Plants
We spent one week studying plants!
We read: The Tiny Seed to introduce our unit on plants.
After dicussing plant needs, we focus on the parts of a plant. The book: Plant Parts is a wonderful resource to use.
We did an experiment to show how the stem of the plant acts as a straw by soaking up all the water. During this experiment, we took several different white flowers and placed them in different colored water. The white flowers began to change in color by the second day. We also experimented with a vase of colored flowers to see if and how they would be affected.
Day 1:
Day 2:
On day 3 of our plant study, we focused on what plants give to us and why they are important. We read: The Giving Tree to introduce the importance of plants.
After reading: The Giving Tree, we created our own giving trees. The students drew and wrote: If I had a giving tree, it would give me .............................. There were many very creative trees!
On Day 4 of our Plant study, we discovered that we eat different parts of plants. We read: Planting a Rainbow and We Can Eat a Rainbow.
We then tasted some different plant parts! We ate: stems (celery), roots (carrots), seeds (sunflower seeds), leaves (broccoli).
During the course of the week, we sequenced pictures that show how to plant a carrot. After placing all the pictures in order, we wrote about each picture.
As a fun closure to our plant unit, we made dirt cups. In our dirt cups, we planted grass!
First, we placed soil (chocolate pudding) in our cup!
Then, we took a bag of rocks (oreo cookies) and pounded them into dirt.
We added the dirt to the top of our soil.
We planted grass (green sprinkles) in our soil and dirt.
We placed a worm (sour candy worm) in our soil, dirt, and grass seeds.
We reviewed the order of our dirt cups by writing the steps down.
We finally ate our dirt cups!
This is another sequencing activity that we did to show the boy planting corn.
Centers
Art Center
The students made a flower picture. Muffin Cups were used as the flower.
Planting Different Kinds of Seeds
We used a plastic glove to plant different seeds in. We placed a wet cotton ball in each finger and put 3 seeds in each finger.
Green Houses
We made greenhouses by decorating a greenhouse shape, placing 3 lima beans in a zip lock bag with a wet paper towel, and stapling the bag to the inside of the greenhouse. We taped them to our window to watch the beans grow.
Puzzles
Letters
The students used letters to make the alphabet and to spell words.
Wipe Off Board
The students drew pictures of plants and the plant needs on the board.
Books
The students read many different kinds of plant books.
Painting
The students used dot paint to make flower pictures.
Math - Sorting
The students sorted seeds by color using a tray. Then they glued the seeds on a piece of paper in circles.
Phonics
The students used seeds to spell their sight words.
Sequencing
The students used vegetables to sequence events.
Math - Addition / Subtraction
The students used black and white "watermelon seeds" to add and subtract.
Writing
Students labeled a plant picture.
Math - Numbers
Students used flower petals, stems, and pots to match the number to the number word and the correct amount of petals.
