Plants need water, light and a suitable temperature (warmth) in order to grow and stay healthy.
Healthy plants grow strong and upright. The leaves are firm and flowers fruit and root systems are well formed.
An unhealthy plant can be dry, dull, brown or yellow in colour and unable to stand upright.
The growth of plants over time can be observed and recorded in different ways.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that we observe using only our eyes

Show how we can use other senses to observe, we might listen, smell or touch when we observe

Keywords

Plant - A plant is a living thing that often has roots, stem and leaves
Unhealthy - A plant becomes unhealthy when it does not have everything it needs
Wilt - A plant will wilt when it can no longer stay upright. Often the stem becomes floppy
Observe - When we observe, we look closely with our eyes, and use other senses
Record - We record in science to keep information so that it can be looked at again

Pupils will use the plants they have grown from seeds in lesson 1. They will have set up this investigations in lesson 3. In this lesson, they are planning what to observe and how to record any changes in plant growth over subsequent lessons.

Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils will need cameras, ipads, drawing materials etc. in order to record in their chosen ways

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Worksheet

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

Which of these is not part of a plant?

roots

Correct answer: soil

stem

leaves

flower

Q2.

Plants need water, warmth and to grow and stay healthy.

Correct Answer: light, sunlight

Q3.

What does the temperature of something tell us?

Correct answer: How hot it is.

How light it is.

How wet it is.

Q4.

Starting with 'start with a healthy plant', order these instructions for growing a plant with no warmth.

1 - Start with a healthy plant.

2 - Put the plant in a cold room.

3 - Wait for two weeks (remember to water the plant).

4 - Observe the plant to see if there are any changes.

Q5.

What would you use to measure the temperature of something?

magnet

ruler

Correct answer: thermometer

Q6.

What does it mean when scientists observe things?

They ask questions.

Correct answer: They look closely.

They write things down.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

Plants need , warmth and light to grow and stay healthy.

Correct Answer: water

Q2.

Which of these is not a good reason why my sunflower grew most in July?

The plant got more light in July.

Correct answer: The plant got more wind in July.

The plant got more warmth in July.

Q3.

Which statement about healthy plants is true?

Correct answer: The leaves are green.

The leaves are brown.

The leaves are yellow.

Q4.

What word is used when a plant becomes droopy and floppy?

welt

walt

Correct answer: wilt

Q5.

Which of these things could you observe to decide if a plant is unhealthy?

The colour of the plant pot.

Correct answer: The colour of the leaves.

The colour of the watering can.

Q6.

Match the tools with the different ways of recording when we investigate.

Correct Answer:camera,photo or video

photo or video

Correct Answer:pencil,drawing or sketch

drawing or sketch

Correct Answer:squared paper,graph or chart

graph or chart