: Plants Experiment
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Approach:  Team Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Exploring growth requirements for plants 
Resources: Photo, team instructions, “Working Together” guide, answer sheets
2.7Mb
Questions/instructions:
[click on image for enlargement]

Discuss/review “Working Together” Team Guide.

In this activity you will be working as a team to make up an experiment to find out about plants.

Before making up the experiment, write a list of things that help plants to survive and grow. Write your list of things on your “List” answer sheet.

Give students answer sheet. Allow time.

 
% responses
y4
y8
Now tell me the things that help plants to survive and grow.

Students respond. 		   
water/rain/humidity
100
100
light/sunlight/shade
95
98
air/oxygen
20
33
carbon dioxide/photosynthesis (chlorophyll)
7
28
suitable growth medium/soil/mulch
92
95
fertiliser/manure/compost/nutrients/minerals
53
76
worms/micro-organisms
21
18
appropriate temperature/seasons
3
9
shelter/support
13
19
adequate space (roots/foliage)
7
13
removal of competitive plants/weeds
7
8
protection from damage by animals (inluding insect/humans)
13
15
protection from diseases
5
6
helpful insects/birds (removing predators)
8
21
pruning/removal of damaged parts
4
9
reproduction/seeds/pollination/bees
23
18
In your team you are going to design an experiment to find out if plants do or don’t need sunlight to stay healthy. Here are the things you are to do.

Show and read Plants Experiment – Team Instruction card.

Show photo.

 
  Hand out “Experiment” answer sheet.
Allow time.

   
Talk together in your team and listen to each other’s ideas before you start writing them down. Here is your answer sheet.
You’ve thought about your experiment and have written it down. If another group of students was given your experiment, do you think they would be able to do it by following your instructions? Are your instructions clear enough? Talk about that now, and if you think you need to make some improvements, you can change what you have written down.

Allow time.

Thank you for doing that. To finish off, tell me how to do your experiment.		    
plants in at least two different levels of light
49
91
two or more plants in each condition (replication)
16
43
Watering:
same
4
9
regularly
43
43
similar temperatures
6
13
same time for growth
17
53
long enough period for growth difference to be observed
13
44
examination/measurement procedures for comparing growth in differenct light conditions
28
47
use of appropriate measuring device
3
9
planning to record results
0
12
suggested repeating experiment with different seeds or plants
0
1
predict that sunlight will be needed for growth health (most plants)
64
85
   
Total score:




14–28
1
15
10–13
16
47
7–9
38
31
4–6
44
7
0–3
1
0
Commentary:
There were not large differences between year 4 and year 8 teams in identifying requirements for plant growth. However, year 8 teams performed distinctly better on some key aspects of experimental design.
 
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