Plants in danger (Climate Change & Sustainability)
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I understand that changes to environments can sometimes pose dangers to plants.
Key learning points
- Plants depend on their environment to provide what they need to grow and survive.
- Changes to environments can cause danger to the plants within them.
- Scientists use several methods to count and study the number of plants in an environment including surveys and sampling.
- A quadrat can be used in different locations to help get an accurate estimate of plant numbers.
Keywords
Environment - The environment is the surroundings of a living thing, including other plants or animals, and the conditions they live in.
Endangered - An endangered plant or animal is one that is at risk of becoming extinct.
Estimate - An estimate is a quick calculation of what the size, value or amount of something might be.
Surveys - A plant survey involves counting the numbers of different plants within an area to gather information.
Quadrat - A quadrat is a simple device for marking out a small area.
Common misconception
Children sometimes don't realise plants can be in danger as well as animals.
Share the examples in the slide deck and give pupils time to research other plants to discover there are lots of different plants in different environments that are in danger. If time, find out if any plants in your local area are in danger.
Teacher tip
Although this lesson's task is using data from provided quadrats it would be an excellent way to develop further disciplinary skills if the children went outside and used a quadrat in their local environment. Repeating this each year would build up some local data you could use in future lessons.
Equipment
Worksheet with quadrat data.
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - outdoor learning
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these are plants?
Q2.Which of these things do plants need to grow and survive?
Q3. is the surroundings of a living thing, including other plants or animals, and the conditions they live in.
Q4.What does endangered mean?
Q5.Which of these may cause an animal to become endangered?
Q6.Which of these things might a researcher do to find out how many living things there are in an environment?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Plants depend on their to contain what they need to grow and survive.
Q2.Which of these changes to an environment can cause danger to the plants within them?
Q3.Match the plant to the change that is happening in its environment.
Q4.Which methods are used by scientists to estimate the number of plants in an environment?
Q5.A is used to mark a small square area to count plants and estimate their numbers in a larger area.
Q6.Why do researchers use sampling techniques to estimate the number or plants or animals in a habitat?
To help you plan your 4 science lesson on: Plants in danger (Climate Change & Sustainability), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 science lesson on: Plants in danger (Climate Change & Sustainability), 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 2 science lessons from the Living things and the environment unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.