Wonderful Woodland and Water Plants!

Science Grades 1st Grade 4:50 Video
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Lesson Description

Let's explore and compare woodland and freshwater plants! We'll learn what they need to live and how they are alike and different.

Video Resource

First Grade Science: STC™ - Comparing Woodland and Freshwater Plants

Carolina Biological

Duration: 4:50
Watch on YouTube

Key Concepts

  • Plants need water, air, and food to live.
  • Woodland plants and freshwater plants have similarities and differences.
  • Plants have different parts (like stems) that help them live.

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to identify at least two similarities between woodland and freshwater plants.
  • Students will be able to list three things that plants need to survive.
  • Students will be able to describe one difference between a woodland plant and a freshwater plant.

Educator Instructions

  • Introduction (5 mins)
    Begin by reminding students about the woodland and freshwater plants they've observed previously (as seen in the video). Briefly review the names of the plants: pine seedling and moss (woodland), and freshwater plants in the aquarium.
  • Plant Investigation (15 mins)
    Students will revisit the woodland and freshwater plants. Provide hand lenses for closer observation. Encourage them to look for similarities and differences. They can add new observations to their existing notes or charts.
  • Class Discussion: What Plants Need (10 mins)
    Lead a class discussion about what plants need to live. Guide students to identify water, air, and food as essential. Record student responses on a whiteboard or chart paper.
  • Amazing Plants! (10 mins)
    Introduce the concept of unusual plants like the Venus flytrap. Briefly explain how it eats insects. Discuss the video clip about the Venus flytrap.

Interactive Exercises

  • Venn Diagram Plant Sort
    Create a Venn diagram. Label one circle "Woodland Plants" and the other "Freshwater Plants". In the overlapping section, write characteristics they share. Have students write or draw characteristics of each type of plant within its respective circle.

Discussion Questions

  • What are some things that *all* plants need to stay alive?
  • How are the woodland plants and the freshwater plants the same?
  • How are the woodland plants and the freshwater plants different?

Skills Developed

  • Observation
  • Comparison
  • Critical Thinking
  • Communication

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1:

What is something that ALL plants need to live?

Correct Answer: Water

Question 2:

Which of these plants grows in the woods?

Correct Answer: Moss

Question 3:

Which plant lives in water?

Correct Answer: Aquarium Plant

Question 4:

What is something that plants can have?

Correct Answer: Stems

Question 5:

The Venus flytrap is a plant that eats what?

Correct Answer: Insects

Question 6:

Do plants need air to live?

Correct Answer: Yes

Question 7:

Which plant is a woodland plant that we talked about?

Correct Answer: Moss

Question 8:

Plants use their ________ to drink water.

Correct Answer: Roots

Question 9:

What do plants need to make their own food?

Correct Answer: Sunlight

Question 10:

What does it mean to observe something?

Correct Answer: To watch it carefully

Fill in the Blank Questions

Question 1:

Plants need ________, air, and food to live.

Correct Answer: water

Question 2:

A ________ plant is one that lives in the woods.

Correct Answer: woodland

Question 3:

Plants can have ________ that help them stand up.

Correct Answer: stems

Question 4:

The Venus flytrap eats ________.

Correct Answer: insects

Question 5:

Plants get energy from the ________.

Correct Answer: sun

Question 6:

Moss is a type of ________ plant.

Correct Answer: woodland

Question 7:

We can use a ________ lens to see plants more closely.

Correct Answer: hand

Question 8:

Plants can ________ if they don't get what they need.

Correct Answer: die

Question 9:

Plants that live in lakes are called ________ plants.

Correct Answer: freshwater

Question 10:

Making careful ________ helps us learn about plants.

Correct Answer: observations

Educational Standards

1.LS1.1:[Standard] Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.* 1.LS3.1:[Standard] Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.

Teaching Materials

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