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Life Science Kit Resources Vancouver School District
By observing various properties and characteristics of plant
growth, you'll help students begin to understand the diversity
of life and environment around them. With the activities in Plants,
you'll encourage your students to observe and detail the This is a very exciting unit for young students because they have a chance to observe, touch, model, measure and see science in action as they · Interpret observed results and to draw conclusions
about planting and Through their long-term observations, students will understand that certain soils (which was studied in the 2nd grade Soils kit) are better for certain plants. The connections should be referenced to their previous experiences. By closely examining the life cycle of plants locally, students see observable differences within the same neighborhood. Extensive use of Venn diagrams helps students organize their observations and draw conclusions about their plant lessons in general. Essential Lessons: All LESSONS 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 In doing each of the essential lessons, all content and performance standards will be met for the Washington State EALR's and Benchmarks. The lessons can be done in clusters or combined grouping. To ease Kit usage the following lessons should be done in the above sequence. The instructional approach to enhance student inquiry and discovery is to combine the lessons in clusters (1, 2) , (4-7) , (8, 9) , 10, 11, 12, (13, 14), (15, 16) and then culminate the unit with final project assessment. The grayed lessons should be done if time is available. This will assure that you will be able to accommodate all EALR and WASL requirements. If time is not available the grayed lessons could be eliminated, but this means that you will need to assure that the remaining lessons are done in breadth and depth.
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In Plant Growth and Development,
students have the opportunity to observe each stage in the life
cycle of a simple plant. Working with Wisconsin Fast Plants &
trade: (Brassica rapa), which germinate, mature, and go to seed
within a 40-day period, students plant seeds and watch the seedlings
emerge. Later, they thin and transplant seedlings. As they watch
their plants grow, students learn that plants need nutrients
from the soil, as well as water and light, to thrive. As the
unit expands to focus on the interdependence of living things,
students cross-pollinate the Flowers with dried honeybees. Finally,
they harvest mature seeds and determine seed yields. These experiences
deepen students' understanding of the characteristics of living
organisms and their relationship with and dependence on their
environment.