About This Book

Included in this book:Investigating Science—Plants contains six cross-curricular thematic units, each containing• Background information for the teacher• Easy-to-implement instructions for science experiments

and projects• Student-centered activities and reproducibles• Literature links

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Welcome to Investigating Science—Plants! This book is one of six must-have resource books that support the National Science Education Standards and are designed to supplement and enhance your existing science curriculum. Packed with practi-cal cross-curricular ideas and thought-provoking reproducibles, these all-new, content-specific resource books provide preschool and kindergarten teachers with a collection of innovative and fun activities for teaching thematic science units.

Summer

Fall

Spring

Winter

Cross-curricular thematic units found in this book:• Plants• Seeds• Flowers• Leaves• Trees• Fruits and Vegetables

Other books in the preschool-kindergartenInvestigating Science series:• Investigating Science—Animals• Investigating Science—Five Senses• Investigating Science—Insects & Spiders• Investigating Science—Taking Care of Me• Investigating Science—Weather & the Seasons

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Youngsters will give the plant-related activities in this unit a giant, green thumbs-up!

Plants

Background for the Teacher

• Plantsarefoundinalmosteverypartoftheearth,includingoceans,deserts,polarregions,andmountains.

• Plantsprovideoxygen,food,andshelter,whicharenecessaryelementsforhumanandanimalsurvival.

• Floweringplantshavefourmainparts:roots,stems,leaves,andflowers.

• Plantsmaketheirownfoodfromair,sunlight,andwaterthroughaprocesscalledphotosynthesis.

Directions: 1. Writeyournameonthecover.Glue

onthinstripsofgreentissuepaper(vine).Thenpressongreenthumbprints(leaves).

2. Colorthesoilbrownonpage1.Glueonsmallpiecesofbrownyarn(roots).

3. Colorthesoilbrownonpage2.Glueononepieceofgreenyarn(stem).

�. Colorthesoilbrownonpage3.Pressongreenthumbprints(leaves).

5. Colorthesoilbrownandthestemandleavesgreenonpage�.Glueasmallpieceofpinktissuepaper(flower)onthestem.Gluesmallseedsaroundtheflower(seedsblowinginthewind).

6. Forpage5,writeordictatethepartsoftheplant(flower,leaf,stem,roots)asshown.

7. Cutoutthebookletpages,sequencethem,andthenstaplethemtogetheralongtheleftside.

Books That WillGrow on You

From Seed to PlantbyAllanFowlerGrowing Vegetable SoupbyLoisEhlertHow a Seed GrowsbyHeleneJ.JordanThe Magic School Bus Plants SeedsbyJoannaColePlanting a RainbowbyLoisEhlert

The parts of a plant will grow and grow!

Put them together, and what do you know?flower

stem

leaf

rootsBy ______________________________Alex

Pullin’ Together

“Plant-y” of Parts

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“Plant-y” of Parts(Making a Booklet, Plant Parts)

Introduceyoungsterstothestudyofplantsastheyleafthroughtheirownplantpartsbooklet.Inadvance,copypages9–11foreachchildandgatherasupplyofsmallseeds,abrowncrayon,greenpaint,greenandpinktissuepaper,andgreenandbrownyarn.Tobegintheactivity,readFrom Seed to Plant byGailGibbonsanddiscusswithyoungsterstheillustrationsshowingthepartsofaplant.Thenhelpeachchildfollowthedirectionsbelowtocreateabooklet.Sendthebookletshomeforyoungsterstosharetheirnewplantpartsknowledgewithfamily.

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Veggie Sort(Sorting, Classifying)

Classificationskillsaresuretotakerootwiththissortingactivity.Toprepare,createachartwiththeheadingsshownandgatheravarietyofvegetablestomatcheachplantpart.Displaythevegetablesandhaveyoungsterssortthemseveraldifferentways,suchasbycolor,size,andshape.Thendiscussplantparts—suchasroots,seeds,leaves,flowerbuds,andfruit—withyoungsters.Helpyoungstersclassifyeachvegetablebytheplantpartitrepresents.Thenrecordthevegetablenamesintheappropriatesectionsofthechartasshown.Thenhavestudentsdrawmatchingpictures.Later,washandcutupallthevegetablesandthenservethemwithyourfavoritedipforafunplantpartssnack.

Houseplants(Observing Plant Growth)

Thislittlehouseplantisjusttherightsizeforobservingplantgrowth.Inadvance,collectaclasssupplyofhalf-pintmilkcartons(withthetopscutoff)andplasticsandwichbags,paint,blackconstructionpaper,pottingsoil,andseeds.AskaparentvolunteertouseanX-actoknifetocutaone-inchsquarewindowoneachsideofeachmilkcarton.Inviteeachchildtopainthermilkcartontoresembleahouse.Thenhavehercutouttrianglesfromconstructionpapertoglueontothehouseforaroofasshown.Helpherplaceherbaginsidethehouseandfillthebagwithsoil.Haveherplantaseedinthesoiloneachsideofherhouse,closetoeachwindow.Discusswithyoungstershowoftentowatertheirplants.Thenplaceallthehouseplantsinasunnyarea.Encourageyoungsterstochecktheirhouseplants’windowsdailytoobserveandcomparerootgrowth.

Plant Parts

roots seeds leaves flower fruit buds

carrot peas lettuce broccoli pepper

radish corn spinach cauliflower pumpkin

sweet potato

cabbage tomato

The parts of a plant will grow and grow!

Put them together, and what do you know?flower

stem

leaf

roots

Growing a Story

by ___________________________________

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Growing a Story(Sequencing, Bookmaking)

Watchlanguageskillsgrowasyoungsterslearnabouttheprocessofgrowingplantsforfood.Makeaclasssupplyofpage12.Thenprepareablankbookletforeachchildbyfoldingandstaplingtogetherfoursheetsofpaperasshownbelow.Next,writethetitleandeachstorylinefrompage12onaseparatesentencestrip.Mixupthesentencestripsandsetthemasideforlateruse.ReadaloudGrowing Vegetable SoupbyLoisEhlerttoyoungstersandthenhavestudentsretellthestoryasyoureviewtheillustrations.Next,readaloudeachofthepreparedsentencestripsandhelpyoungsterssequencethestripsonachartasshown.Giveeachstudentacopyofpage12andabooklet.Haveeachchildcutoutthecoverlabelandsentencestripsandthensequencethestrips,referringtothechartasneeded.Helphimgluethecoverlabelonhisbookletcoverandthenglueeachsentenceonaseparatepageofhisbooklet.Askhimtoillustrateeachsentenceandthensharehisbookletwithapartner.Encourageeachchildtotakehisbooklethometoshowparentshowhislanguageskillshavegrown!

My Rule Rules!(Observing Attributes, Sorting)

Youngsterschoosetherulestofollowinthisthought-provokingactivity.Toprepare,askparentstosendinavarietyofleaves.Divideyoungstersintosmallgroupsandgiveeachgroupanassortmentofleaves.Askeachgrouptoobservetheshapeofeachleafinitssetandtrytodecidewhetheralltheleavescamefromthesameplant.Encourageyoungsterstogivereasonstosupporttheirconclusions.Haveeachgroupcreatearuleforsortingitsleaves,suchascolor,size,shape,texture,orsmell.Thenaskeachgrouptosortitssetofleavesaccordingtoitsrule.Inviteeachgrouptotakeaturnvisitinganothergrouptotrytoguessthesortingruleused.Theninviteeachgrouptoshareitsrulewiththeclass.

Watch the plants grow.

Plant the seeds.

Pick the vegetables.

Water the seeds and wait for the sun.

Put the vegetables in a pot of water.

Wash and cut the vegetables.

Cook the soup.

Growing a Story

Ashley

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Pumpkin Parts(Labeling Plant Parts, Art)

Makeidentifyingthepartsofaplantaseasyaspieforyoungsters!Toprepare,cutaclasssupplyof6"x9"posterboardandgatherpaint(brown,yellow,andorange),apumpkin-shapedsponge,greenandbrownyarn,andgreentissuepaper.Makeaclasssupplyofthelabelsonthetopofpage13.Haveeachchildpaintthebottomsectionofhisposterboardbrowntorepresentsoil.Next,havehimpressayellowfingerprintontothesoilforaseedandthenglueonpiecesofbrownyarntorepresentrootsgrowingunderground.Havehimglueonalongpieceofgreenyarntorepresentavineandthenglueontissuepaperleavesasshown.Helphimsponge-paintapumpkinonthevine.Askhimtocutouthislabels;thenhelphimglueeachoneinthecorrectareaasshown.Encourageyoungsterstodescribethepartsofapumpkintoapartner.

Grow, Pumpkin, Grow!(Needs of Plants, Experimenting)

Thisactivitywillgrowonyoungstersastheydiscovertheneedsofplants.Inadvance,collectaclasssupplyofsoil,pumpkinseeds,andclearplasticcups.Discusswithyoungsterstheneedsofplants(sun, water, air, space to grow)andrecordtheseonindexcards.Thengiveeachstudentacup.Invitehertofillhercupwithsoilandthenplantapumpkinseedclosetothesideofthecupsothattherootswillbevisiblelater.Helpeachchildwaterherseedandthenplaceitinasunnywindow.Displaythecardlabelsasshown.Encourageeachchildtowaterherplantandcheckitforgrowtheveryday.Theninviteeachchildtotakeherplanthometosharewithherfamily.

stem

leaves vine

seed

roots

pumpkin

Parts of a Pumpkin Plant

air

sun

space to grow

water