3rd Grade Plants Unit

3^rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint

Lesson 6: Observing Leaves and Flower Buds

STC Plant Growth and Development

Pacing Suggestions:
See page 4 in Teacher's Guide for a schedule of Lessons.

Teacher Resources:

Tips

Essential & Unit Questions ¹

Benchmarks ²

Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

What is the life cycle of plants?

11C(3-5)#2: Things change in steady, repetitive, or irregular ways—or sometimes in more than one way at the same time. Often the best way to tell which kinds of change are happening is to make a table or graph of the measurements.

Class discussion about a plant's life cycle (See Final Activities on page 41 in the Teacher's Guide.)

Do students see patterns in the plant growth? (from day-to-day and between groups)
Do students understand the plant's life cycle is a predictable pattern of growth?

12C(3-5)#3: Keep a notebook that describes observations made, carefully distinguishes actual observations from ideas and speculations about what was observed, and is understandable weeks or months later.

12D(3-5)#2: Make sketches to aid in [describing observations and] explaining procedures or ideas.

On-going student observations of plants in Observation Log (See Procedures Steps 1 & 2 on page 41 in Teacher's Guide.)

Written Observations

Do the written observations contain true observations (information obtained through the senses and not inferences, opinions, or fictional information)?
Are students' observations improving in clarity, accuracy, and description?
Are the observations clear enough that they would be understandable weeks and/or months later?

Drawings

Do the drawings contain labels?
Do the drawings contain most of the details of the plant?
Is the drawing clear enough that it would be understandable weeks and/or months later?

(Also see Evaluation on page 42 in Teacher's Guide.)

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.

3rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint

3^rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint