Teaching plants can be so fun! I love nature, so sharing that with students is always exciting. We get to learn about plant life cycles, planting, growing, what plant needs, and more! There are so many activities you can do to make this exciting for your students.
Here are some simple plant activities to get you started.
To start, I like to engage my students with a KWHL chart.
Then, we explore with a scavenger hunt. We look for conifers, flowers, seeds, and dying plants!
Next, I demonstrate pollination with this simple activity.
Place a small amount of sugar in a miniature cup. Next, place a small amount of cinnamon in a second miniature cup. Finally, test a pipe cleaner by dipping it in one cup and then into the other. Repeat this back and forth several times. Ask your students, “Do the two substances begin to mix?” Then, repeat this mixing with a straw. Is it the same?
I explain to students that this is how pollinators work. Each plant has tiny particles, sometimes smaller than the cinnamon. These particles mix with other particles to create new seeds thanks to the tiny hairs on insects.
This can be easily explained with the science reading passages and PowerPoints that I use. (For more information on how to use the reading passages, check out my post here). I’ve even included activity pages so students can demonstrate their learning using graphic organizers.
Another fun activity is creating a seed necklace.
These are so cool! For this activity, you’ll need yarn (or other string for a necklace), water, hole punch, cotton balls, 2”x 3” plastic zipper bags, and a lima bean. Wet the cotton ball and place it inside the jewelry bag. Next, place the lima bean in the jewelry bag being sure to wrap it up in the cotton ball. Then, close the jewerly bag, and hole punch it near the top. Place the string through the hole and students can wear their science experiment.
If you do this first thing in the morning, they will see their lima bean growing before they leave home from school!
Pair students up to work through some plant themed task cards.
These task cards help students remember the function of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. They will also get practice with the plant life cycle, how plants grow, and properties of soil.
At last, you can have the students talk about what they have learned using a one pager.
These are so much fun! Students write or draw 5 facts about what they learned throughout the unit. They even create a 1” border with a plant theme. These really help me see the learning that’s happened throughout the unit and helps my kids see their own learning too!
Want some more activities for your classroom? Get these free activities for expanding vocabulary that actually work!
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