English National Curriculum - Science
Mission Objectives
Understand the basic needs of a plant for life
Explore how changing one of a plant's basic needs will affect its growth
Understand how to set up a comparative test to see the effect on a plant's growth
Enquiry Approach - Comparative / fair testing
Conducting a test that controls all but one variable to answer a scientific question.
Enquiry Skill - Asking questions
Asking relevant questions that can be answered from their learning of scientific concepts. This may be through scientific enquiries, applying prior knowledge or research.
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Words and meanings to learn
nutrients
a substance that is needed for healthy growth, development and functioning
investigation
when you ask a question and try to find out the answer by looking closely, testing things, or doing an experiment
prediction
a guess at what you think might happen based on what you already know
fertiliser
something added to the soil or sprayed on the leaves of plants to give them extra nutrients
thrive
to grow and live in a healthy way
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Resources: Several small flowering plants, such as bedding plants (pansies, nasturtiums, marigolds). Planting equipment, such as pots, a glass or plastic jar, water, soil and fertiliser.
Support Handout (1): A scaffolded investigation sheet with space for the children to outline their question and method, and plan their experiment.
Core Handout (2): An investigation sheet with space for the children to outline their question and method, and plan their experiment.
Stretch Handout (3): A more extensive version of the investigation sheet above, with some extra space for the children to expand their predictions.
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