveal the stages of a plant’s life cycle. So clever!

Learn more: Flower Flip-Book at Teaching Momster

22. Diagram paper plants with shredded soil

This plant life cycle diagram uses paper shreds for soil, a cupcake liner for the flower, and more smart little details that kids will really appreciate.

Learn more: Diagram Paper Plants at Cara Carroll

23. Leaf chromatography

The different colors found in leaves are created by different chemicals—chlorophyll, flavonoids, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. In this experiment, students will see if they can get the pigments in the leaves to separate through chromatography so they can take a closer look at the colors found inside leaves.

Learn more: Leaf Chromatography at A Little Pinch of Perfect

24. Paint with chlorophyll

Integrate art into your plant life cycle activities! In this activity, students learn the importance of chlorophyll and its role in how a plant makes its own food.

Learn more: Paint With Chlorophyll at Around the Kampfire 

25. Try a digital flip-book

Learning online? This free digital activity includes a printable version for kids to complete at home, but it can also be completed virtually to save paper.

Learn more: Digital Flip-Books  at Conversations in Literacy

26. Compare soils

Plants need many things to grow, including sunlight, water, and food. In this experiment, students will see which plant grows better, one in plain soil or one in fertilized soil.

Learn more: Plant Growth Conditions at Generation Genius

27. Regrow kitchen scraps

Here’s another project showing that not every plant needs seeds. Save kitchen scraps and try regrowing them, with or without soil.

Learn more: Regrow Kitchen Scraps at A Piece of Rainbow

28. Plant seeds in ice cream cones

Learn how to use 100% biodegradable ice cream cones as planters for seedlings. There’s a trick to making it work!

Learn more: Ice Cream Cone Seedling Garden at Smart School House

29. Make a sunny sunflower

Make 3D sunflowers with fold-out leaves that teach the life cycle of the sunflower. Then, try growing your own !

30. Do a plant-life-cycle book study

Break your students into small groups and have each group read one of these stories, then share what they learned with the class. From how plants grow and where our food comes from to the amazing power of seeds, your students will eat up these interesting stories.

Learn more: Plant Life Cycle Books at What I Have Learned

31. Learn what germination means

This easy-to-follow and fun-to-watch video teaches kids all about germination—the process of the growth of a seed into a plant.

32. Keep a plant journal

What better way to learn about the plant life cycle than with careful observation? Every few days after you plant your seeds, students will draw and label the changes that they see in their growing plant.

Learn more: Plant Journal at Chalkboard Chatterbox

33. Learn the “Parts of a Plant Song”

Roots, stem, leaves, and flowers! This catchy tune will help your young learners understand the parts of a plant in a memorable way.

If you liked these plant life cycle activities, check out Clever Ways To Bring Gardening Into the Classroom .

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You Might Also Like

These Free Life Cycle Printables Are Perfect for Spring Science Lessons

Kids will love this interactive way of learning about the life cycle of plants and animals. Continue Reading

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Printable Worksheets On Plants

Plants can carry out the process of photosynthesis. This is a chemical reaction that provides food for plants. Could you imagine if we could activate the process of photosynthesis within our bodies? It would bring a whole new meaning to dining outdoors! These worksheets help students understand key vocabulary and concepts within the plant family.

• Acrostic Poem
• Bank On It!
• Comparing Plant And Animal Cells
• Do The Research!
• Group Creative Writing
• If I Were A.... ?
• Landscape Writing Paper
• Money Plants Writing Paper
• Plant and Animal Cell Worksheets
• Reading Comprehension
• Venn Diagram: Comparing Flowering Plants
• Vocabulary Quiz
• Vocabulary List & Definitions
• Word Search

Teacher Resources Related to Plants

• Botany Lesson Plans
• Botany Web Sites For Science Teachers
• Plant Life Teaching Resources

Plant Bulletin Boards Icons

• Green House
• Ocean Life 2
• Spider Plant

All About Plants

Plants are an essential resource for the planet and all living things. This article will cover the basic definition of plants, the importance of plants, the seven basic parts of a plant, the stages of a plant life cycle, tips on caring for plants, and the benefits of keeping plants. So, keep reading to find out all about plants.

The Basic Definition of Plants and Their Importance

A plant is a multicellular organism or living thing that grows in land or water. Plants are found in adverse climatic areas, from hot, sandy deserts to snowy mountain slopes –they can survive almost anywhere on the planet. Plants turn the light from the sun into food in photosynthesis. From giant trees to small patches of mosses, they exist in many sizes.

In addition to being a source of food, shelter, fiber, fuel, and herbal medicine, they also absorb carbon dioxide, which is harmful to humans. Plants are essential for maintaining a balance in nature. These organisms also provide food, shelter, and a natural habitat for many animals.

The Seven Basic Parts of a Plant

Here are the seven basic parts of plants that you should know about!

1. Seeds - Plants grow to form seeds. Seeds contain plant material that develops into a planet. The plant material contained in seeds is referred to as an embryo. Seeds have a protective coating and contain sufficient food for the baby plant until it is big enough to make its food from sunlight. The food included in seeds is referred as Cotyledons.

2. Roots - Roots are the most essential parts of a plant as they help anchor the plant in the soil. Roots also protect the plants from being damaged due to strong wind. Roots work to absorb all the essential nutrients and water from the soil to help the plant grow.

3. Stem - Stems are like the backbone of a plant and provide support to the upper part of the plant. Stems also work as a transport to move water and essential nutrients across plants. In the case of some species like cacti, bananas, and celery, photosynthesis takes place in the stem.

4. Leaves - Photosynthesis typically occurs in the leaves of most plants. The leaves are where the food for the organisms is produced. Leaves contain a green substance called chlorophyll that captures energy from the sunlight and uses that power to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and food for the plants.

5. Flowers - The reproductive parts of plants are called flowers. Flowers attract bees, birds, and insects as they are fragrant. Here are the four basic parts of flowers:

- Petals - Stamen - Pistil - Sepals

After pollination and fertilization takes place in flowers, seeds are produced in the flower's ovary.

6. Fruits - Fruits are sweet and fleshy products of a plant or tree containing seeds and attracting animals to eat them, which helps in dispersing seeds for more plants to grow.

The Four Stages of Plant Life Cycle

There are four basic stages of a plant lifecycle which are described as follows:

1. Seed - The first stage of the plant lifecycle is when the seed gets planted into the soil and receives water and sunlight. Seeds are either planted in the ground or fall from the plants and settle in the soil.

2. Germination - After three to four days, the germination process takes seed, which means that the seed's hard shell softens, splits, and roots begin to grow. Seeds contain all the essential nutrients that a plant requires to grow. Roots grow downwards, while the shoots of the plant grow upwards.

3. Seedling - After a week of this process, shoots appear above the soil, after which leaves start to grow. If the plants receive sufficient water and nutrient, the stems grow taller and wider.

4. Growth Cycle- Buds are formed as the seedling grows, which then turn to unfold into petals. Once the plant is big and tall, it reaches the maturity stage, and flowers begin to blossom.

5. Seeds fall - Seeds fall from the fully blossomed flowers back into the soil for the plant cycle to begin again.

Tips on How to Care for Plants

Like all living things, plants require care and attention to survive. Here are some tips on caring for them:

1. Choosing the right pot is the first toward caring for your plant. It should not be too big or too small for the plant.

2. Use fertilized soil or add natural fertilizers like crushed egg shells to allow the plants to receive sufficient nutrients to grow.

3. Ensure that you water the plant regularly. Don't underwater or overwater your plant.

4. Give your plant plenty of sunlight. If you have it indoors, place them next to the windows where there is abundant sunlight.

5. Reading about your plant helps as it allows you to understand how much water and sunlight it needs to survive.

Benefits of Having Indoor Plants

Having indoor plants is not just a healthy activity, but it also comes with some added perks. Here are some of the benefits of keeping indoor plants.

1. Air-Cleaning Properties - They improve the quality of the air you breathe, which directly impacts your overall health. Fun fact: due to the air-cleaning properties of plants, researchers are now looking for ways to improve air quality in air-tight sealed spacecraft.

2. Reduce Stress and Improve the Mood - According to research, plants help reduce stress and put you in a better mood. Our connection to living things is in our DNA, which means that we are naturally drawn to seek connection with other forms of life on the planet, like animals and plants.

3. Boost Your Productivity - Caring for plants is a therapeutic, productive activity. They require to be watered and taken care of regularly, which adds a healthy exercise to your daily routine and allows you to be more effective.

4. Improves Sleep - Research suggests that indoor plants with green leaves, like dracaenas, improve the quality of our sleep, so it is best to have them in your bedroom.

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Plants and growth

What are plants?

Plants are living things that grow from the soil and turn light from the Sun into food. Plants can be big or small, from giant trees to tiny patches of moss.

Plants use a process called photosynthesis to turn sunlight into food in their leaves. They can then use this food to grow. To help them do this, they also need water and nutrients that they take from the soil with their roots, and carbon dioxide that they absorb from the air.

Top 10 facts

• Plants turn light from the Sun into food that they need to grow.
• Plants also need water and nutrients from the soil , and carbon dioxide from the air .
• Animals can eat plants so that they can use the food the plants created to grow too. Animals can’t turn energy from the sun into food so they have to get it by eating plants or by eating other animals.
• The biggest type of plant on earth is a tree called the giant redwood. Some of these trees are as tall as a 15-storey building, and up to 3,500 years old.
• Most plants reproduce by creating seeds using pollen from other plants of the same type.
• Plants use flowers to attract insects to carry pollen from one plant to the next.
• Flowers contain a sugary liquid called ‘nectar’ that the insects eat and while they are in the flower, they get pollen on them that they carry to the next flower they go to.
• Some plants spread their seeds by letting them float on the wind, other plants encourage animals to eat them and some plants just drop them on the ground.
• Not all plants get all their energy from sunlight. The Venus flytrap and pitcher plants trap and eat insects!
• Some people are allergic to pollen. All the pollen in the air in the spring makes them sneeze. This is called ‘hayfever’.

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• Plants need light to grow. If you put one plant on a windowsill in the sunlight, and one plant in a dark cupboard, the plant in the sunlight will be green and healthy and the plant in the cupboard will start to die.
• Brightly coloured flowers look very pretty to us, but that’s not why plants grow them. The bright colours and patterns on the flower petals are very attractive to insects . The insects come to the flowers to drink nectar, and they carry pollen from one plant to the next.
• When a plant has been pollinated, it creates a seed (or lots of seeds). These seeds will make the next generation of plants. A seed contains the start of a new plant and some food to help it grow until it’s big enough to get food on its own.
• When a seed sprouts and starts to grow, it is called ‘germination’. You can see germination in action by taking some seeds and putting them on a damp piece of kitchen towel in a dark cupboard. This makes the seed think it’s in some moist soil, and it will start to grow after a few days.
• Lots of types of animal only eat plants. They are called ‘herbivores’.
• The huge variety of fruit and vegetables that you find in the supermarket doesn’t just turn up there by chance. They have to be carefully grown and looked after. People who grow plants for people to eat are called farmers.

Can you spot all these images in the gallery?

• A man sitting at the base of a giant redwood tree (this is the third largest redwood tree in the world) (Credit: Mdvaden via Wikimedia)
• A honey bee extracting nectar
• A hummingbird drinking nectar from a flower
• Looking up at a giant redwood tree
• Lots of different kinds of fruits. All of these contain seeds
• Lavender growing in a field
• A sundew swamp plant

Plants often go to a lot of trouble to attract animals that will help them pollinate their flowers or spread their seeds. Some flowers are shaped so that only certain kinds of insects or birds are able to get into the flower to collect the nectar.

Sunflowers grow into tall flowers very quickly. If you plant sunflowers in different places in the garden – some in shady corners, some in sunny spots – you can see which ones grow the fastest by measuring them every day.

Animals eat plants to get the food that they need to grow because only plants can convert energy from the Sun into food. Even animals like lions and tigers that only eat meat rely on plants for their food because the animals that the lions and tigers eat get their food from plants. This is called the food chain .

Insects aren’t the only type of creatures that plants use to help with pollination. Some small birds like the hummingbird or small bats are involved in the pollination process too.

When a flower has been pollinated, seeds will develop in the ovaries at the bottom of the flower. These seeds will grow into plants of the same species and the plant will use animals, wind or an explosive seed pod to spread them around.

Some seeds are very light, like the seeds from a dandelion, and plants use the wind to carry these long distances. Other seeds grow in pods like peas – when these pods dry out, the pod will burst and fire the seeds away from the plant.

Many plants use animals to spread their seeds , and they can do this in different ways. Some seeds have hooks on them so that they catch on fur or skin, and the animal carries them a long way before the seed falls off. Some seeds develop into fruits – this is when the flesh of the ovary that the seed is in grows into something that animals like to eat (like tomatoes, cherries or apples) – the animals eat the fruit and then either spit out the seeds or they come out in their poo.

Carnivorous plants are plants that also eat meat. They use sticky pads or slippery tubes to trap animals (mostly insects) inside them and then they dissolve them and eat them. Venus flytraps and pitcher plants are examples of these.

Some plants live for a very short amount of time before they flower and spread their seeds. Many types of plant that we like to eat (like tomatoes or cucumbers) only live for one year and die in the winter. Other plants can live for several years and some plants like trees can live for hundreds, or even thousands of years!

Words to know:

Bulb – a form some plants take when they are dormant; some plants like daffodils or onions survive the winter as a bulb under the soil, and grow new stalks and leaves in the spring Carpel – the female reproductive parts of a flower; it receives pollen from other plants and protects seeds while they develop Deciduous – deciduous trees are ones that shed their leaves in winter; leaves on these trees are normally wide and flat Evergreen – evergreen trees (also called conifers) are ones that keep their leaves all year around; they often have leaves shaped like needles Flower – a flower contains the reproductive parts of a plant; they are often brightly coloured to attract insects Fruit – flesh surrounding a seed or seeds that makes it attractive for animals to eat them Germination – the process of a seed starting to grow to create a new plant Leaves – plants have these on their branches or stem, and normally use them to make food from sunlight; this is called photosynthesis. Ovary – a chamber at the base of the carpel; this contains ovules that are fertilised by pollen to create seeds Nectar – a sugary liquid that is found in many flowers; nectar attracts insects to drink it and encourages them to travel from flower to flower spreading pollen Petal – special leaves that are part of a flower. They are often brightly coloured to attract insects Photosynthesis – the process plants use to make food from sunlight; it also needs carbon dioxide from the air, and water from the soil Pollen – pollen is needed to create seeds to grow new plants; sometimes pollen is carried on the wind, and sometimes it is carried from plant to plant by insects Seed – seeds are created using pollen from other plants; they are a new plant and normally need some food to help it start to grow Stalk/stem – the central part of the plant that all the leaves and branches connect to; in trees, this is called the trunk Stamen – the male reproductive parts of the flower; they are covered in pollen that either rubs off on passing insects or is blown away by the wind Stigma – this is at the top of the carpel; its job is to catch pollen that is floating on the wind or is on the back of an insect that has come to the flower Style – a tube in the centre of the carpel to take pollen to the ovary Tree – large plants that live a long time, have a very tough, woody stem called a trunk, and normally have lots and lots of leaves and a large number of branches Tuber – part of the stem or root used to store food by the plant; potatoes and carrots are tubers Vegetable – bits of plant we eat that aren’t fruits; most vegetables are the root, stem or leaves of the plant

Related Videos

Just for fun...

• Learn about plants and play games
• Take a walk through a virtual forest
• Plant specimens in the best possible environment for them
• Find out where the plant ingredients for some of your favourite foods came from
• Investigate the mysteries of seeds  and soil with Detective Le Plant
• Take a virtual trip to the UK's most famous garden, the Blue Peter Garden
• Learn to identify autumn leaves
• Complete an online quiz about seed dispersal

Best children's books about plants and growth

Find out more:

• A kids' guide to plants from DKfindout!
• Read about plant life cycles  and find out what a plant needs to grow
• Look at an interactive guide to Scottish woodlands  (Select non-flash)
• Learn about the biology of plants
• Use an interactive simulation to learn how tree ring patterns tell us about past climate conditions
• Information about backyard plants
• Discover how plants deal with dry days
• Find out more about photosynthesis
• Why leaves change colour in the autumn
• Watch videos for kids about the parts of a plant , what plants need to grow  and why plants need water and light
• Watch BBC animation clips about plants
• Revise the the life cycle of plants from seed to dispersal with a BBC Bitesize animation
• Find out more about plant adaptations
• Information about how a seed grows into a plant

See for yourself

• Visit Kew Gardens in London to find out more about plants and see unusual species
• See how the Eden Project has transformed an old China Clay quarry into a habitat for plants
• Visit the Botanical Gardens in Bristol
• Visit the Botanical Gardens in Oxford
• Visit the Botanical Gardens in Durham
• Visit the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham
• Visit the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge
• Visit the National Botanic Garden  of Wales near Carmarthen
• Visit the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh
• Visit the Botanic Gardens in Belfast

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• FREE resources & activities
• FREE homework help

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STEM Plant Activities- 10 Ways to Learn About Plants!

Categories STEM Activities

Teaching science and STEM this spring? If you’re checking out spring STEM activities , learn about plants with these STEM plant activities that are all about plants, biology, and plant life cycles!

There are so many things that kids will want to learn about plants, and these hands-on STEM activities keep it from being boring! Even the most science-hating kid will have a blast with these activities.

Plant Activities with a STEM Focus

STEM plant activities, lesson plans, and worksheets. Teach students all about plant biology and life cycles with these hands-on plant lessons! Find our favorite plant science activities at the end of this article!

What is a STEM Plant Activity?

A plant activity teaches kids something about how plants work. The activities might teach kids about life cycles, seed germination, the parts of a plant, how plants reproduce, how plants get nutrients, how plants make oxygen, photosynthesis, and a whole lot more!

There is so much to learn about plants and when you use a STEM lens, you can learn so much about the world and how to improve the world for plants and with plants!

What You Need for STEM Plant Activities

If you do any of the plant science activities on this list, you’ll want to check out these Amazon affiliate links for products that we love using with our STEM activities!

Don’t forget to pick up a set of our spring STEM challenge cards to use in your STEM centers this spring. Here’s how to set up a STEM center.

If you want activities for specific ages, check out our spring STEM activities for preschool, spring lesson plans for elementary students, and spring STEM activities for middle school.

Spring STEM Lesson Plans

If you want ready-to-go, low-prep spring lesson plans, you’ll love these resources.

• March STEM Lesson Bundle
• April STEM Lesson Bundle
• May STEM Lesson Bundle
• Spring Science Experiments
• Spring STEM Challenge Cards with Instructions

Our Favorite STEM Plant Activities

It’s spring, so that means it’s a great time to learn about plants! These STEM activities all have fun plant-related themes that make learning about plants fun.

You can learn about capillary action with this Color Changing Flowers Experiment .

Take a flower apart and learn about the parts of a flower in the Parts of a Flower Dissection activity.

Learn about how plants work and basic plant biology when you learn How to Make a 3D Model of the Parts of a Plant .

Learn about native plants around the world in this Learning about Flowers around the world activity.

Get the Apple Tree Life Cycle Worksheet and learn about an apple’s life cycle.

Explore photosynthesis and learn How Trees Make Oxygen.

In this Seed Germination Experiment kids will experiment with finding the right kind of soil to grow different types of seeds.

The Egg Shell Garden Science Project is a fun alternative garden for small spaces.

This activity about plant needs teaches kids about what plants need to survive.

More Spring STEM for Kids

20 Engaging and Fun Spring STEM Challenges for Kids

Spring Lesson Plans for Elementary with a STEAM Focus

The Ultimate List of Spring Science Experiments for the Classroom

Plant biology activities

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Monday 11th of December 2023

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How Plants Grow

How Plants Grow introduces students to the process by which plants actually grow. Students will explore the different components that plants need to survive and grow strong. These components include water, sunlight, healthy soil, and air. Students will also discover how temperature and space also contribute to the likelihood that a plant will thrive.

There are several suggestions listed in the “Options for Lesson” section that you can add to or alter in your lesson. One suggestion, for instance, is to show students a time-lapse video of a plant growing.

Description

Additional information, what our how plants grow lesson plan includes.

Lesson Objectives and Overview: How Plants Grow teaches students all about plants and what they need to survive. Students will discover the different parts of a plant. They will also learn to identify the things a plant needs to grow. This lesson is for students in 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. This lesson requires large clear plastic cups or jars, seeds, and paper towels or napkins. Before you start the lesson, you will need to acquire both a seed and a related full-grown plant for the lesson opening. You will also need enough of two kinds of seeds for the supplies for the activity.

Options for Lesson

In the “Options for Lesson” section of the classroom procedure page, you will find a number of suggestions for extra tasks or activities to incorporate into the lesson. One suggestion is to open the lesson with a time-lapse video of a plant growing. You could also have students work in pairs and write down their observations about how plants grow, starting from a seed and continuing throughout the growing process. They could measure the plant’s size and development in a “Plant Journal.” Another suggestion is to make extra seed cups and place one in the dark, one under a lamp, one in a refrigerator, and others in other places to compare their growth. A final option is to do the activity first and then present the rest of the lesson during observations.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page provides a paragraph of extra information or guidance. It reminds you that this lesson explores the basic needs of plants and touches on the process of photosynthesis. It suggests that you spend time on specific areas, such as pollination or the needs of plants, depending on the grade level. Use the blank lines on this page to write down any other thoughts you have before presenting the lesson to your students.

HOW PLANTS GROW LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

Plants and soil.

The How Plants Grow lesson plan has three pages of content. The first page introduces students to plants and describes why and how there are so many different kinds of plants throughout the world. Students will discover that they can find plants virtually anywhere, including in their own house! Someone must care for them each day by providing water, sunlight, and nutrients through the soil. Some plants even provide people with the fruits and vegetables they love.

Plants, like humans and other animals, are living organisms. In order to grow, the majority of plants need a number of specific things. To progress from a small seed to a healthy plant, they have to have soil rich in nutrients, sunlight, water, and air.

Plants will find most of the nutrients they need in the soil. These nutrients include nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Nitrogen is what causes the leaves of plants to be green. Phosphorous contributes to the overall health and strength of the plant and its root system. Larger plants probably indicate a good source of phosphorous. Potassium helps the plant fight off diseases. Plants must have healthy soil to grow properly. And the soil also supports the plant and helps prevent it from falling over.

Sunlight, Air, and Water

The next elements students will learn about are sunlight, air, and water. The sun produces energy through the light that plants can use to make food. The leaves are the part of the plant that makes this process, photosynthesis, happen. Without this process, plants would not be able to survive. However, too much sunlight can be harmful. If a plant receives too much sunlight, it could die. Not enough sunlight, on the other hand, can cause the plant to stop growing.

Another important element is air. From the air, plants receive carbon dioxide, a component that, like sunlight, contributes to the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide also allows plants to use the sun’s energy to make its food and grow. Plants release oxygen into the air as part of this process as well. Oxygen is essential to the survival of the living organisms, like humans, throughout the world.

Finally, plants need water. Water is necessary for the plant to grow healthy and strong. The water a plant receives helps guide nutrients to the plant through its roots, stem, and leaves. It is possible for plants to receive too much water. Just as too much sunlight harms plants, overwatering them can yield the same results.

Other Needs

There are a few other elements that affect the health of a plant. One of those is temperature. One of the main reasons certain plants grow in certain areas has to do with temperature. Plants can grow very strong in the right temperature. Most grow well in warm daytime temperatures and cooler nighttime temperatures. If it’s too hot, the plant can dry up and burn. On the other hand, it can freeze if it’s too cold outside.

One more element that contributes to a plant’s healthy growth is space. Plants need room and time to grow into healthy, strong, full-size plants. Without room to grow, they can become too small and not reach their full potential. And if an area has many plants that overcrowd each other, they can suffer from a disease caused by lack of air.

The last page of the lesson plan provides a summary of what a plant needs to grow. Plants start out as small seeds. They come in many varieties that exist all over the world. Some are really large, like trees, and some are very small, like a blade of grass. They have specific needs in order to survive and grow to their full potential, just like humans or animals do.

The bottom of the page displays a diagram that labels various aspects of plants along with the elements involved in photosynthesis. It does not directly represent the process or show the cycle. It simply labels components like carbon dioxide, light energy, oxygen, and glucose. The other labels are sunlight, minerals, water, and root. The very bottom of the page asks students if they can explain what is happening in the picture.

HOW PLANTS GROW LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The How Plants Grow lesson plan contains two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a homework assignment. These worksheets will help reinforce the material students learned in the lesson. The activity in particular provides a hands-on experience to really solidify their grasp of the lesson concepts. The guidelines on the classroom procedure page outline when to hand out each worksheet to the class.

PLANT A SEED ACTIVITY WORKSHEET

For the activity, students will observe the growth of two seeds that they plant. They will use paper towels, some kind of container, and water. First, they will follow the directions to plant the seeds. Then they will draw what the seeds look like on different dates over the course of two weeks. There should be about seven pictures for each seed. At the very end, they will write a short paragraph about what they learned.

HOW PLANTS GROW HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

The homework assignment lists 15 words in a word bank. Students will read through 15 statements and fill in the blanks with the correct term. You can decide whether or not you allow students to refer to the content pages for help on the assignment.

Worksheet Answer Keys

The last page of the lesson plan is an answer key for the homework assignment. It provides the correct responses in red. There should be no variation in students’ responses to any of these questions. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits this final page. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep the answer key as reference for yourself when grading the homework assignment.

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How plants grow

Entertaining and enlightening

Made me to be a better teacher

Plant Lesson

I absolutely love using these lessons and showing the videos. They are perfect for the kids and it keeps them engaged!

great resource

We have not used this resource yet as we will be doing this in May for our lessons. We are excited to use this resource with our classes.

Excellent tool for home schooling

Nice pictures, good choice of topics with very helpful guidance and engaging tasks

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All About Plants for Kids

What are plants?

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Plants Lesson Plans

• Match the seed to the Plant   Interactive activity
• The Mighty Sprout Project   How to grow wheat
• Plants and Our Environment – 4/5   Learn about how plants grow and their relationship to animals. Activities. Grade 4.
• The Great Plant Escape – 4/5   4 and 5 Grade. introduce students to plant science and increase their understanding of how foods grow. Activities enhance student’s math, science, language arts, social studies, music and art.
• Why do Plants have flowers?   Find out yourself.
• Seeds of Life   What is a seed? Good site to learn about it.
• The Tomato Plant   Learn about the tomato plant, the anatomy and more. Descriptive with many diagrams. Great page
• Kinder Garden   An introduction to the many ways children can interact with plants and the outdoors. K-Elementary. 3/5
• Plants And Our Environment   A website about plants. Facts with illustrations.
• Swan’s Pumpkin Farm  Fun facts and activities for kids, word serach, trivia about pumpkins. 4/5
• Pollination of Plants by Insects   Facts and links to other very interesting topics on insects.
• Tree Kit Student   Good lessons about trees. Facts and illustrations. Grades K-3. 5/5
• Trees   Learn how trees adapt to survive. Good simple information.
• Why do leaves change color in the fall?   by Science made Simple. Read about it. Good site.
• How do trees carry water from the soil around their roots to the leaves at the top?   Clearly, they are fighting gravity–so how do they do it?
• How do large trees, such as redwoods, get water from their roots to the leaves?   Here are the explanations from Ham Keillor-Faulkner who is a professor of forestry at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay, Ontario

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Parts of a Plant for Kids

These Parts of a Plant for Kids Worksheets are great! If you’re looking for a simple way to help your child learn about plants and how they grow, these plant worksheets are perfect.

We’re big fans of learning all about the world around us and it’s no surprise that plants are everywhere the moment that you step outside the door. And if the weather is too cold, you can even find indoor plants that you can easily explore and learn about as well.

>> See more  plant activities for kids

The best part about these parts of a plant worksheets is that they break the concepts down easily for the kids to understand. Once they learn about the various parts of the plants, they’ll then be able to dive in deeper and learn how they grow, too.

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What I love about these worksheets is that they’re geared towards various stages of learning. Older kids can appreciate the fact that they can spot and identify plant parts easier after these worksheets and the younger kids will love being able to understand by drawing and coloring.

These plant worksheets are great to sit down and do together with the kids, too. We’ve even used these worksheets as a simple way to talk about gardening and growing various types of plants, too.

They’ll learn about the various parts of a plant, how a plant grows, and easy ways that they can take care of their plant as well!

This would be a great way to combine a fun nature study or even a garden study lesson with the kids, too. I always find it to be such a fun conversation when the kids think that plants just suddenly start growing without any prep work at all.

Recommended Growing a Plant Activity Kits

Grab these hands-on activity kits to extend your homeschool parts of a plant science lesson. They can grow their sunflowers with this Sunflower Grow Kit (left) that comes with an activity pack or you can get this Box #4 of BeakerzScience (right) for a fun learning kit about Worms and Plants. The kit contains live worms, too!

How a Plant Grows Worksheets

As you can see, there are quite a few parts to this Parts of a Plant for Kids Worksheet packet! All of the pages dive into the process of learning the Plant Life Cycle as well!

I actually like to come back to this unit study throughout various times of the year because I think that there is some really great value to it.

It’s also nice to check back on when the spring weather is starting to peek out it’s head as well. The kids are always open to learning more about plants during this time and I think that this life cycle packet does a great job of explaining things to them.

Be certain to check out our Plant Cell Coloring Worksheet as well!

The best way that I can recommend using these plant worksheets is to have the kids work through them in order, one by one. By the time they finish the packet, they should have a good idea of plants and how they grow!

Recommended Plant books for Kids

Don’t forget to add in some plant books, too! We love to use reading as a way to really understand a concept and dive deeper into it, too.

I’m always amazed at how many great reading resources there are out there and we’re determined to read through as many of them that we can.

We tend to really focus in on books to help with our learning and I love that these books can break down even more of the plants. It’s one of those learning lessons that is a good visual for the kids, too in the way that they can relate to seeing a lot of these plants out and about in nature.

Here are some of our favorite plant books that I think the kids will love as well! We’re always adding to our list and trying out new books to read so if you have any fun suggestions, please let us know.

Ways to Use These Parts of a Plants for Kids Worksheets

There are actually a lot of great ways that the kids can use these plant worksheets.

One of the easiest ways is to print them off and let the kids work through them. Sit by them and let them ask questions along the way.

The other simple thing to do is to print this off and take them with you when you go on a trip. Make certain to have some plant books with you in the car so that they can research as well and they should be able to work through the worksheets that way, too.

Either way, they’re learning all about the various parts of a flower and plants and are finding out a lot more information about plant growth than they knew before.

Download the Parts of a Plant Worksheets PDF below

Don’t forget to download your life cycle packet below. This is such an easy way to introduce this concept to the kids. It’s also a super fun way to get them out the door as well.

Once you have the life cycle packet in hand, why not take a trip outside and see if there are plants that the kids can identify or name the parts of? That way they can get outside and enjoy nature and put the information that they learned to good use!

I also believe that when you can combine traditional learning techniques with outside the box thinking, great things can happen. The kids will be more interested as well and will remember more of the topics that are talked about and taught.

Use this part of a plants printable as a launching point to dive deeper into plants. There are so many varieties to learn about!

More Plant Activities

Plant Science Experiments

I bet your kids will love these awesome experiments about plants.

Plant Books for Kids

Plant Life Cycle Worksheets

Plant Books for Kindergarten

Parts of a Flower Worksheets

Plant Activities for Preschoolers

Growing Seeds in Eggshells  by STEAMsational

I share educational printables and activities to help homeschoolers make learning science fun and engaging!

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Plant habitats

Plants, habitats and adaptations.

In these worksheets, students match plants to their habitats and reflect on how the plant has adapted to the conditions of that habitat.

With adaptations:

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Educational Resources

Supporting Plant Sciences for K-12 and beyond

Kindergarten to Fifth Grade Resources

These activities fit especially well into existing classroom units so busy teachers can add a dash of thoughtful plant biology to their existing plans. Guest scientists can leave the activities for independent follow up. Students can use them for preview, homework or flipped classroom assignments.

• Career Day PowerPoint
• Critical Thinking Activities for the 12 Principles of Plant Biology
• Genes in Your Jeans
• How Many Plants in a Hamburger?
• How to Grow a Plant Biologist – Career Tree
• How to Host a Plant Biology Film Fest
• Hunt for Plants in Your House
• Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci, and Plant Biology
• Plant Evolution—DNA & a Family Tree
• Plant Evolution SearchaWord
• Plant Science Podcasts & Critical Thinking Activities
• Plants in Your Pants
• Pro Tips – Studying for the Sciences
• Winter Holiday Songs for Plant Science
• Picture Books for Plant Biology

Spanish Translations

• Plantas en tus pantalones: El Algodón
• Plantas en tus pantalones: Indigo
• Genes en tus pantalones vaqueros
• Plantas en la casa
• Hamburguesa

Italian Translations

• Piante nascoste
• Quante piante in un hamburger

ASPB offers a variety of ways to share your education, engagement or outreach experiences and resources. Eradicate plant blindness  by supporting scholarly teaching, active learning, effective mentoring, and evidence-based public engagement.

Seventh to Ninth Grade Resources

• Plant CLUE : Students evaluate symptoms of a sick plant and determine which stress condition caused the response using the classic board game  Clue as a model
• PlantingScience – Free inquiry experiences for students, connecting volunteer scientists to small student teams for student-centered research projects

Grade 9-12 Resources

• Learning to Identify Grasses and Grass-like Plants
• Climate Change Phenology Curriculum
• How to Read a Scientific Paper
• Case Study to Accompany How to Read a Scientific Paper
• Free Journal Access for High Schools and Public Libraries
• Use Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to teach photosynthesis and cellular respiration- Inexpensive hands-on activities using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii  (a green micro-alga) beads to teach the interplay of photosynthesis and cellular respiration to K4–K16 Biology students
• Plant Phenology Data and Citizen Science-  Develop and test hypotheses about the relationship between phenology and climatic conditions and examine what phenological data can tell us about climate change

Undergraduate

Aspb is active in the vision and change in undergraduate biology education (v&c)  movement to  ‘nurture the implementation of the vision of a biology education that aligns with the reality of the rapidly changing nature of biology: a vision that demands conceptual, integrative, and critical thinking which crosses disciplinary boundaries and develops problem-solving skills and the ability to work with data at a scale previously unimaginable.’, broader impacts.

ASPB supports faculty researchers pursuing NSF Broader Impacts ( overview;   perspectives report ) and strives to align Society resources with  guiding principles  from the National Alliance for Broader Impacts as well as in concert with Boyer’s  four pillars of scholarship .

Core Concepts

ASPB offers the  Core Concepts (with Learning objectives) in Plant Biology  appropriate through advanced study. These concepts form the Plant Biology Learning Framework at  CourseSource.org .

ASPB higher education resources that align with the above initiatives include:

Scholarly Teaching/Authentic Publication

Coursesource.org.

CourseSource.org offers evidence-based teaching resources for undergraduate life science education. ASPB developed (with BSA) and manages the  Plant Biology Learning Framework . Submit YOUR active learning resources here for review .

Life Science Teaching Resource Community

The Life Science Teaching Resource Community is an online community and resource library for life science educators at all levels.  ASPB is a LifeSciTRC Partner Organization . Submit YOUR life science resources here for publication

Teaching Tools in Plant Biology

Up-to-date peer-reviewed research-based content with flexible presentation components.

Wiki Education Foundation

Wiki Education Foundation cultivates learning that enriches…allowing learners to contribute to open scholarship and education for all.

• Why Wiki with Ugrads & Beyond?
• How to Wiki Edit
• Student Training Modules

Grant Programs/Funding Opportunities

Collaborations/collective impact, partnership for undergraduate life science education (pulse).

PULSE offers a network and resources to sustainably transform classroom experiences and administrative support on all higher education campuses.

• Assess your campus
• Change toolkit

PlantingScience—Digging Deeper

Tests a bespoke professional development (PD) model whereby teachers and scientists guide high school students in authentic science and then reflect on instructional and mentoring strategies. NSF #1502892

Photosynthesis Posters

Grant Supported Resources

Find additional information about funding opportunities here .

Plant BLOOME Awards:

• Plant GIFTS (Genetics In Farming Technology and Science) – Plant GIFTS increases student understanding of heredity with a particular emphasis on breeding while also incorporating information on transmission genetics and the central dogma. Specifically, the project introduces students to the ideas of applied genetics and plant breeding technology through the lens of current global food production challenges.
• Shining a Light on ‘Plant Apathy’:Using Kenneth Oppel’s Young Adult Novel  Bloom as a Motivating Tool for Teaching Plant Science to First-Year Undergraduate Students – Bloom by Kenneth Oppel can be used as a literary tool to motivate students when learning about critical plant science topics such as photosynthesis, growth and development, and invasive species
• Athens Science Observer ‘Zines – Born out of a love for science communication, a need to train others in the field, a desire to change culture, and the need for a creative outlet for scientists, Athens Science Observer ‘Zines provide training for writers to effectively communicate science while engaging the public in STEM-related topics.
• Use  Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to teach photosynthesis and cellular respiration- Inexpensive hands-on activities using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii  (a green micro-alga) beads to teach the interplay of photosynthesis and cellular respiration to K4–K16 Biology students
• Climate Change Phenology Curriculum- Helps teachers engage middle and high school-aged youth in a hands-on project that will allow them to 1) become familiar with the biology of their local plants; 2) understand the impacts of climate change on plant life cycles; 3) contribute as citizen-scientists to a national phenological dataset; and 4) analyze and interpret data to discern long term trends.
• Learning to Identify Grasses and Grass-like Plants- A 5-day curriculum to help educators and students (grades 9-12) understand the importance of, and differences among, grasses and grass-like plant species
• Science IRL- Science IRL is a YouTube series that promotes science literacy by communicating science concepts in a real world lab environment.
• My Life as a Plant : coloring book- In  My Life as a Plant,  Sally Sunflower and her pals inspire kids (PreK-2) to explore the world of plants.This interactive story is a fun first foray into the 12 Principles of Plant Biology.
• VR Plants – The Virtual Reality Plants (VR Plants) project contains video games, exhibits, workshops, and interactive lessons to teach about plant biology through the use of reality-extending technology
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Carnivorous plants.

Plants are known for sitting still, but some plants are devious killers. Learn more about the amazing world of carnivorous plants with this short text. Then answer CCSS aligned multiple-choice and extended-response questions. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8

Readability Score for Carnivorous Plants

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