Katie Oller

VCU Early/Elementary Program

Lesson Plan
Plant Parts and Pollination
I.

Purpose
This lesson will review the various basic parts of plants including roots, stem,
leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits and include a more in depth hands on activity
on the reproductive parts of the plant and pollination.
Science SOL:
4.4 The student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life processes.
Key concepts include
a) the structures of typical plants and the function of each structure;
b) processes and structures involved with plant reproduction;
c) photosynthesis; and
d) adaptations allow plants to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment.
National Science Content Standard:
C. All organisms have different needs. Each organism has different structures for
different functions.

II.

III.

Objectives:
The students will be able to identify and label parts of the plant including the
root, stem, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits.
The student will be able to describe the function of the parts of the plant.
The student will be able to identify and explain the reproduction process for
plants using terms such as pollination, stamen, stigma, pistil and sepal.
The student will be able to define pollination and give examples of animals or
things that help plants pollinate.
Procedure
A. Introduction
During this one day lesson on plant parts, students will review with the
terms stem, root, leaf and flower. After, students will be introduced to
the concept of the plant reproduction process and pollination followed
by a hands on demonstration to help visualize the various reproductive
plan t structures.
B. Development
Students will learn the following vocabulary terms: pollination,
stamen, stigma, pistil, and sepal.

 1st E: Engagement: To begin this lesson and get students interested in

this topic of science, I will show an example of a handmade flower
that demonstrates the functions of each plant part (a straw for the root
to symbolize that roots get nutrients for the plant from the soil, etc.) to
help review the basic parts of plants. After showing the flower, I will
pass around various seeds to demonstrate how flowers can look
different but have the same basic parts. Once students examine the
various seeds, I will pose the question: How do flowers without seeds
reproduce? After taking answers, I will show a short Brain Pop video
on pollination.
2nd E: Exploration: After watching the video with the class, I will
perform a dissection on a different flower to show students what a
flower without seeds is composed of. During this dissection, students
are to use observation skills to take notes of the various reproduction
parts of a plant. Students should also be classifying the various parts
into the two different genders.
3rd E: Explanation:
o
What are you observing that is different from the flower
with seeds?
o How are the various parts different from each other?
Essential Vocabulary: Stamen, stigma, pistil, sepal and pollination.
Stamen: the pollen producing part of a flower, usually a slender filament supporting the
anther (male part of the flower).
o
Stigma: receives the pollen during fertilization (female part of the flower).
o
Pistil: seed bearing part of the flower.
o
Sepal: Small leaves under a flower that protected the flower when it was still a bud.
o
Pollination: the process by which pollen is transferred in the reproduction of plants,
thereby enabling fertilization and reproduction.
4th E: Expansion: After exploring the various reproductive parts of the plant, students
will create their own foldable in which they draw a picture complete with the basic parts
along with reproductive parts of a flower. On the inside, students will both identify and
describe the function of the plant part.

Resources:
o Missouri Botanical Gardens,
http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/pollination.html
o http://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/p
ollination/
th

5 E: Evaluation: Use attached rubric to evaluate student understanding of the

reproductive system of the plant.
o

o Differentiation: For the students that are struggling with

the vocabulary for this section, I will have written on the
board a word bank that they can choose from to put on their
foldable. For advanced students, once the foldable is
completed, I will ask that they also draw at the top one way
that pollen is transported (bee, water, wind).
Summary: To end this lesson, I will have students show their work to the rest of the class
and explain one part of the plant that they drew on it. I will go through asking a new
student to explain a new part until each part has been listed. Once we have fully reviewed
these parts one last time, I will hand out plastic cups for students to plant seeds in along
with the soil, seeds and water. This will provide an opportunity for the students to
observe the plant growing over the course of the next few weeks and will allow them the
opportunity to identify each part on a different plant.
IV.
Materials needed for lesson:
Various kinds of seeds
Flower to dissect
Sample of basic flower: paper plate, fork, straw, seeds, popsicle
stick.
Paper for foldable
Green butcher paper for bulletin board
Video
http://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/pollinatio
n/
Plastic cups
Seeds
Water

V.

VI.

Safety: Check with students and parents before to ensure that there
are no allergies in class (particularly to pollen) to ensure students
are safe before dissecting flower.
Evaluation Part A:
Before the lesson is taught, students will be assessed informally
through their answers about the basic parts of the plant. Students
will be asked to verbally answer questions about the plants basic
structures and functions.
Further assessment will be done post lesson using the rubric.
Evaluation Part B:
I feel confident that my students met my objectives because after evaluating each
foldable, students were able to correctly identify each reproductive part of the plant
and accurately described the function of the part. During the classroom discussion on

the other plant parts (roots, stems and leaves) and also when discussing pollination,
students were actively contributing ideas and answers. This activity was good for all
learners because I tried incorporating all learning modalities into it. Creating the
foldables was a good way to incorporate tactile learners to have them engaged in a
hands on lesson. Dissecting the flower in front of students was a good way to cater to
visual learners, and showing the video at the beginning was targeted towards auditory
learners.
Some strengths of my lesson were that the students really enjoyed all of the
different components of it, and their final work turned out to be accurate and creative.
In addition, I felt like I had great time management while teaching this lesson and
captured the interests of each of my students. I felt very confident in my lesson that I
taught, however I did notice some weaknesses during the lesson. While performing
the dissection, students were not asking questions even when I encouraged and
welcomed questions, but when students were working on the foldable portion of the
lesson, many students were confused and had questions about which plant part was
which. In the future to change the lesson to improve it, I would also print out a note
sheet and diagram so that students could follow along if they needed extra assistance
with the labeling.

Rubric for Foldable

Presentation

Good (5)

Fair (3)

Poor (1)

Uses color,
visually

Uses some
color, and is

No color, not
neat work.

Identifies the
correct part
of the plant.

Correctly
identifies
function of
the part of
the plant.

appealing and
is neat.
All 7 parts of
the plant are
correctly
labeled.

somewhat
neat.
At least 5
parts of the
plant are
correctly
labeled.
All 7 parts of At least 5
the plant are
parts of the
identified with plant are
the correct
identified with
function.
the correct
function.

Less than 4
parts of the
plant are
correctly
labeled.
Less than 4
parts of the
plant are
identified with
the correct
function.