Growing Plants

#TheCompleteSeries5lessons

With lesson plans, slides, activity ideas, differentiated worksheets and many other helpful resources, this Year 2 plants planning contains everything you need to teach this green-fingered scheme of work.

#Lesson1Seeds

The first lesson in this series teaches your class that plants can be grown from seeds. They will look at some common seeds and see if they can identify them. Then your children will begin to think about the important information they would need to know about the seeds to help them grow.

Your class will think carefully about the information that is included on seed packets and why it is necessary. They will then either compare what two different plants need to survive or alternatively plant their own seeds so they can watch them grow.

#Lesson2Bulbs

During this lesson your class will discover a range of plants that can be grown from bulbs. They will be encouraged to link their knowledge of growing seeds to growing bulbs and talk about what they think the bulbs will need to grow.

Your class will have the option of ordering the life cycle of flowering and non-flowering plants or planting their own bulbs. This lesson includes guidance on which bulbs are the easiest to grow and how to show their roots developing.

#Lesson3Howareseedsdispersed

In this lesson your class will explore how and why seeds are dispersed. They will find out that some seeds are dispersed by wind, some are dispersed by animals and others are dispersed in more explosive ways.

Your class will begin to think about why some fruits have lots of seeds, for example a pomegranate, and how smaller seeds might need to be transported differently to a coconut. Your class will link this knowledge to why seeds need to be transported to a suitable place to grow.

#Lesson4Investigatinggerminationconditions

This lesson introduces your class to the scientific word 'germination', and what it means. They will begin to think about the conditions that affect seed germination and what plants need to grow.

Your children will either set up their own investigation, or explore the results from an investigation that has already been carried out. Then they will put their theories to the test and make scientific conclusions as they work out what helps seeds grow best.

#Lesson5Howhaveourplantschanged

In the final lesson of this series, your class will think scientifically about how their plants have grown and matured over time. They will watch a time-lapse video showing seeds growing to remind them how their plants have developed.

Your class will be encouraged to describe at least three stages of their plant's life cycle or order and describe the photos provided.

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Curriculum Objectives covered

• asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
• observing closely, using simple equipment
• performing simple tests
• identifying and classifying
• using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions

• explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive
• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
• identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats

• observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
• find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy