Baylor College
Needs of Plants
What better way to learn about plant life than by creating a class garden? Young botanists start with a brief discussion about radishes before planting seeds and watching them grow. To determine the importance of water, sunlight, and...
Illustrative Mathematics
Growing Bean Plants
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...
Curated OER
Comprehension: Compare and Contrast Topics in Two Texts
A scripted lesson can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work as a class to...
Baylor College
Plant or Animal?
Teach your class about the necessities of life using the book Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun. After a teacher-read-aloud, students make puppets depicting different plants and animals from the story and illustrating the habitat in which...
Berkshire Museum
The Three Life-Giving Sisters: Plant Cultivation and Mohican Innovation
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...
Curated OER
What Is It?
Play the game of Tag and differentiate between plants and animals. Explore the characteristics of plants. Identify the major parts of plants (e.g., seeds, stem, pistil) and describe their basic functions. Compare the requirements of some...
Curated OER
Gifts from the Sea
Students investigate parts of the ocean. In this seaweed lesson, students identify foods that contain seaweed, parts of seaweed, and how the ocean affects our lives. As a class students brainstorm ways we rely on the ocean and compare...
Rainforest Alliance
Protecting the Critical Habitat of the Manatee and Loggerhead Turtle
Explore ocean habitats with a lesson plan that showcases the home of manatees and loggerhead turtles in Belize. Here, pupils compare and contrast the homes of ocean animals to those of humans, listen to an original short story about the...
Curated OER
Plant Lifecycles
Students examine the life cycle of plants. In this plants lesson plan, students identify the various stages of plants and their parts. Students compare the life cycle of a plant with that of an animal. Activities suggested can be...
Baylor College
Air and Breathing
Blow some bubbles and learn how living things need air in the eighth lesson of this series. Young scientists investigate this important gas by observing bubbles and monitoring their own breathing. A simple and fun activity that raises...
Curated OER
Your Day as a Cycle
Fourth graders examine a variety of cycles. They take a look at life cycles of plants and animals, the cycle of the moon and tides, and other sequences of events in their daily lives. An interesting part of the instructional activity is...
Curated OER
Exploring Texture In the Garden
Students explore the garden environment. In this garden environment lesson, students investigate the needs and parts of a plant. Students discover the differences between fruits and vegetables while creating their own garden.
Teach Engineering
Algae: Tiny Plants with Big Energy Potential
My, what big energy potential you have! Scholars learn about the energy potential of using algae as a biofuel. A PowerPoint presentation first describes the structure of algae and then how researchers use algae as biofuel to produce energy.
Curated OER
What Do You Know About the Birds Around You?
Students compare and contrast various species of birds. After participating in a brief discussion of the characteristics of birds, they view birds in their natural habitat and in pictures with a focus on the similarities and differences...
Curated OER
Baa, Ram, Ewe....Sheep Tales
Students compare real and make believe animal behaviors by drawing and comparing them. In this real and make believe animals lesson plan, students compare the animal behaviors, express how colors create a mood in artwork, and investigate...
Curated OER
Growing a Lawn
Learners research plant growth. In this plant growth lesson, students explore the needs of plants. Learners compare and contrast grass and broadleaf plants and grow a miniature lawn in a cup of soil. Resources are provided.
Curated OER
The Cell as a System
Students review cell structures and investigate how the components of a cell operate as a system. They compare a plant and animal cell and then make a model of a cell. Students begin to understand the cell as a system by exploring a...
Cal Recycle
Conserving Natural Resources
Trying to plan an engaging elementary science unit on natural resources? Conserve your energy! This five-part series of lessons and hands-on activities has exactly what you need to teach young scholars about the importance of conservation.
Curated OER
Buzzy, Buzzy Bee
Students simulate honeybees pollinating flowers. In this pollination lesson, students role-play the process of pollination over the course of several seasons. Students graph results and share their graphs with the class.
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Fifth graders work in small groups to brainstorm responses to a problem related to some disaster that wipes out half or all plant life on earth. Groups complete a graphic organizer to compare and contrast their ideas. Students select...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Scientists monitor seasonal changes in plants to better understand their responses to climate change, in turn allowing them to make predictions regarding the future. The last activity in the series of six has scholars analyze BudBurst...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Seed Match
Using this resource, your team of green thumbs discuss why plants are a part of a healthy diet and the different ways they are used in daily life. They then observe the characteristics of different seed as they attempt to match them with...
Curated OER
“THE LORAX” by Dr. Seuss
Few children's books convey the message of conservation as well as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Read the story aloud, emphasizing the interconnectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem and discussing different ways people can help the...
August House
Go to Sleep, Gecko
Use this multidisciplinary lesson to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese Folktale by...