Learning at Home week 2: Plants
This list contains resources suitable for children learning at home. They link to the BBC Bitesize Daily Science programme for week 2 on plants.
Plants *suitable for home teaching*
Basic parts of a plant 5-7
In this simple activity children name and identify the parts of a plant. A really good way to engage your children with this activity is to collect a flowering plant, preferably one with roots. Garden weeds work really well for this. The children can then carefully look at the different parts. What do they notice? What shape are they? What does each part do? Why are they that colour? Are all plants the same? The children could use safe scissors and cut through the stem and observe the different tubes that supply the plants with water and other essential nutrients.
Do plants need soil to grow?
What plants need to survive 7-9 years
This activity is an investigation where the children can decide whether soil is necessary for healthy plant growth. You can grow plants from seeds, if you have them, collect seeds from things you may have eaten, for example an apple or take cuttings from plants like herbs, which grow really well. The children can decide what they would like to grow the plants in for their investigation. Some ideas might be replace the soil with kitchen roll or fabric. Will they grow in just water? This activity allows the children to work as scientists, asking questions, planning an investigation and collecting data- maybe in the form of photographs or measuring the heights of the plants they are able to grow.
Education pack: Spring - pollination
How plants reproduce 9-11
When you are in the garden or out on a walk can you spot any pollinators with your children? Not only bees but all insects and some birds pollinate plants. Can the children spot what the different plants do to attract the pollinators? Do they smell nice? Are they brightly coloured? Some plants have special shaped flower heads to encourage the insects right into the centre and then cover them with pollen which is then taken to another plant to pollinate it.
The children could carefully remove one flower head and see if they can dissect it and label it to show all the different parts of the flower. Can they research what each part is for?
