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Room to Grow
Students examine radish plants and compare how they grew based on how closely the seeds were sown. For this life science lesson, students pretend to be growing plants crowded together, then examine how the radishes look based on how much...
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Parental Genes
Eighth graders explore how different organisms pass their traits to their offspring. In this life science lesson, 8th graders differentiate recessive and dominant alleles. They predict the phenotype based on the genotype of an organism.
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Nitrogen Fixation, OR What a Gas!
Students gain skill in the design, implementation, and reporting of a scientific research project using the scientific method. They set up an experiment to determine the effect of adding the Rhizobium bacteria to one group of legume...
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Summer Nature Activity: Carrots! Carrots!
Young scholars investigate reading, cooking, and planting activities that teach that a carrot is the root of a plant. For this early childhood science lesson, students explore the world around them as they read The Carrot Seed and...
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Climbing and Crawling
Students observe and measure plant growth. In this life science lesson, students are introduced to bean and Nasturtium seedlings which they will measure and watch the beans climb (grow tall) while the Nasturtium crawl along the ground....
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Eating Plants
Students identify parts of a plant. In this life science lesson, student groups locate the leaves and fruits on vegetables, then find the roots. Lesson includes extension activities and background teacher information.
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
Students examine birdseed to see if it is a fertilized seed. In this birdseed garden lesson plan, students experiment with birdseed on a sponge to see what grows. Students record the growth of seeds.
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Building a Biome
Learners investigate how plants grow in different biomes. In this biomes lesson plan, students plant sees of impatiens, lima beans and rye seeds in egg cartons. When the plants begin to grow they simulate the assigned biome conditions...
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The Importance of Tropisms
Middle schoolers investigate plant tropisms using the scientific method. In this life science lesson plan, students learn about tropisms and test the response of corn seedlings to gravity. Response questions, extensions, and an...
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Sunflower Jigsaw
Students recognize and name the main parts of a flower. In this life science lesson, the teacher leads a discussion about the parts of a plant, then students color and cut out the parts of a planet, then glue the parts together...
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Characteristics of Matter
Learners study matter. In this science lesson plan, students examine the relationships among gravity, weight, and mass, the metric measurement of distance and volume, and density and its application to physical properties.
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Lettuce Us Be Different
Students evaluate their differences, then look at differences in plants. In this class team building and life science lesson, the class play a game that focuses on similarities and differences in the group, then students plant three...
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Wiggley Worms
Students investigate how worms affect plant growth. In this biology lesson, students construct a worm ecosystem in a plastic 2 liter bottle and plant a seed in the soil. They later compare the ecosystems with worms to ones...
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Make Your Own Newspaper Plant Pots
Students make plant pots out of newspaper as part of a recycle, reuse, and reduce instructional activity. In this recycling instructional activity, students fold a piece of newspaper to make a pot in which to start plants. They fill it...
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How Does a Green Plant Grow?
Students of all ages can explore the question "how do seeds grow?", design an experiment to answer the question, predict the outcome of the experiment then conduct the experiment.
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Make a Nature Mobile
Students take nature walks to collect items from the environment such as leaves, shells, branches, feathers, and seeds. Working in groups, they assemble their items into mobiles and display them in the classroom.
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Summer Activities: The Wonders of Nature!
Students examine the world of nature. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop observation skills as they bird-watch and make rainbows, experimentation skills as they explore seeds and carrots, prediction skills as they...
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The Dose makes the Poison
Learners investigate the effect of a chemical (they choose) on the germination of seeds. They calculate % chemical concentrations in water, form a hypothesis, and discuss the ethics of using animals in biomedical research.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Soil
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need soil to survive and grow. They plant two seeds, one with soil and one without, make predictions, and record and analyze the seed germination results on a worksheet.
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Flying Wing
Fifth graders create a flying wing from a pastry tray. In this flying wing lesson, 5th graders understand how the shape of the wind affects flight. Students compare the flying wing to the zanonia seed in nature. Students make changes in...
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Where Does Food Come From?
Students recognize that food we eat comes from farms. In this where does food come from lesson, students discuss planting crops and how they grow. Students plant seeds for edible crops and eat them when are ripe. Students...
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Crops 2: What Plants Need to Grow
Students explore agriculture by participating in a plant growth activity. In this botany lesson, students discuss what types of plants grow in their local environment and what the plants need to survive. Students read assigned text about...
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POLLINATION DEMONSTRATION
Third graders study the terms pollen and pollination. They use appropriate vocabulary in describing their investigations, explorations, and observations (e.g., stem, pistil, stamen, flower). They describe, using their observations,...
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Building a Terrarium System
Students create their own terrariums. For this ecological model lesson, students create terrariums using soil, seeds, pebbles, and two liter bottles. Students compare the elements of a terrarium to a food web.