Plant Families & Food Ecology
Lesson Plans
Grades3Science
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Provided by FoodCorps
What it is
- In this hands-on lesson, 3rd graders will observe and draw the leaf from a plant, then look for similarities in other plant species to identify plants in the same family.
- Students will record the characteristics of their leaf, identify their plant and its family, and find students who have leaves from the same family.
- This project is intended to be completed using leaves from plants in a school garden, with 25 common garden plants that have been grouped and identified to choose from.
Teaching tips
Positives
- There is a section devoted to self-reflection where students reflect on their group's efficacy and their behavior in the garden.
- The lesson includes several extension activities to deepen student understanding.
Prerequisites
- This lesson centers around having a class garden. Students without a class garden may be able to visit a community garden or use images of the plants instead.
- This lesson is 50 minutes long.
- Teachers will need to collect leaves and print the worksheet before teaching the lesson.
Differentiation & Implementation
- In reading classes, students can read a book about plants or gardens before this lesson. Then, teachers can tell students to act as plant detectives to make connections to their reading.
- Science teachers can discuss the importance of having many different plant families in a garden and the role of biodiversity in adapting to climate change.
- Teachers can begin with this lesson to introduce a unit about plant and animal adaptations and how they help an organism survive in their environment.
- Teachers who do the dichotomous key activity can extend it by showing students a dichotomous key for local tree species.
From the scientist review
This resource allows students to explore the concept of plant families through observation and identification of leaf characteristics and collaborate with each other to examine common characteristics the plants exhibit in the family. We reviewed this resource and it has passed our science credibility process.
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