Navigation
Students discover that plants are living things and learn to recognize common plants in their neighborhood.
Did you know that the tall tree in your yard and the tiny grass under your feet are actually 'breathing' and growing just like you?
Just like you and your pets, plants are living things. This means they grow and change over time. While you eat snacks to get energy, plants are like tiny chefs—they use sunlight, water, and air to make their own food! Because they need food, grow bigger, and can even get sick if they don't have what they need, we know they are alive just like us.
Quick Check
What is one thing a plant needs to make its own food?
Answer
Sunlight (or water/air).
Plants come in many sizes. Trees are the giants of the plant world with hard, woody trunks. Grass is short, thin, and grows close together like a soft green carpet. Flowers are the colorful parts of plants that often smell nice and help the plant make seeds for new baby plants.
Let's look at a park: 1. See the tall thing with branches? That is a tree. 2. See the soft green stuff on the ground? That is grass. 3. See the bright red petals? That is a flower.
Quick Check
Which plant is usually the tallest and has a wooden trunk?
Answer
A tree.
Leaves are like the plant's solar panels. They come in many shapes and colors. Some leaves are round, some are long and skinny, and some have pointy edges like a star. Most leaves are green, but they can change to bright orange, red, or yellow when the weather gets cold in the fall!
Imagine you found a leaf on the ground: 1. First, look at the color. Is it green, or maybe brown? 2. Next, look at the shape. Is it a circle, or does it look like a heart? 3. If it is green and shaped like a heart, you have described it perfectly!
Find two different leaves: 1. Compare their sizes. Is one bigger than the other? ? 2. Feel them. Is one smooth and the other fuzzy? 3. Even if they look different, they both help the plant live!
What do plants use to make their own food?
Which of these is a type of plant?
All leaves are the exact same shape.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow, look out your window. Can you find one tree, one patch of grass, and one flower?
Practice Activity
Go on a 'Leaf Walk' with a grown-up. Pick up three different leaves and draw their shapes in a notebook.