Here is a fun lesson that you can do with your students to get them learning about the plants they will be growing in their classroom GrowLab.
Grade Level: 3
Subject(s): 
Duration: 50 minutes
Description: Students learn about the various parts of a plant by looking at a live plant, listening to a story, Jack’s Garden , and researching on the computer. Following their research, students construct a mobile of plant parts, identifying each part and its function. Through reading and writing extensions, students will read facts for comprehension and literature for interest. Each student will organize their ideas to write a short composition addressing a single topic: plants in their life.
Goals:
- Students will be able to follow directions.
- Student will be able to organize facts, identify parts of a plant, and label parts of a plant.
- Students will be able to work cooperatively as a team to hypothesize, research, and share their findings.
Objectives:
- Students will be able to identify and label the following parts of a plant: root, stem, leaf, bud, and flower.
- Students will be able to explain the function of each part of a plant.
Materials:
- Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole
- CD-ROM: First Connections: The Golden Book Encyclopedia
- teacher-made patterns of plant parts (each part is hole-punched)
- teacher-made poster of plant parts (matches plant part patterns)
- celery sticks
- glass with water
- food coloring
- live plant(s)
- various books on plants and plant life (fiction and non-fiction)
- yarn
- markers
- hangers
- tape
- scissors
- computers, if available
Vocabulary:
- Stem – Part of a plant that supports other parts, such as leaves, flowers, buds; part of a plant that carries water and nutrients from the ground to other plant parts.
- Root – Underground part of a plant which serves to anchor the plant in place; also delivers water and nutrients from the ground to the stem.
- Leaf – Lateral outgrowth from the stem whose primary function is food manufacturing.
- Bud – An incompletely opened flower.
- Flower – Part of a plant that is usually colorful and protrudes from the stem; serves in reproduction.
Procedure:
(Before beginning the lesson, make sure you bring in at least one live plant for the classroom.) Ask students, "Do you have plants at home? What has a plant done for you today? How do plants help us?" Acknowledge students’ answers and continue. Introduce the plant you have brought in. Ask students if they can name any and/or all of the parts of the plant. Using student input, write only the part (not the function) on the board. Ask, "Do you know what each part does?" Write students’ responses on the board.
Read Jack’s Garden to the class — reviewing, locating, and pointing out the plant parts and their functions as discussed in the introduction.
Inform students that they will be constructing a plant mobile. Group the students into five different groups: roots, stems, leaves, buds, and flowers. On a large table, scatter the various "plant parts" (have enough parts for each student to have one of each part). Have students individually collect the five different parts of the plant that they will need to complete their mobile. Each student will also need a hanger and five pieces of yarn cut at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 inch lengths. Instruct students that they are to complete the following: (these instructions may be written on the board):
- Properly label each of the five plant parts on the line provided on each part.
- Attach each part to the yarn to be hung on the mobile, in the order that the part exists in nature (that is, roots are the lowest part, so that part will go on the 10” piece of yarn, 8” is the stem, 6” is the leaf, 4” is the bud, and 2” is the flower).
- On the back of each part, there are two lines numbered 1. and 2. On line number 1, write the function of this part of the plant. On line number 2, write an interesting fact about this part of the plant.
Groups will have 5-10 minutes of computer time to research their assigned part and find an interesting fact about that part to share with the class. While one group of students is at the computer, the other students will be compiling their plant parts onto the hangers to create the mobiles. Students who finish before the others may read the plant books that have been brought in. Students should have completed their mobile, labeled each part, and filled in line 1 on each part. Students in each group will have an entry for line 2 for the part that they researched. At this time, each group will share their findings from their research on the computer (in regards to their assigned part) with the rest of the class, so that all students have an entry for line 2 on the back of each part. As the information is shared, acknowledge, repeat, and reinforce the responses from the students. Write their responses on the board next to the names of the parts that were written on the board during the introduction.
In closing, remind students of their hypotheses regarding the celery experiment. Show students the celery from today and last night. Ask students to share their observations. Were their hypotheses correct? As an extension, have students write a story in their journals about how plants are a part of their life.
Assessment: Students’ understanding of the parts of a plant and each part’s function may be evaluated by looking at the mobile created by each student. Parts should be labeled properly, and a function of each part should be properly noted on the back. In addition to completing the mobile, it is important for students to follow the directions for this activity and to work in cooperation with other members in their group. (refer to the rubric listed in the Materials section)
Vocabulary:
- Stem – Part of a plant that supports other parts, such as leaves, flowers, buds; part of a plant that carries water and nutrients from the ground to other plant parts.
- Root – Underground part of a plant which serves to anchor the plant in place; also delivers water and nutrients from the ground to the stem.
- Leaf – Lateral outgrowth from the stem whose primary function is food manufacturing.
- Bud – An incompletely opened flower.
- Flower – Part of a plant that is usually colorful and protrudes from the stem; serves in reproduction.
Procedure:
(Before beginning the lesson, make sure you bring in at least one live plant for the classroom.) Ask students, "Do you have plants at home? What has a plant done for you today? How do plants help us?" Acknowledge students’ answers and continue. Introduce the plant you have brought in. Ask students if they can name any and/or all of the parts of the plant. Using student input, write only the part (not the function) on the board. Ask, "Do you know what each part does?" Write students’ responses on the board.
Read Jack’s Garden to the class — reviewing, locating, and pointing out the plant parts and their functions as discussed in the introduction. After reading the story, review the various plant parts by using the poster as a model.
To further emphasize the function of the stem, conduct a “celery experiment." (At home the night before, soak some celery stalks in colored water for varying lengths of time. Do not show these to the students yet!) Bring out a glass filled with colored water and a celery stalk. Ask students, "If this piece of celery represents the stem of a plant, what will happen when it is placed in this glass of colored water?" Students should be able to hypothesize what the celery might look like according to the function of the stem. Write students’ hypotheses on the board. Let students know that you will be coming back to this activity later in the lesson.
Inform students that they will be constructing a plant mobile. Group the students into five different groups: roots, stems, leaves, buds, and flowers. On a large table, scatter the various "plant parts" (have enough parts for each student to have one of each part). Have students individually collect the five different parts of the plant that they will need to complete their mobile. Each student will also need a hanger and five pieces of yarn cut at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 inch lengths. Instruct students that they are to complete the following: (these instructions may be written on the board):
- Properly label each of the five plant parts on the line provided on each part.
- Attach each part to the yarn to be hung on the mobile, in the order that the part exists in nature (that is, roots are the lowest part, so that part will go on the 10” piece of yarn, 8” is the stem, 6” is the leaf, 4” is the bud, and 2” is the flower).
- On the back of each part, there are two lines numbered 1. and 2. On line number 1, write the function of this part of the plant. On line number 2, write an interesting fact about this part of the plant.
Groups will have 5-10 minutes of computer time to research their assigned part and find an interesting fact about that part to share with the class. While one group of students is at the computer, the other students will be compiling their plant parts onto the hangers to create the mobiles. Students who finish before the others may read the plant books that have been brought in. Students should have completed their mobile, labeled each part, and filled in line 1 on each part. Students in each group will have an entry for line 2 for the part that they researched. At this time, each group will share their findings from their research on the computer (in regards to their assigned part) with the rest of the class, so that all students have an entry for line 2 on the back of each part. As the information is shared, acknowledge, repeat, and reinforce the responses from the students. Write their responses on the board next to the names of the parts that were written on the board during the introduction.
In closing, remind students of their hypotheses regarding the celery experiment. Show students the celery from today and last night. Ask students to share their observations. Were their hypotheses correct? As an extension, have students write a story in their journals about how plants are a part of their life.
Assessment: Students’ understanding of the parts of a plant and each part’s function may be evaluated by looking at the mobile created by each student. Parts should be labeled properly, and a function of each part should be properly noted on the back. In addition to completing the mobile, it is important for students to follow the directions for this activity and to work in cooperation with other members in their group. (refer to the rubric listed in the Materials section)
life cycle of a plant, how to care for different types of flowers and vegetable, and they will learn about the benifites of growning your own plants. There are many activities that teachers and parents can do with their studetns/children and the GrowLab (I will be posting some creative ideas in the near future). If you want a GrowLab for your classroom or home, you can purchues them online in various sizes to fit your needs. There are also many organizations that come into the classroom to work with your studetns and the GrowLab. 
