What plants need to grow and stay healthy
Lesson details
Learning outcome
You can set up an investigation to find out what happens to plants when they do not get what they need.
Key learning points
- Plants are living things, just like humans and other animals.
- Plants need water, light and a suitable temperature (warmth) in order to grow and stay healthy.
- Scientists ask questions and set up simple tests to find answers.
- Scientists investigate and observe what happens to plants if they do not get what they need.
Keywords
Plant - A plant is a living thing that often has roots, stem and leaves.
Healthy - A plant or animal is healthy if it is in a state of well-being and free from disease.
Temperature - Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is.
Botanist - A botanist is a scientist that studies plants.
Investigate - When we investigate, we try to find out more about something.
Common misconception
Pupils may not know how to remove only one growing condition in order to compare plants.
Explain that a plant without water will still require warmth and light, and discuss group A, B and C's options as a whole class.
Teacher tip
Use images from the slide deck and worksheets to help pupils to know which conditions to remove and which to keep. For the practical activity, use the plants that pupils have been growing from seeds from lesson 1.
Equipment
Camera or ipad. Children may request other materials. See suggested list in supplementary resource
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - equipment
Risk assessment required - equipment
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which part of these tulips are missing?
Q2.Which of these is not a real living tree?
Q3.Which statement about eating plants is true?
Q4.Which of these do plants need to grow and stay healthy?
Q5.Which of these is not a seed?
Q6.Which of these is not a bulb?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these is not living?
Q2.Which statement about plants is true?
Q3.A plant is a living thing. What does a plant need to grow and stay healthy?
Q4.Which of these is not a question about plants?
Q5.Alex wants to find out what happens to a plant when it has no water. Where should Alex put his plant?
Q6.Jun wants to find out what happens to a plant when it has no light. What should Jun do to his plant?
To help you plan your 2 science lesson on: What plants need to grow and stay healthy, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 science lesson on: What plants need to grow and stay healthy, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 science lessons from the Growing plants unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.