Lab: What do plants need?
2nd Grade PSI
Teacher’s Notes:
 The students will be testing the effects of sunlight and water on the growth of
plants.
 Do not buy seeds for this experiment. Buy actual plants or seedlings. If you buy
seeds, then you are testing germination instead of actual plant growth. Any type
of flowering plant will work well for this experiment.
 The 4 groups of this experiment are:
o Light/water: These plants receive full sunlight and plenty of water.
o Light/no water: These plants receive full sunlight but no water.
o No light/no water: These plants are placed in darkness with no water.
o No light/water: These plants are placed in darkness but are given plenty of
water.
Materials:
 Flowering plant seedlings
 Pots
 Potting soil
 Plastic Spoon or other tool to fill pots with soil
 Rulers
 Water
Procedure:
1. Split the class into 4 groups. Each group will treat their plants differently.
Depending on the number of students and plants, students can each have their
own plant or they can work in pairs or teams to take care of the plants.
2. Hand out the information (on following page) to each group so that they
understand what their group is and how they need to handle their plant.
3. Have each group transfer their plant into a pot, making sure to add plenty of soil
to the pot first.
4. Have each group find a location in the classroom for their plant, depending on
whether or not the plant requires sunlight.
5. Each day, the students should check on their plant. For students in “water”
groups, they need to water their plants each day. Students in “no water” groups
should not provide any water to the plants.
6. On the analysis day, have students fill in the data chart together and compare the
plant groups. Which group survived the best and/or grew the most? Why is this
so? What do plants need to live?
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2nd Grade PSI
Plants
Light / Water
Light / No water
In this group, you will
provide full sunlight to
your plant and plenty
of water.
In this group, you will
provide full sunlight to
your plant but no
water.
No light / water
No light / No water
In this group, you will
grow your plant in
darkness and not give
it any water.
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In this group, you will
grow your plant in
darkness but provide it
with plenty of water.
2nd Grade PSI
Plants
Lab: What do plants need?
Name: __________________________
2nd Grade PSI
Introduction
Plants need several things to grow. What do you
think they need? Write your ideas below.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Purpose
In this lab, you will be testing whether or not plants
need sunlight and water to grow.
Do you think plants need sunlight or water? Why or
why not?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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2nd Grade PSI
Plants
Procedure
1. Your teacher will assign you to a group for this
experiment. Read the information that she gives
you about your group.
2. Follow your teacher’s instructions for setting up
your plant.
3. Assess the health of your plant by filling out the
“Before” section of the Data Table.
4. Find an appropriate place in the classroom for
your plant, depending on whether your plant
should receive sunlight or not.
5. Each day, check on your plant. Make sure that it
continues to receive the proper treatment,
according to your group.
Analysis
1. Analyze the health of you plant by filling in the
After section of the Data Table.
2. Have one member of your group write your
information in the Class Data Table.
3. Answer the Questions.
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2nd Grade PSI
Plants
Data Table
Before
Color
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Height
After
Other
comments
Color
2nd Grade PSI
Height
Other
comments
Plants
Questions
1. What group did you have? How did your plant
survive?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
2. What plants survived the best in the class? Why
do you think this is?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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2nd Grade PSI
Plants
3. Do plants need water to survive? Use
information from this experiment as evidence to
answer this question.
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________.
4. Do plants need sunlight to survive? Use
information from this experiment as evidence to
answer this question.
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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2nd Grade PSI
Plants