1st Grade Plants and Animals Unit Blueprint
Lesson 3: Planting Our Seeds
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See Unit Calendar for details.
Essential & Unit Questions* 1 Benchmarks 2 Formative and Summative Assessments 3 Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning
What are the basic needs of plants, animals, and humans? 5E(K-2)#1: Plants and animals both need to take in water, and animals need to take in food.

5C(K-2)#2: Most living things need water, food, and air.

1C(K-2)#3: A lot can be learned about plants and animals by observing them closely, but care must be taken to know the needs of living things and how to provide for them in the classroom.

Class discussion prior to planting seeds (See Procedure Step 1 on page 39 and Final Activities Step 1 on page 43 in Teacher's Guide.) Are students able to identify the needs of the seeds?
What are some ways to describe objects? 12D(K-2)#2: Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.

12D(K-2)#1: Describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion.

11B(K-2)#3: One way to describe something is to say how it is like something else.

Plant Card 2 drawing and written description--daily journaling and discussion about changes/growth of seed & use of equipment to improve quality of observations (See Procedure Step 6 and Final Activities Step 3 on page 43 in Teacher's Guide.)
  • Do students' drawings portray some of the features of the seed/plant?
  • Over time, do the drawings show more detail and accuracy?
  • Do students' written observations include accurate and descriptive information?
  • Do students freely elect to use hand lenses to improve their observations?
  • Are students able to articulate the changes they observe?
  • On a day-to-day basis, do students recognize how the seed/plant is the same as well as how it has changed?
How can observations be made more accurate? 1B(K-2)#2: Tools such as thermometers, magnifiers, rulers, or balances often give more information about things than can be obtained by just observing things without their help.
What are some ways living things change? 11C(K-2)#1: Things change in some ways and stay the same in some ways.

11C(K-2)#3: Things can change in different ways, such as in size, weight, color and movement. Some small changes can be detected by taking measurements.

11C(K-2)#4: Some changes are so slow or fast that they are hard to see.

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* Essential/Unit questions are major questions driving the unit. They are directly aligned with the benchmarks. No single lesson addresses each question in its entirety. By the end of the unit, students should be able to answer these core questions.

1. For conceptual benchmarks.
2. Bolded sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed
3. Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.

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