UNIT PLAN

TEACHER Jill Wood, Rebekah Hudson & Maridelsy Hernandez.

Subject/Class/Course Science

Unit Title Life Science: Plant Growth and Changes

Grade Level Three Duration 30 mins each lesson

Summary of Unit: Plants

By the end of the unit, students will understand how plants grow, their significance to the
environment, and how humans use and cultivate plants.

Objectives/Outcomes

GCO: Science, technology, society, and the environment

SCO: (See each lesson)

Assessment

Formative Assessment will be assessed several times throughout the unit, through the activities.

Summative Assessment will be assessed when the students present their final project, which
involves growing a plant and tracking its growth.

Develop the Instruction

The unit will be introduced by having the students to plant their own seeds and observe the plants
growth. Students will be recording their observations by inserting them on a data chart and
develop a bar graph demonstrating their observations. This allows students to see if their
predictions were correct or if there was any changes in their plant growth and analyze why the
plant did not grow properly. Students will have the opportunity to go to the library and research
on why plants are significant to the environment as well as research on the affects the
environment may have on different kinds of plants.

Lesson One: Why are plants important?

SCO: (102-12) Describe ways in which plants are important to living things and the environment.

Activities:
Brainstorm Activity: As a group, the students will write or draw on big sheet of paper everything
they know about plants and soil (Who, What, Why, Where & How) and share their ideas to the
class.
Planting seeds Activity: Each student will plant their own seeds. Students will need to label their
pot with their name and the type of plant, measure out the soil, and follow the planting directions
for the seeds. This will lead to the next lesson.

Assessment:
The brainstorm activity will assess students’ prior knowledge (APK). The words students write
will allow the teacher to see what students know and adjust the lesson plan accordingly. Having
this activity at the beginning allows us to use it as a starting point for introducing vocabulary that
relates to our lesson, and content about some ways that plants are important.

Lesson Two: Observing Plants

SCO:
- (100-30, 201-5) observe and describe changes, using written language, pictures, and charts, that
occur through the life cycle of a flowering plant.
- (201-6) estimate measurements of the plant as it grows.
- (200-3) make predictions about which conditions will be the best for plant growth

Activities: This lesson will focus on how to observe plants by recording predictions, taking
photos and measuring the plant as it grows weekly.
Prediction Chart Activity: Have a chart divided in several weeks and have the student to write in
prediction before measuring and observing the plant and then measure and record the actual
result.
Assessment:
APK before activity: What are charts for? Have some examples and try to figure out what they
mean. Talk about columns and rows and how to fill them in (don’t get into graphs yet - students
can do that later when we have some data).

Lesson Three: What Plants Need (Part 1)

SCO: (100-29) Draw inferences that identify and investigate life needs of plants and describe how
plants are affected by the conditions in which they grow.

Activities:
Measure plants, water plants, and fill in the charts
Class Discussion: Talk about why plants need water and sun. What happens to the grass in the
summer when we don’t get enough water? What do you think would happen if we tried to grow a
sunflower in a forest without much sun? (See next activity)
Comic Strip: Work in groups and draw what they think might happen to those plants (mentioned
above) in a comic strip.

Assessment:
Journal Activity: “I am a plant. The conditions I need for growth are….”

Lesson Four: What Plants Need (Part 2)

SCO: (100-29) Draw inferences that identify and investigate life needs of plants and describe how
plants are affected by the conditions in which they grow.

Activities:
Library: We will go to the library and research what plants need to grow, using a scavenger hunt
game with books. Key information will be hidden in various books in the library and students
need to find the answers using their research skills. This will allow students at different reading
levels to find information from different sources. This will take most of class.

Assessment
Mind map: After we return from the library, we will make a mind map as a class to show what the
students have learned at the library.
Lesson Five: Bar Graphs

SCO:
-(202-4) construct and label bar graphs that show plant growth under different conditions
-(201-5) make and record relevant observations and measurements of plant growth during their
investigations.

Activities
APK: What did we learn about what plants need last class? (Discussion)
Plants: Measure, water and record plant growth, then keep out our charts because we will need
them in order to start our graphs.
Bar Graph: Today we will learn how to take the data from our charts and put them into bar
graphs. First we will talk about the different axes on a graph and then how to make a graph.
Students will work individually but can discuss and help each other at their tables.

Assessment:
Students will be assessed by submitting their bar graphs to demonstrate that students understand
how to insert data into the chart then develop a bar graph.

Lesson Six: Nature Walk

SCO: (100-28, 203-2) identify and describe parts of plants and their general function

Activities:
Introduction to nature walk: We will introduce the nature walk to students and get ready to go
outside. Before we go outside, we will talk about safety and poisonous plants that we should not
touch. We will also divide students into teams and make sure each team has an ipad or camera to
take photographs.
Nature Walk Activity: We will go on a nature walk on the school grounds and collect leaves,
flowers, and roots to bring back to the classroom. We will bring cameras or ipads to take pictures
of larger plants. Students will be divided into groups of 3 or 4.

Assessment:
Students identify parts of a plant and take photos of it and put them on a poster