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Year 1 Plants
National Curriculum Statements:
• identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees;
• identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.
Working scientifically:
• gathering and recording data to help in answering questions;
• performing simple tests;
• identifying and classifying;
• using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions.
NC Assessment Indicators
Emerging: begin to identify common plants by name.
Expected: identify common plants by name and describe the common structures.
Exceeding: use knowledge gained to identify plants and trees without using a classification key.
GROWING PLANTS
Equipment:
Cress seeds
Fast growing flower seeds – sunflower, marigold, nasturtium
Cotton wool
Soil
Plant pots
Petri dishes or small plastic containers
Instructions:
1. Place cotton wool into a Petri dish or small plastic container.
2. Add enough water to soak the cotton wool without it sitting in a puddle.
3. Place a generous amount of cress seeds onto the cotton wool and place on a windowsill.
4. Observe daily.
5. Fill a small plant pot with soil.
6. Place a few flower seeds in each pot and water regularly.
7. Observe weekly – these should germinate in approximately 14 days.
The cress will grow quickly and allows students to observe germination, seeing the roots grow and the shoots sprout to become a stem. The cress can then be compared to the slower growing flowering plants, identifying common features of plants.
The growth stages can be sketched by the students or changes recorded using photography and turned into a display, including seed production in sunflowers.
Health and safety
| Hazard and risk | Precautions |
| Seeds can pose a choking hazard and can be toxic. | Use under supervision. Do not allow students to ingest seeds. |
| Plastic pots, Petri dishes and plant pots can break and cause cuts. | Check for chips and damage before using. Discard any damaged objects. |
| Soil can contain microbes and parasites. | Adult supervision required, hands must be washed well with soap after activity. Do not allow students to ingest soil. |
| Cotton wool is a suffocation and choking hazard. | Adult supervision required, do not allow students to place cotton wool over their faces or ingest it. |
| Water spillages can be a slipping hazard. | Clear any spilt water immediately. |
Adapting the activity
Extra support: give students labels such as ‘shoot’, ‘stem’, ‘leaf’ and a large diagram of the plant growing. Students can stick the labels onto the right part of the diagram.
Extension: replant the seeds from the flowers grown and repeat the observations.
Optional extras: recognise simple differences between flowering plants and non-flowering plants, e.g. flowers produce seeds.
SEASONS
Equipment:
A view of outside
Pencils
Paper
Camera
A school year
Instructions:
Observe a view of outside the classroom, possibly of the school field, ensuring a view of deciduous trees.
Students can observe and sketch the tree in all seasons, or take a photograph, starting with the turning of the leaves in autumn. These observations can be repeated each season. Over time, the observations can be assembled into a display. One option is to make a display of a tree with a trunk and bare branches, where students can add to a quarter of it for each season, e.g. large leaves for summer, small leaves for spring and possibly blossom, no leaves for winter and multicoloured leaves sparsely arranged for autumn.
Adapting the activity
Extra support: provide the children with pictures of a scene from every season to compare the differences in the plants.
Extension: predict the changes in the trees for each season.
Optional extras: provide the children with pictures of a scene from every season that includes evergreen trees too.
CLASSIFICATION OF TREES
Equipment:
Classification keys
Leaf samples
An outside area with access to plants and trees
Instructions:
Version 1
Using classification keys, explore the outside area and identify common garden and wild plants, and trees.
Version 2
Using a sheet with pictures of common plants in the school area pre-prepared by staff, students can tick off the ones they find in the area, or even make a tally of how many they find.
Version 3
Students can collect leaves from a variety of plants and produce their own classification key of common plants found in the school area, with the aid of staff.
Health and safety
| Hazard and risk | Precautions |
| Plants can contain toxins, thorns or spikes. | Adult supervision required. |
| Allergies to plants and insect bites. | Check allergies of students before commencing activity. Be aware of insect activity in the school area – avoid ... |
