Plants: Wheat

by Mathew Needleman
Open Court Resources.com
School:
Saturn Street Elementary School
Grade Level:
1
Students:
8 boys and 8 girls. Eight ELL students. One student receiving RSP services. Have students work in teams of two to assist each other in putting the paper towels in the straws (a difficult task). Have students place the straws against their papers to judge height rather than using rulers for this activity.
Subject Area(s):
Science
Goal(s):
Students will expand their thinking of plants as flowers and begin to see other uses of plants in our daily lives.
Concept(s):
Wheat seeds are used to grow grains that are eaten as bread or rice.

Much of the food that we eat comes from plants.
Standards:
CA- CCTC: Aligned CSTP's and TPE's
• Standard : CSTP: Standard for Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning
TPE: E. Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning
CSTP Description: Teachers create physical environments that engage all students in purposeful learning activities and encourage constructive interactions among students. Teachers maintain safe learning environments in which all students are treated fairly and respectfully as they assume responsibility for themselves and one another. Teachers encourage all students to participate in making decisions and in working independently and collaboratively. Expectations for student behavior are established early, clearly understood, and consistently maintained. Teachers make effective use of instructional time as they implement class procedures and routines.
• CSTP Key Element : Creating a physical environment that engages all students.
 Question : manage student and teacher access to materials, technology, and resources to promote learning?

CA- California K-12 Academic Content Standards
• Subject : Science
• Grade : Grade One
• Area : Life Sciences
• Sub-Strand 2: Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. As a basis for understanding this concept:
 Standard a: Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments and have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.
• Area : Investigation and Experimentation
• Sub-Strand 4: Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
 Standard b: Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.
Objective(s):
After planting and observing wheat seeds and class discussion students will be able to name three foods we eat that come from plants.
Prerequisite Background Skills/Knowledge:
From previous lesson, students should know that plants need air, water, and sun to grow.
Vocabulary / Language Skills:
Wheat and grain. This can be demonstrated by observing our growing wheat and a piece of wheat bread.

The class will discuss the idea of research as it relates to science.
Materials:
Wheat seeds
Straws
Cups
Water
Classroom Management:
Each table should have a "getter" to be responsible for getting supplies for his/her table.
Procedure:
Open
Ask students if we ever eat plants. Students may or may not answer yes. Help them to think of vegetables and fruit as plants if they do not already. Ask students where bread comes from. Students probably won't know so explain that it comes from wheat which grows in the ground.

Body
Today we will planting wheat in clear plastic straws so that we can watch it grow and record its growth. Distribute seeds, straws, and paper towel cuttings to students. Model for students how to place the paper towel in the straws and place the seed in the straw.

Students will plant seeds. Then distribute wheat journals so that students can keep track of their wheat seed's growth over the next two weeks.

A few days after the wheat seeds have sprouted, ask students if they've begun to think about other plants that we eat. Make a list of those plants on the KWL chart. Ask them if they have any questions about plants we eat, where they come from, or what does their plant looks like. Record these questions and then have students form cooperative interest groups. These groups will research answers to their question on the internet and later report back to class.

Close
Allow research groups to report and everyone to share their wheat journals and seeds. Discuss with students all the plants we can eat and list these on the KWL chart. Students can take home their wheat.
Assessment:
Ninety percent of students will be able to name three foods we eat that come from plants.
Reflection:
Although students were not ultimately surprised that we eat plants. It was a bit of a shock initially. Students unanimously answered no to the question, do we eat plants, when first asked. Now students can tell you that bread comes from the ground as well as many items in a salad.

Placing the paper towels in the straws proved unexpectedly difficult for the students. Make sure to remind students to straighten out their paper towels once they are inside the straw or else they fall out. Also, better instruct them on getting their seed to stick between the paper towel and the straw. Modeling would best be done step by step instead of everything at one time. The task is too complex here.

Student reports were well done. Having done a written report for another unit, reporting orally was a good experience for students who had to work on communicating their own learning to others.