KS1 SCIENCE LESSON PLANS
WHAT PLANTS NEED TO GROW
TERM: MAY HALF TERM
OBJECTIVES
OTHER CURRICULUM LINKS
By the end of the lesson pupils
should be able to:
PSHE: 2e To realise that people and other living
things have needs and that they have responsibilities
to meet them
• Understand what plants need to grow
• Investigate different conditions to grow plants
KS1 SCIENCE CURRICULUM
SC1: 2a-e: Pupils should be taught to:
a: Ask questions (for example, ‘How?’, ‘Why?’, ‘What
will happen if… ?’) and decide how they might find
answers to them
b: Use first-hand experience and simple information
sources to answer questions
c: Think about what might happen before deciding
what to do
d: Recognise when a test or comparison is unfair
e: Follow simple instructions to control the risks to
themselves and to others
SC2, 3a: Pupils should be taught to recognise that
plants need light and water to grow
SC2, 3c: Pupils should be taught that seeds grow into
flowering plants
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Children need to know that in the world around
them, there are living and non-living things
EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES
• Cress seeds
• Growing containers
• Cotton wool
• Jugs of water
EVERY CHILD MATTERS
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
Eco-Schools topics:
• School grounds
WHAT TO DO
HOMEWORK
Starter
Tell children that plants are living things and need
water, air, soil and light to grow. Tell children that
they will be experimenting today looking at different
conditions for growing cress.
Keep a diary about the growth of the cress seeds and
record how often you are watering them.
Main teaching phase
1. Distribute containers, cress seeds and cotton wool
to groups of 4-5 children.
2. Ask children how we can check which are the best
conditions for growing plants.
3. On the board write: warmth/cold, no water/water,
lots of air/little air, food and water/no food and
water, water and light/water and no light, a lot of
water/a little water.
4. Children can choose which one they will
investigate. Make predictions and plant cress
seeds.
5. Children should record the variable they are
investigating and choose a suitable place to put
their seeds to test that variable, eg. if testing no
light, put in a dark place.
6. Teacher should also plant seeds for a control where
they can grow in optimum conditions.
Follow-up lesson
Check results of cress investigation and compare
with predictions.
Discuss the following: Were your predictions
correct? Were there any surprises? What are the best
conditions for growing seeds?
Extension
Investigate another condition.
Plenary
Recap the best conditions for growing cress.
Play: “Simon Says… there is/is not light”. Children
pretend to be cress seeds and if there is light, for
example, they can grow tall; if there isn’t, they
should stay small. This can be varied and extended
by incorporating different conditions for the seeds
to grow.