Science at key stages 1 and 2 (Year 1)

Unit 1B: Growing plants
Section 6: Plants and light

Objectives

Children should learn:

that green plants need light to grow
to turn ideas about whether green plants need light to grow into a form that can be tested
to observe and compare green plants grown in light and dark places
to conclude that green plants need light to grow well

Activities		Outcomes
		Children:
Introduce the idea of green plants needing light to grow and ask children whether they think this is true or not. Ask them how they could test their ideas and when they do so, discuss whether they will water the plants or not. Ask children to talk about differences between plants eg after 3 days, 8 days, 14 days and to suggest what these differences show.		suggest a way eg keeping one plant in a box or cupboard and one in the classroom of finding out whether green plants need light to grow identify differences between the plants eg the one in the dark isn't green and doesn't look healthy draw a conclusion from the results eg the one in the dark didn't look healthy. I think plants like to be in the light

Points to note

This activity offers children the opportunity to carry out a whole investigation. It may be helpful to concentrate on the aspects of investigation highlighted in the learning objectives.

Increases in heights of plants which do not have sufficient light arise because the plants are growing towards the light.

At this stage children would be expected only to describe and not to attempt to explain what happened.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.


	1. Introduction
	2. Finding plants
	3. Watching plants grow
	4. Plants for our food
	5. Watering plants
	6. Plants and light
	7. Living and artificial plants
	8. Review

Science at key stages 1 and 2 (Year 1)

Objectives

Activities

Outcomes

Points to note

Sections in this unit