Children gain first-hand experience with Native American agriculture while investigating the life cycle of plants with this engaging experiment. Focusing on what the natives called the Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - young...

After listening to From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, learners take a walk around their school looking for plants. They use digital cameras to photograph the plants, then construct a class book which has the identities of the plants,...

Here's a five-star lesson plan in which inquisitors conduct sophisticated experimentation with cellular respiration in plant seeds. Placing seeds in a closed system they measure the amount carbon dioxide produced and relate it to...

Plant growth experiments offer rich, cross-curricular learning opportunities that can really excite and engage young learners. In this series, children work in pairs planting, measuring, and comparing the height of bean plants in order...

Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...

After planting a bean seed in a jar, young scientists observe the growth patterns over several days. As the bean becomes a sprout, and the sprout becomes a plant, partners measure and plot the data. They notice patterns, practice...

Turn your classroom into a greenhouse with a lesson on plant growth. First, investigate the different parts of seeds, identifying the seed coat, cotyledon, and embryo. Then plant the seeds and watch them grow! Measure the new plants...

Junior biologists journey through the hiearchy of living things with these activites. Using a dichotomous key, they identify common algae, plants, and fish. They design their own key for a mixture of seeds and a collection of...

How do seeds get around? It's not like plants can control seed dispersal—or can they? Dig deeper into the amazing mechanisms of seed dispersal observed in tropical plants through interactives, a video, and plenty of hands-on data...

How does energy from the sun make plants grow? Scholars move step by step through the processes that promote plant propagation during a detailed lesson. The resource illustrates ADP production and hydrolysis, then allows learners to...

After a discussion of the factors that affect seed germination, class groups harvest and preserve seeds from the school garden.

Have your young scientists questioned why plants grow a particular way? Through this learning opportunity, scientists gain firsthand knowledge about how plants develop and various factors that affect rates of growth as they bring plants...

It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...

Trees are the star of a three-step unit celebrating Arbor Day. Step one takes an in-depth look into the structure of a tree, the process of photosynthesis, and the benefits of the leafy giants. Step two challenges scholars to create a...

How are vegetables beneficial to a healthy diet? Have kids examine different types of vegetables, such as zucchini, broccoli, and carrots, and determine which parts of the plant they represent. Then, they taste the vegetables as a...

After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart.  Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...

Learn about dichotomous keys, plant identification, and how to care for the planet with a lesson that includes several hands-on and innovative activities. Kids go on a plant scavenger hunt and classify the plants that they find...

A house with no windows and a garden full of stinging nettles make the perfect home for Mr. and Mrs. Twit. The seventh lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl takes a closer look at the Twits' home...

Three activities make up a lesson that explores the connection between former president George Washington, the farming industry, and leadership. Scholars listen to two read aloud,  Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas and...

Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...

Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!

The pumpkin might be the single most amazing plant for youngsters. It's so big! It's leaves, it's stems, it's fruit! And it is easy to grow! This lesson describes all sorts of wonderful pumpkin ideas. Everything from pumpkin stories,...

Whether you have your class plant seeds or begin when sprouts are visible, math skills are used here to predict and track growth over time. Straw bar graphs show plant height on a given day while the graph as a whole shows changes over...

Take young naturalists on an exploration of the world's tropical rainforests with this extensive collection of lessons and activities. Whether its creating leaf and flower prints or investigating the absorption spectrum of...