The biggest difference is the shape of the leaves. When you are trying to figure out which plant is which, the shape of the leaves is an important clue.
The leaves of Seedling 2 are kind of roundish with a point at one end. They’re very different from the leaves of Seedlings 1 and 3. Let’s see if Seedling 2’s leaves can tell us what it will be when it grows up.
Get your Look for Clues Worksheet. Look at the pictures of all three seedlings when they’ve grown. Compare the leaves on the adult plants to the leaves on Seedling 2. Discuss:
The sunflower plant has leaves that look like the leaves on Seedling 2! On your worksheet, write 2 by the sunflower plant. Color the picture of the sunflower on your worksheet.
The pumpkin plant that you’re looking for is either Seedling 1 or Seedling 3. But the leaves of these seedlings are close to the same shape! To find the pumpkin plant, you need more clues. Discuss:
Watch how the stems of these three seedlings change as they grow. Compare the stems of the seedlings with the stem of the sunflower plant on your worksheet. Discuss:
Seedling 2 has a straight stem—just like a sunflower. That, plus the leaves, makes us feel sure that Seedling 2 is a sunflower. Now let’s look for clues to help us find the pumpkin plant. Discuss:
The stem of Seedling 3 bends to the side. It also has curls growing from it. The stem of Seedling 1 grows straight up. Compare the stem of Seedling 1 to the adult plants on your worksheet. Discuss:
Three clues tell you Seedling 1 is a geranium. It has leaves like a geranium, a straight stem, and no curls. Write 1 by the geranium on your worksheet. Color the picture on your worksheet.
You’ve probably guessed that Seedling 3 is a pumpkin plant since that’s the only plant left! But scientists don’t just guess. Compare Seedling 3 with the pictures on your worksheet. Discuss:
Seedling 3 has a stem that bends to the side, curls growing from its stem, and leaves like the pumpkin plant. On the worksheet, write 3 by the pumpkin plant. Color the plant.
Congratulations! You did a great job figuring out which plant is which by looking at the leaves and stems. But adult plants have more than leaves and stems. Discuss:
Anchor Connection
In the past lesson, you looked at these leaves. You looked at how they were
different. Now, let’s do the opposite. Discuss. What is the same about each of
these leaves? Look at the color, shape, and anything else you can see.
We noticed that all of the leaves are green. All of the leaves also have a stalk.
Now, let’s look at the backs of the leaves. These aren’t the exact same as the
leaves before, but they are similar. Discuss. What do you notice? What is the same
about each of these leaves? What is different?
All of the leaves are green, but they aren’t the exact same color. All of the leaves
have lines on the back called veins. The veins are in different shapes, but all of
these leaves have veins. All of the veins fan out from the stalk.
At the beginning of the unit, we saw these big floating things. Discuss. What is the
same about all of them? What is different? Be sure to look at the shapes and
colors you see on the tops and the sides close to the water.
Let’s flip one of these floating things over and look at the underside. On the next
slide, you will see one of these floating things flipped over.
This is one of the floating things turned upside down. Discuss. What do you
notice?
These floating things have veins on the back. They also have a long stalk. The veins
fan out from the stalk. Let’s look at a group of these floating things from farther
back. Let’s see what we can notice.
Discuss. What do you notice? Do you have any new ideas about what these
floating things are?
All of the stalks connect back to one spot. That is because they are all part of one
single plant. The giant floating things are leaves! Discuss. How many leaves does
this plant have? And can you find the smallest, youngest leaf? It hasn’t grown to
full size yet.
The youngest leaf is already a huge leaf, but it will grow much bigger. These kinds
of plants are called giant water lilies. Giant water lilies grow some of the largest
leaves of any plant anywhere in the world.
There are different kinds of giant water lilies, but they all grow these giant
floating leaves. The leaves are different colors on different plants, but they are all
giant!
Even though giant water lily leaves are huge, they are still leaves. And they are
similar to the leaves you saw in the lesson. Discuss. How are all of these leaves
similar? How are they different?
Get your See-Think-Wonder Chart. Are there any new things that you saw? Are
there any new things that you think? Are there any new things that you wonder?
Record all of those things in your chart.
Save your See-Think-Wonder Chart. You will come back to it after the next lesson.
plant
1 of 10
a living thing that doesn't need to eat other living things
seed
2 of 10
a part of a plant that can grow into a baby plant
seedling
3 of 10
a young plant that grows from a seed
root
4 of 10
a part of a plant that is usually under the ground
stem
5 of 10
a part of a plant, usually above ground, that has leaves, flowers, and fruits connected to it
leaf
6 of 10
a part of a plant that is often flat and green
flower
7 of 10
a part of a plant that is usually brightly colored
observe
8 of 10
to pay close attention to something
shape
9 of 10
how something looks, such as a circle, square, or triangle
In this lesson, students identify the pattern that young plants are similar to their parent plants. In the activity, Mixed-up Plants, students observe three seedlings and three adult plants and use their observations to match each seedling to its adult counterpart.
