STAGING
How much water should you give a plant?

How much water should you give a plant?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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DISCUSS:
Why do you think this plant wilted?
Can you think of anything I could have done differently to keep the plant healthy?
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DISCUSS:
What’s DIFFERENT about these two places?
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DISCUSS:
How could you figure out whether these mystery plants would grow better in the
Desert Dome or in the Tropical Dome?
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Step
01/18
You’ll work with a partner.
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02/18
Get your supplies.
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03/18
Get your Build-Your-Own Experiment sheet.
First, cut along the thick gray line. Then, cut along all the dotted lines.
Separate the pieces into 3 piles.
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04/18
Get your Water Experiment worksheet and two Mystery Plant
pieces. Turn the pieces over. Lay them on the scrap paper. Add glue.
Then, place one Mystery Plant in Box A and the other in Box B.
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Step
05a/18
Water Experiment. We want to figure out how much WATER the
Mystery Plants need to stay healthy. So, which idea do you think
would help us figure it out? Why do you think that?
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05b/18
Here’s what we noticed.
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06/18
Get two Sun pieces, add glue, and place one in box A and one in box B
on your Water Experiment worksheet. Add color using crayons.
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07/18
Get two water container pieces, add glue, and place them on your
experiment worksheet. Then, use your blue crayon to color in the
different amounts of water that will be given to each plant.
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Step
08/18
Bianca gave the plant in Box A lots of water. She gave the plant in
Box B just a little water. Here’s what the plants looked like after the
end of the experiment. Discuss:
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09/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Draw the new leaves and color your plants with crayon to show what
the Mystery Plants looked like after the Water Experiment.
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Step
10/18
Discuss.
Then, circle the answer on your Water Experiment worksheet.
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11/18
Get your Sunlight Experiment worksheet and two Mystery Plant
pieces. Turn the pieces over and add glue to the back.
Then, place one Mystery Plant in Box A and the other in Box B.
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12a/18
Sunlight Experiment. Which idea do you think would work best to
find out how much SUNLIGHT the Mystery Plants need to stay
healthy? Why do you think that?
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12b/18
Here’s what we noticed.
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13/18
Find two water container pieces. Turn them over and add glue to the
back. Then, place one in Box A and the other in Box B. Use your
crayon to color in the amount of water that you’ll give to each plant.
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14/18
Find two Sun pieces. Turn them over and add glue to the back.
Then, place one in Box A and the other in Box B.
Add shade to Box B.
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15/18
Here’s what Ahmed observed after running his experiment for
several weeks.
Discuss:
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16/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Draw the new leaves and color your plants with crayon to show what
the Mystery Plants looked like after the Sunlight Experiment.
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17/18
Discuss.
Then, circle the answer on your Sunlight Experiment worksheet.
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18/18
Discuss.
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DISCUSS:

Imagine you tried to set up these experiments in REAL LIFE.

Can you think of any new challenges you might face if you tried these experiments in the real world?

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Anchor Connection Discuss. Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart. Have any questions been answered by the past lesson?
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Step
01/13
In the past lesson, you saw plants like this in the desert dome. Discuss. Do these plants need a little water, or a lot? And do these plants need shade, or bright sunlight?
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Step
02/13
Different plants need different amounts of light and water. Most plants in the desert need lots of sunlight, but very little water.
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03/13
A cactus can grow well in Death Valley because it is very, very dry here. This cactus gets just the right amount of water.
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Step
04/13
A cactus needs very little water, but a lot of light. That makes Death Valley a good place for a cactus!
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05/13
Death Valley is not always a good place for the superbloom flowers. These flowers need the right amount of light and water, but Death Valley usually has too much of one and not enough of the other.
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06/13
A few weeks after the flowers bloom, they dry up, like this. Discuss. Why do you think the flowers dry up in Death Valley? (Hint: think about the right amounts of water and light.)
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07/13
Death Valley has too much light for the flowers. All of the light makes it very hot. And there is too little water for the flowers. Too much light and heat and too little water are just wrong for the flowers.
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Step
08/13
But seeds are waiting in the sand. The superbloom cycle will happen again the next time the water, light, and warmth are just right!
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Step
09/13
Discuss. We know that not enough water and too much light and heat make superbloom flowers dry up and disappear. What should these students add to their sheets? How should they do it?
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10/13
Get your Superbloom Cycle worksheet.
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11/13
If you didn’t write or draw about light and heat yet, do so now. You can write words or draw pictures.
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12/13
If you didn’t write or draw about there not being enough water, do so now. You can write words or draw pictures.
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Step
13/13
This is the last update you will make to the Superbloom Cycle worksheet! Discuss. What changes did you make to your sheet as you learned new things?
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soil


1 of 8

tiny pieces of rock and other materials that cover the ground
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sunlight


2 of 8

light from the Sun
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cactus


3 of 8

a type of plant that usually has spikes and is found in the desert
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habitat


4 of 8

the place where an animal or plant lives
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desert


5 of 8

a habitat that is usually hot and that gets very little rain
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rainforest


6 of 8

a habitat that is usually warm and gets lots of rain
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investigate


7 of 8

to figure out the answer to a question or to understand how something works
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experiment


8 of 8

a test used to discover new information about a question
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students investigate how different plants grow best under very different conditions, ranging from deserts to tropical rainforests. In the activity, Puzzling Plants, students plan and conduct virtual experiments in order to determine how much water and sunlight a set of mystery plants need to grow and stay healthy.
Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Build-Your-Own Experiment printout 1 per student
Sunlight Experiment worksheet 1 per student
Water Experiment worksheet 1 per student
Crayons
We suggest providing green, yellow, blue, red, and brown.
Details
4 crayons per student
Glue Sticks
1 glue stick per student
Scissors
1 pair per student

OPTIONAL SUPPLIES

Experiment Ideas worksheet
Experiment Ideas will be shown on-screen for the activity, but you can print them out for students if helpful. 		1 per pair
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs to share ideas. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Experiment with Real Plants

This activity walks students through virtual experiments to help reinforce the concept that an experiment should only change one part (variable), but keep all the other parts the same (controls).

We think it’s best to follow-up these learnings with a hands-on experiment that uses real plants! If you have radish plants leftover from the lesson “Could a plant survive without light?”, you can guide your students to plan and conduct a few classroom experiments.

Exploration

15 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

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Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Activity

Mini-lessons

Transcripts

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