Georgia Southwestern State University Lesson Plan Guidelines

Created by GSW School of Education

EDEC 4200 Spring 2016
(Revised by L. Larsen)
Lets Play With the Parts of a Plant
Name: Hailie Taylor
Lesson Date: March 3, 2016
Lesson Start Time: 1:00 PM

Lesson End Time: 2:00 PM

Classroom/Lesson Context
Whole Group _____ Small Group _____ One-on-One
Please specify the number of students:
7 Girls 11 Boys
Learning Central Focus
A. Lesson Plan Title: Lets Play With the Parts of a Plant
B. Grade Level: 1st
C. Central Focus:
The central focus is the characteristics and basic needs of pants and animals, and the
specific parts of plants.
D. Content Standard:
S1L1. Students will investigate the characteristics and basic needs of plants and
animals.
c. Identify the parts of a plantroot, stem, leaf, and flower
Student Learning Goal(s)/ Objective(s):
A. Skills/procedures:
Students will identify the different parts of a plant, and understand the importance of
each part.
B. Prior Academic Knowledge and Conceptions:
Students must have prior academic knowledge about what a plant is. Students must also
understand that plants are living organisms, and have different parts that provide
different functions to keep them alive. They must also be aware that even though plants
may have different colors or be different sizes, that they are all still plants. Specific gaps
in knowledge about this topic are unknown, because this is an introductory lesson on the
parts of a plant.

Common Errors, Developmental Approximations, Misconceptions, Partial

Understandings, or Misunderstandings:
There are many misconceptions students may have about the parts of a plant. Some examples
of these misconceptions are:

Plants take in all substances they need through their roots.

Leaves take in water.
Plants get their energy from the soil through roots.

I will address these misconceptions by explaining to students that each part of the plant has a
job to do. The leaves take in air and sunlight, and the roots absorb water and minerals from the
soil. I will also explain that there is a complex process where plants create energy, and this
happens when the leaves absorb sunlight.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
A. Launch: 10 Minutes
I will begin by asking students if they have a favorite plant. I will give the students a
couple of minutes to think of an answer, and then I will call on a few students to share
their answers with the class. I will then tell the class that my favorite plant is a Gerbera
Daisy. Then I will pass around a potted Gerbera Daisy and allow each student to
observe it. As students are observing the plant, I will explain to them that all plants have
parts to that perform important functions for the plant, and that we are going to learn
about those parts. I will tell students that I expect them to listen closely and quietly, and
to participate when needed.
B. Instruction: 20 Minutes
I will begin the lesson by reading a big book entitled The Parts of a Plant by Debra
Castor. This is an informative, big book that explains what the parts of a plant are, and
why they are important. This book works well because it covers the learning objectives,
and ties in a literacy connection into the lesson. After reading the book, I will reinforce
the concepts that were covered. I will tell the students that the roots hold the plant in the
ground, and they take in water and minerals. The stem carries water from the root to the
rest of the plant. The flower helps the plant reproduce by producing seeds. Lastly I will
say that the leaves take in air and light that a plant needs to survive. As I am reviewing
these concepts, I will point to the specific part I am discussing on the Gerbera Daisy. I
will determine if students are meeting the learning objectives by asking differentiation
questions. What was our lesson about? Tell me one thing you learned about plant parts.
How does the information about plant parts relate to your life? Is it important for us to
learn about plant parts? Why or why not? During the lesson, students will lesson and
answer questions when called on.
C. Structured Practice and Application: 20 Minutes
WE WILL
We will create our own plant on the smart board using BrainPopJr. I will call on
individual students to drag one of the plant parts onto the screen. Then, I will have the
class to tell me what plant part that is. Then, I will call on another student to drag
another plant part and connect it to the one on the screen. Again, I will have the class to
tell me the name of that particular plant part. I will continue this process until we have a

complete plant with all of the necessary parts. If the students call out the wrong plant
part, I will redirect them to the correct answer.
https://jr.brainpop.com/science/plants/partsofaplant/picturemaker/
THEY WILL
The students will independently complete the Parts of a Plant Worksheet. Then when
they are finished, they may turn the paper over and write a sentence about what they
learned today, and include a drawing of their favorite plant.
This worksheet is attached.
D. Closure: 5 Minutes
I will close by asking, Who can tell me one thing we talked about today? I will have
students to give a thumbs up if they agree with what the person said or a thumbs down if
they disagree. I will either elaborate on the students statement, or I will correct it. I will
have another student tell something they learned about and repeat the process. I will
relate the statements to the objectives and ask if there are any questions. I will give time
for response, and then answer any questions. I will finish by telling the students that we
will be reviewing over these same concepts again tomorrow.
Differentiation/ Planned Support
A. Differentiation plan:
I will present the information in multiple ways (lecture, book, and hands-on activity) so
that students with all learning styles can be engaged.
If there are students who are not grasping the content, I will pull a small group of
students and review the material while the other students are completing the
independent practice.
If the students are not grasping the content as a whole, I will take another day to review
the content in terms that the students may better understand.
For the students with gaps in prior knowledge, I will pull a small group and review the
prior knowledge that they need in order to be successful.
B. Student Interactions
In this particular lesson, students are not specifically placed into partners or groups.
However, they are able to interact when we complete the interactive drawing of a plant. I
will randomly call on different students to come to the board, and all students are given
the opportunity to call out the part name.
C. What Ifs
The interactive plant drawing may not load as I expect it to. If this happens, I will have
students to draw their own plant using construction paper and crayons.
This lesson may also take more time than intended. If this happens, I will find a good
stopping point, and save the remainder of the lesson for another day.

Theoretical Principles and/or Research Based Best Practices

The tasks associated with this lesson are supported by Piagets Constructivist Theory. This
theory states that learning is the active construction of knowledge, and says students are more
successful if they are engaged. In this lesson, the big book, and the interactive drawing engage
students. This theory also says that learners experiences play a major role in their learning.
Students are given a Gerbera Daisy to see, touch, and feel. Some students may not have any
experiences with plants, so this provides them with those experiences.
Materials
-Gerbera Daisy

-Internet Access

-Smart Board

-Pencil

-Parts of a Plant worksheet

-Paper

-Parts of a Plant Big Book

Vocabulary
-Plant

-Leaf

-Absorb

-Root

-Flower

-Reproduce

-Stem

-Seed

Analyzing Teaching
A. Worked/Didn't Worked
B. It worked really well when I read the big book to the students. I realized that students in
1st grade love read alouds, and it helped to gain their interest in the content. It also
worked well when we did the interactive drawing of the plant together. It was an easy
way to incorporate technology into the lesson, and the students were eager to
participate.
It did not work well when I decided to improvise. The lesson was going faster than I had
anticipated, so I called on some students to read their sentences (from the back of their
paper) aloud. It seemed like a good idea, but every student wanted the chance to read
his or her sentence for the class, but there wasnt enough time for that. I had to tell some
students they could not read theirs for the class, and that was unfair.
C. Adjustments
I need to prepare to have extra things for the students to do if the lesson goes faster
than anticipated. I will closely think about activities they can do, rather than trying to
come up with activities on the spot.

D. Proposed Changes
If I taught this lesson again, I would provide time for the students to take a little trip to the
school garden. All of the students were surprised to learn that a tree is a plant and so is
grass. It also gives those students without prior experiences with plants, a more hands
on approach to learning about plants. Its hard for students to learn about something they
have no experience with. Other than that, I would basically teach the lesson the same.
Overall, it went very well.
Justification
These changes would improve student learning because they provide students with new
experiences. John Piaget was an educational theorist that strongly believed that a childs
learning depended on his or her experiences.

Additional Technological Resources:

Plant sort activity:
This activity can be found on the activity page of hbtaylor.weebly.com. Students will cut
out the words at the bottom of the worksheet. Then, they will decide which words are
plant needs, and which words are plant parts. Then they will paste the words on the
correct side.
Label the plant activity:
This activity can be found on the activity page of hbtaylor.weebly.com. In this activity,
students will cut out the words at the bottom of the page. Then they will paste the
word with the correct plant part, in the correct place.
Make a Plant Book:
This activity can be found on the activity page of hbtaylor.weebly.com. In this
activity, students will cut out these pages and then staple them together (with the
help of a parent), to create a booklet.
Content Related YouTube Videos:
With parental supervision, students can watch these videos to review what has been
learned in the classroom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql6OL7_qFgU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-l-gsWOKzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3St51F4kE8

Games:
With parental supervision, students can play these online games to review the parts of a
plant.
http://www.softschools.com/science/plants/plant_parts/
https://extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/c1m1acor.html
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/science/living/plants.html
https://jr.brainpop.com/science/plants/partsofaplant/picturemaker/
https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/d2e0208d-eba9-48c2-a20d-652e86c1d867
Videos:
With parental supervision, students can go to Miss Taylors website at
hbtaylor.weebly.com to watch a video on the parts of a plant. This video is located in the
Movies Tab.
Educational Apps:
With parental supervision, students can access these apps on a smart phone or tablet to
review lessons and play games on the parts of a plant.
1. iBloom- This is a great app that allows students to plant flowers and watch them
grow. However they have to tend to the plant like they would a real plant, and overcome
obstacles such as smog and drought.
2. Learn About Plant by Media Fusion- This app allows students to play various
games and watch different videos about different aspects of plants, including the parts
of a plant.
3.Parts of a Plant (Electrokite Interactive)- This app allows students to identify
parts of plant including root, stem, leaf, seed, flower, trace the life cycle of a plant and
recognize the function of each part of a plant, and organize the parts of a plant.
Voice Thread:
http://voicethread.com/share/7872458/
With parental supervision, students can access a voice thread to review the parts of the
plant with the above link.
QR Code:

With parental supervision and a QR Reader, students can find the answers to questions
related to the parts of the plant.
Quizzes:
With parental supervision, students can access quizzes related to the parts of the plant
with the following link:
https://b.socrative.com/teacher/#my-quizzes