In this lesson, the students will learn that plants need water, air, nutrients, and sunlight to grow.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
**This lesson can be taught over a three to five day period. Simply repeat the steps as the students will become more knowledgeable of the target.
In this hands-on investigation, students will utilize the hydroponic method to grow a bean plant from a bean seed. Over the course of a 2 week time period, students will make detailed observations and sketches of the actual bean growth and make predictions about growth patterns over the weekend time periods.
Students will create a cartoon to defend the position that plants obtain materials needed for growth primarily from air and water.
By growing organisms in a variety of environments, students will explore different materials that living things need to survive.
This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
This lesson uses the book Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas to teach students about photosynthesis and its importance of providing food for ocean marine life as well as the oxygen needed to sustain life on Earth and in the ocean. Students will learn how photosynthesis is crucial for ocean life and how creatures that live deep in the sea depend on sunlight to live, even though they live in dark waters and never benefit from the sun directly.
This lesson uses the book Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life to teach students the basics of photosynthesis and the role the sun plays in keeping plant and animal life alive and thriving on Earth.