- magnifying lenses
- other plants children have been growing
- sprouts planted on Day 1
- leaves
- root
- seed
- sprout
- stem
MA Standards:
Language/L.PK.MA.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving: Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Participates in simple investigations to form hypotheses, gather observations, draw conclusions, and form generalizations.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 4: Record observations and share ideas through simple forms of representation such as drawings.
Small Group: Check Sprouts
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Some plants start from seeds; Plants need water and sunlight to grow; Plants have different parts: roots, stems, and leaves; Some plant parts are below ground and some above
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Bring children together to observe the sprouts. At this point, the sprouts should be almost ready to eat.
Have children look at the sprouts through magnifying lenses. Have them identify and describe changes that the parts of the plants have gone through. Guide children as they make observations. Ask questions such as,
- Do the sprouts look like any of the plants you observed outdoors?
- How many seeds have sprouted?
- Do all the sprouts look the same? What is different about them?
- How are the leaves different from your <bean plant leaves>? How are they similar?
Have children draw to record how the sprouts have changed. Help them find the page in their science notebooks where they drew their first observations and have them draw today’s observation next to that one. If children have already used the page next to the first observations, have them draw on another sheet of paper and tape it on the page with the first observations.
Assign another pair to rinse the seeds and record the task on the chart.