Growing Plants


Investigate the growth of three common garden plants: tomatoes, beans, and turnips. You can change the amount of light each plant gets, the amount of water added each day, and the type of soil the seed is planted in. Observe the effect of each variable on plant height, plant mass, leaf color and leaf size. Determine what conditions produce the tallest and healthiest plants. Height and mass data are displayed on tables and graphs.

Screenshot of Growing Plants Gizmo

LESSON MATERIALS:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • Determine what a seed needs to grow into a healthy plant.
  • Explore the effects of light intensity, water levels, and soil additives on plant growth.
  • Design a controlled experiment to investigate a question.
  • Collect data from multiple trials.
  • Analyze data using tables and graphs.

VOCABULARY:

  • compost, fertilizer, mass, seed, soil, variable

User Recommendations (26):

  • avatar
    plants

    SCIENCE:  4th Grade

    By: jodie reed (Texas) | Recommended 3 hours ago

  • avatar
    9th graders enjoy this when learning about the scientific method

    SCIENCE:  9th Grade | Earth/Space Science

    By: Michael Woods (Florida) | Recommended 10 days ago

  • avatar
    Growing plants

    SCIENCE:  6th Grade, 7th Grade

    By: A Runyon (Florida) | Recommended 30 days ago

  • avatar
    This GIZMO goes great with our plant unit - great way to change variables and observe results.

    SCIENCE:  3rd Grade

    By: Cara Piper (Florida) | Recommended 48 days ago

  • avatar
    Love it! This is going to be so fun to teach vocabulary for variables! The math is fabulous too, you can really get a lot out of this lesson

    SCIENCE:  5th Grade

    By: Stacey Shoecraft (South Carolina) | Recommended 80 days ago

User Testimonials

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    2010, 2009, 2006 AEP

  • Finalist: Golden Lamp Award

    2009, 2008, 2006 AEP

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    2009, 2008, 2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

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