Plant Growth and Adaptations

NC Standard:  1.01, 1.04

Activity:  Plant Growth

Question: How do nutrients, light, and water affect plant growth?

Vocabulary: nutrients, light, water

Materials: 4 house plants of the same species and same size, watering can, a box to fit over one plant.

Procedure: 

Over the next few weeks, students will observe how well four different plants survive in different environments.

• 1. Set up four different conditions for the plants, water and soil as follows:
  Plant 1: Give the plant sunlight, water, and soil.
  Plant 2: Give the plant water and sunlight, but no soil. Remove as much soil as you can from the roots and place it back in the empty pot.
  Plant 3: Give the plant sunlight and soil, but no water.
  Plant 4: Give the plant water and soil, but no sunlight.

• 2. Divide students into 4 teams with each team responsible for measuring and caring for one of the plants.

• 3. Each team should record their observations of their plants.

• 4. Teams should predict:
  Which plant do you expect to be the healthiest by the end of the experiment?
  Which plant do you expect will die first?

• 5. Each team should complete the lab paper for the experiment and discuss their findings.
  

Conclusion: Plants need nutrients, light, and water to grow.
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Line of Learning:  This line is drawn to provide students with a space to share their experimental learning in words or pictures.
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