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How much water should you give a plant?

How much water should you give a plant?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
Why do you think this plant wilted?
Can you think of anything I could have done differently to keep the plant healthy?
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Slide Image
DISCUSS:
What’s DIFFERENT about these two places?
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DISCUSS:
How could you figure out whether these mystery plants would grow better in the
Desert Dome or in the Tropical Dome?
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Step
01/18
You’ll work with a partner.
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Step
02/18
Get your supplies.
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Step
03/18
Get your Build-Your-Own Experiment sheet.
First, cut along the thick gray line. Then, cut along all the dotted lines.
Separate the pieces into 3 piles.
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Step
04/18
Get your Water Experiment worksheet and two Mystery Plant
pieces. Turn the pieces over. Lay them on the scrap paper. Add glue.
Then, place one Mystery Plant in Box A and the other in Box B.
Video trouble?
Step
05a/18
Water Experiment. We want to figure out how much WATER the
Mystery Plants need to stay healthy. So, which idea do you think
would help us figure it out? Why do you think that?
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Step
05b/18
Here’s what we noticed.
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Step
06/18
Get two Sun pieces, add glue, and place one in box A and one in box B
on your Water Experiment worksheet. Add color using crayons.
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Step
07/18
Get two water container pieces, add glue, and place them on your
experiment worksheet. Then, use your blue crayon to color in the
different amounts of water that will be given to each plant.
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Step
08/18
Bianca gave the plant in Box A lots of water. She gave the plant in
Box B just a little water. Here’s what the plants looked like after the
end of the experiment. Discuss:
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Step
09/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Draw the new leaves and color your plants with crayon to show what
the Mystery Plants looked like after the Water Experiment.
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Step
10/18
Discuss.
Then, circle the answer on your Water Experiment worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
11/18
Get your Sunlight Experiment worksheet and two Mystery Plant
pieces. Turn the pieces over and add glue to the back.
Then, place one Mystery Plant in Box A and the other in Box B.
Video trouble?
Step
12a/18
Sunlight Experiment. Which idea do you think would work best to
find out how much SUNLIGHT the Mystery Plants need to stay
healthy? Why do you think that?
Video trouble?
Step
12b/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Video trouble?
Step
13/18
Find two water container pieces. Turn them over and add glue to the
back. Then, place one in Box A and the other in Box B. Use your
crayon to color in the amount of water that you’ll give to each plant.
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Step
14/18
Find two Sun pieces. Turn them over and add glue to the back.
Then, place one in Box A and the other in Box B.
Add shade to Box B.
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Step
15/18
Here’s what Ahmed observed after running his experiment for
several weeks.
Discuss:
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Step
16/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Draw the new leaves and color your plants with crayon to show what
the Mystery Plants looked like after the Sunlight Experiment.
Video trouble?
Step
17/18
Discuss.
Then, circle the answer on your Sunlight Experiment worksheet.
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Step
18/18
Discuss.
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DISCUSS:

Imagine you tried to set up these experiments in REAL LIFE.

Can you think of any new challenges you might face if you tried these experiments in the real world?

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Slide Image
Slide Image

soil


1 of 8

tiny pieces of rock and other materials that cover the ground
Slide Image

sunlight


2 of 8

light from the Sun
Slide Image

cactus


3 of 8

a type of plant that usually has spikes and is found in the desert
Slide Image

habitat


4 of 8

the place where an animal or plant lives
Slide Image

desert


5 of 8

a habitat that is usually hot and that gets very little rain
Slide Image

rainforest


6 of 8

a habitat that is usually warm and gets lots of rain
Slide Image

investigate


7 of 8

to figure out the answer to a question or to understand how something works
Slide Image

experiment


8 of 8

a test used to discover new information about a question

Featured Reviews

“The best part was being able to do a plant experiment without having to spend money on plants. It was also a student-friendly explanation of what a controlled experiment is.”
· Beth · Teacher
“The kids and I LOVED this lesson. So creative and hands on. I feel they really learned something new. ”
· Brittany · Teacher
“It was interesting to hear the students thought process on which experiment to choose . I thought the cut and paste activity was a great concrete way of showing why it was the best. This lesson was a homerun!”
· Mindy · Teacher
“Everything flowed so well together and the kids loved it! We live in a high desert area and were familiar with desert plants:)”
· Janell · Teacher
“Many students felt this was their favourite experiment that they did on paper.”
· Polly · Teacher
“Students were engaged and they understood the point of the lesson. Now they have a better idea of the scientific process and how to build an experiment.”
· Keisha · Teacher
“The kids were engaged and excited about the activity”
· Melisa · Teacher
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students investigate how different plants grow best under very different conditions, ranging from deserts to tropical rainforests. In the activity, Puzzling Plants, students plan and conduct virtual experiments in order to determine how much water and sunlight a set of mystery plants need to grow and stay healthy.
Preview activity

I have a Mystery Pack

Build-Your-Own Experiment printout 1 per student
Sunlight Experiment worksheet 1 per student
Water Experiment worksheet 1 per student
Crayons
We suggest providing green, yellow, blue, red, and brown.
Details
4 crayons per student
Glue Sticks
1 glue stick per student
Scissors
1 pair per student

OPTIONAL SUPPLIES

Experiment Ideas worksheet
Experiment Ideas will be shown on-screen for the activity, but you can print them out for students if helpful. 		1 per pair
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs to share ideas. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Experiment with Real Plants

This activity walks students through virtual experiments to help reinforce the concept that an experiment should only change one part (variable), but keep all the other parts the same (controls).

We think it’s best to follow-up these learnings with a hands-on experiment that uses real plants! If you have radish plants leftover from the lesson “Could a plant survive without light?”, you can guide your students to plan and conduct a few classroom experiments.

Exploration

15 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

Wrap-Up

10 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Student slideshow: English | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish

Unit Reading

Unit Reading

When a Tree Falls

In this reading, students learn how an old tree falling over can help new trees growing.

Activity

Activity

Continue learning about plant needs and habitats with additional Mystery Science lessons!

Why do trees grow so tall?

Should you water a cactus?

Where do plants grow best?

Mini-lessons

Mini-lessons

You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.

  • How many kinds of cacti are there? In this mini-lesson, students learn about an important scientist who studied cacti--plants that need lots of sunlight and just a little bit of water!

If you are in an NGSS state, this mini-lesson supports the DCI LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Transcripts

Credits
 
Plants Lesson 4: How much water should you give a plant?

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