Beginning Plants
An excerpt from the book:
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
Ages 4-13
Copyright ©2010 by Susan Kilbride
The author and publisher are granting permission for individuals and websites to use this excerpt for non-
commercial use only, but only if the excerpt is copied or passed on in its entirety and retains this first
page. No part of this excerpt is to be offered for sale by any person or business, except for the publisher
of the book “Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers”
If you are interested in purchasing the complete book, it is available in paperback
at Amazon.com and in paperback or pdf format at iUniverse at
www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookstoreHome.aspx. This particular excerpt is
in color, but the book itself is in black and white.
A table of contents that shows the age ranges for each chapter in the book “Science
Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers” is included in this excerpt.
Praise for
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
You make learning science fun!
-Brianna, homeschooler, age 10-
My two boys absolutely love Sue’s unit studies. Their favorite activity has been
building molecules out of colored marshmallows and toothpicks. That project really helped
them to grasp the concept of atoms and molecules, and gave them a terrific introduction to the
Periodic Table. The lesson plans in “Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers & Teachers”
provide step-by-step instruction to parents to guide them simply and easily through each day’s
science activities. It makes science fun for students and parents.
-Claire Brouwer, homeschooling mother of two boys, ages 9 and 11-
We used “Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers” at home as part of our
homeschooling science lessons. The directions were easy to follow and I loved that they
used materials that could be purchased from the grocery store. My children, ages 5, 7 and 9
became excited about learning science, actually jumping up and down when it was
time to start Science lessons!
-Ilya Perry, homeschooling mother of three with a degree in elementary education-
Excellent age-appropriate activities and effective assessment tools with which to
measure authentic learning
-Frank Hustace, Masters in Education, Stanford University and former Headmaster of Waimea Country
School-
Sue’s science units made learning fun and introduced key scientific concepts that will serve as
building blocks for our daughter’s ongoing science education.
-Mia King, national bestselling author of Good Things and homeschooling mother of three-
The best part is seeing how proud they feel when they really understand what they are learning,
and they realize it is fun. This is not just a science curriculum with a bunch of reading and
answering questions. “Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers & Teachers” introduces
children to even the more difficult concepts in a way that has their interest and holds their
interest all the way through to the next lesson. I definitely recommend this book for any family
wanting to nurture the innate love of learning about the world around them.
-Rachel, homeschooling mother of three-
It’s obvious Ms. Kilbride’s units of study were developed using both her extensive knowledge
of the scientific realm, and how children learn best. Her activities are well though out, age-
appropriate, and easy to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed our well-guided exploration of weather!
-Christine Hustace, Homeschooling mom and resource teacher for over fifteen years-
“What I liked best about Sue’s science class is learning about atoms and molecules, and
weather. I enjoyed the experiment we did on cookies--and we got to eat them! What I liked
about Sue as a teacher is that she gave us fun tests. I learned a lot and want to take another
class from her.
-Maya Gee, homeschooler, age 8-
I'm impressed with the weather lesson. It's very thorough and easy to follow. You do a really
good job of writing this down.
-Susan L., homeschooling mother of three and science educator for 33 years-
Book Overview
If you are a homeschooler or teacher who is looking for fun ideas on how to teach
science, then this book is for you! Its hands-on approach is designed to capture student’s interest
and promote a love of science and learning. The first ten chapters are for younger children ages
4-7, while the second ten chapters are for children ages 8-13. Each chapter is filled with fun
science activities that teach a particular science concept. The activities are designed to use
common household items, so you won’t need to buy lots of expensive scientific equipment or
chemicals. This book is sure to get your kids loving science!
Note to the Reader
This book was written by a homeschooling parent for other homeschooling parents.
However, it can also easily be used by elementary school teachers since most of the units have
been tested in a classroom setting. Homeschoolers vary greatly in ability, so the suggested ages
are just listed as a general guideline. The units build upon each other, so it is recommended that
you teach them in the same order as the table of contents, though since homeschooling parents
are inclined to want to go their own way in teaching, it is not necessary that you do so! Please,
however, do not go your own way when it comes to any of the safety precautions mentioned in
the book, especially those regarding checking for food allergies. This book was written for
homeschooling parents and teachers, not for students to do on their own. Some of the activities,
such as those using a stove, should have adult supervision, and some of the activities use small
items which could be a choking hazard for young children, so make sure that the younger
siblings of your students don’t get hold of them (or that your students themselves don’t put them
in their mouths!)
There is a materials list in the beginning of each chapter. The amounts listed on these
materials lists are based on one student, so if you have more than one student, you will need to
increase the quantities of some of the items. Check the individual activities within the chapter to
determine the amounts you will need for more students. Most of the materials needed for these
units are either common household items or are easily obtained from grocery, hardware, drug,
discount stores, the local library, or pet stores. However, there is one chapter (Microscopes and
Invisible Creatures) that requires the use of a microscope for some of the activities. A number of
the activities in that chapter can be completed without a microscope, but if you can find access to
one, the experience will be much more fun for your students.
“Fun” is the key word here, the goal in writing this book was to give homeschooling
parents and teachers some ideas for how to teach science in a way that will capture students’
interest, and open their eyes to the fun in the world of science.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Our Senses, Ages 4-7 ………………………………………Page 1
Chapter 2 The Human Body, Ages 4-7 ………………………………Page 10
Chapter 3 Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, Ages 4-7……………….. Page 19
Chapter 4 Animals, Ages 4-7………………………………………….Page 28
Chapter 5 Insects and Their Kin, Ages 4-7………………………….. Page 37
Chapter 6 Fun with Magnets, Ages 4-7……………………………… Page 46
Chapter 7 Stars and Planets, Ages 4-7………………………………. Page 55
Chapter 8 Health, Ages 4-7……………………………………………Page 64
Chapter 9 Beginning Plants, Ages 4-7……………………………….. Page 72
Chapter 10 Animal Ecology, Ages 4-7………………………………… Page 81
Chapter 11 Insects, Ages 8-13…………………………………………. Page 90
Chapter 12 Microscopes and Invisible Creatures, Ages 8-13……….. Page 101
Chapter 13 Atoms and Molecules, Ages 8-13………………………… Page 111
Chapter 14 Matter, Ages 8-13…………………………………………. Page 122
Chapter 15 Chemistry Fun, Ages 8-13………………………………... Page 133
Chapter 16 Weather, Ages 8-13……………………………………….. Page 144
Chapter 17 Force and Motion, Ages 8-13…………………………….. Page 155
Chapter 18 Simple Machines, Ages 8-13……………………………… Page 166
Chapter 19 Light and Color, Ages 8-13…………………………......... Page 177
Chapter 20 Plants II, Ages 8-13……………………………………….. Page 188
Answers to Tests and Worksheets……………………………………………….. Page 199
Chapter 9: Beginning Plants
Ages 4-7
Materials Needed for this Unit
Clear plastic disposable cups Grass or chive seeds
Potting Soil Empty egg carton
Bean seeds “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carl
Potted plant Potato
A vegetable platter Toothpicks
Broccoli Wax paper
Tomato Drawing paper
Celery Lettuce
Beans or peas Stapler
X-Acto® or other sharp knife Newspaper
Carrot Non-toxic acrylic paints
Black construction paper Clay flower pot
Ranch salad dressing Flower seeds
One sixteen ounce carton sour cream Blender
One package dried onion soup mix Soy beans in their pods
Trowel or small shovel Varnish (optional)
Contact paper Eyedropper or spray bottle
Styrofoam drinking cups Flashlight
Cross-section of either a branch or trunk of a tree Markers
Paper plate A variety of fruits and vegetables
Crayons
Blank address labels
Adult-sized shoebox with lid
Small plant pot
Cardboard
Packaged sugar cookie dough
Yellow food coloring
Shelled sunflower seeds
Picture of a sunflower with the seeds in it from the local library or internet
Two pieces of corrugated cardboard at least 8 ½ x 11 inches each
Small re-closable plastic sandwich bag, the kind where you don’t use a zipper to zip it
Colored Construction paper
Colored tissue paper
Green pipe cleaners
One or two bags of dried Lima Beans (see activity under “Part 2: Seeds”)
Green masking or floral tape
“Seed” foods such as bread, nut butters, sunflower seeds, granola, soybeans
Seeds and materials to start a vegetable garden
Beginning Plants
Part 1: Introduction
Ask your students what their favorite plant is and why. Then ask “Has a plant done
anything for you today?” Possible answers are: we eat plants for food, wood from trees is used
to build houses, plants give off oxygen that we breath, some clothes are made from cotton or
flax, and bees use nectar from flowers to make the honey that we eat. Now bring out a potted
plant and ask if they can tell you the three main parts of a plant (roots, stem, and leaves). Ask
them if they know what these three main parts do (the roots anchor the plant and take up water
and nutrients from the ground, the stem holds the plant up and moves water and nutrients, the
leaves take in the sunlight that the plant needs to grow, the flowers produce the seeds, and the
seeds grow into new plants).
Activity:
Show your students various vegetables and fruits and ask them what part of the plant they
are from. Some examples you could use are: celery for stems, broccoli for flowers, lettuce for
leaves, carrots for roots, tomatoes for fruit, beans or peas out of the pod for seeds.
Activity:
Make a vegetable platter for your students to eat with one or more dips for them to try.
You can use ranch salad dressing for one dip and mix a carton of sour cream with a package of
dried onion soup mix for another (or make your own favorite dip). Tell your students that you
have a snack for them, but that first they have to guess what vegetables are on the platter. Give
them hints that include what part of the plant it is, what color, etc…
Activity:
If you have more than one student, play a version of duck, duck, goose, but instead say
“Leaf, Leaf, Flower.”
Part 2: Seeds
Activity:
Read the story “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carl. Follow it up with the next activity.
Activity:
Tell your students that you want them to curl up on the floor and pretend that they are
seeds in the ground. Tell them that you are going to cover them with dirt and pretend to throw
dirt on them. Next shine a flashlight on them and say: “Now the sun is shining on the little
seeds.” Then take an eyedropper and drop a bit of water on their cheeks and say that it is
raining on them (or you could give them a squirt with a spray bottle). Finally, tell them that it is
time for them to start to grow and have them slowly unfold and stand up tall with their arms held
up like leaves. Ask each student what kind of plant they are.
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
Activity:
Give each of your students an egg carton to collect seeds in. Now go outside and have
your students go on a scavenger hunt for seeds. See how many different kinds they can find. Tell
them that plants can’t move very much so their seeds have to move for them, otherwise they
would all grow too close together. Look at the various seeds you found and see if you can figure
out what mechanism the seed has for dispersal. Tell them that seeds can be blown on the wind,
float in the water, or stuck to animals. Some seeds are even transported in poop! An animal will
eat the fruit and poop out the seeds far away from where the animal found the fruit. Sometimes
squirrels will store acorns for the winter and forget where they hid them. The acorns then grow
into oak trees.
Activity:
Tell you students that you want them to pretend they are seeds and act out what the seeds
are doing as you tell them the following story:
I am a little seed and I’m curled up in a ball. Suddenly, a human comes along,
accidentally kicks me and I roll away. Then a cat walks by and I get stuck to its foot. The cat
carries me on its foot to the side of a river and I fall off into the water. I move with the water
downstream and I get washed up into the sand. A bird sees me and picks me up and carries me
far away to its nest. I fall out of the nest and land on the ground where a squirrel finds me and
hides me in a hole in the ground for the winter. The squirrel forgets all about me, and I stay
there until the spring; when I feel the warm sun and feel the nice water and start to grow. I grow
and grow until I am a beautiful plant.
Activity:
Take a small re-closable sandwich bag (not the kind that uses an actual zipper to close it)
and fill it with lima bean seeds. Add as much water as the bag can hold and seal it shut. Place
the bag on a plate in the sun and wait a few hours. The seeds should swell up and burst out of
the bag. Tell your students that before seeds can grow, they need to soak up lots of water. These
seeds soaked up so much water that they burst the bag open! Use some of the seeds for the
following activity.
Activity:
Take one of the seeds from the previous activity and using a sharp knife (like an X-Acto®
knife), slice it open lengthwise. The thin layer on the outside of the seed is called the seed coat.
The little plant on the inside is called the embryo (or you could just call it a baby plant). The
bulk of the rest of the seed is used for food for the new plant as it starts to grow.
Beginning Plants
Activity:
Ask your students to try and think of as many seeds that people eat as possible. Then
have a “seed snack,” where you eat things made of seeds. Possibilities are sunflower seeds,
bread (made from wheat) with various nut butters on it, soybeans, and granola. Show them how
peanut butter is made by taking some shelled peanuts and grinding them up in a blender (you
can add a tiny bit of water if needed). Make sure that none of your students have any nut or
other types of food allergies before doing this or any food activity. One fun way to eat soybeans
is to fry them in the pods with garlic salt. Let them cool and pop the seeds out to eat them.
Part 3: Roots
Remind your students that roots help keep the plant in place and take up water and
nutrients from the soil that plants needs to grow.
Activity:
Take your students outside and pull up a weed by its roots so they can see what roots look
like. You might need to bring a trowel to help you get the plant up! Try digging up more than
one weed to compare their roots.
Activity:
Tell your students that you want them to draw a picture that shows the hidden parts of
plants; the roots. They can just draw one plant, showing its roots, leaves, and stem, or they
could draw a whole group of plants.
Activity:
Take a clear disposable plastic cup and fill it with potting soil. Next, plant a bean seed
right next to the side of the cup so that as it grows, your students will be able to watch the roots
of the plant and how they grow. Tape some black construction paper over the side of the cup
that the roots will be growing on; this will protect the roots from too much light. Lift off the
paper to look at the roots as they grow
Part 4: Stems
Remind your students that the stems of plants are used to support the plant and to move
nutrients and water from the roots to the leaves.
Go outside and show your students a tree. Ask them to show you what part of the tree is
the stem. Now show them a cross-section of either a branch or trunk. Point out where the bark,
sapwood, heartwood and pith are. Tell them that the bark protects the tree from disease and
insects. The sapwood is the part of the tree that carries the water and nutrients from the roots to
the leaves. The heartwood and pith are old sapwood that no longer carries nutrients.
Tell your students that in places where there are definite seasons, you can tell how old a
tree is by counting the rings. Each ring stands for a new year of growth.
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
Activity:
Give each of your students a paper plate and have them draw a picture of a cross section
of a tree on it. If they can write, have them label the parts themselves, or you can label it for
them. One way to do this is to take blank address labels and write “Bark, Sapwood, Heartwood,
and Pith” on them to make little stickers to place on the appropriate parts of their plates.
Part 5: Leaves
Tell your students that the leaves of the plant are where the plant takes in sunlight to help
it grow.
Activity:
Take your students on a leaf hunt. Before you do this activity, learn about any poisonous
leaves in your area such as poison oak, ivy, or sumac so that you don’t have any bad reactions to
the leaves you might find. Go outside and have your students collect different types of leaves.
Point out to them how different types of trees have different leaves; then make leaf rubbings of
them by placing a piece of paper over the leaves and rubbing the paper with the side of a crayon.
Beginning Plants
Activity:
Take an adult-sized shoe box and tape pieces of cardboard in it so it looks like the
diagram below. Cut a hole about 1 ½ by 1 ½ inches wide in the middle of the top of the shoebox.
Plant a bean seed in a small pot and place it in the bottom of the box. Put a small plate or jar lid
under the pot so that water doesn’t leak out when you water it. Put the lid back on the shoebox
(while still keeping the whole thing upright) and place it in a sunny room. Only open the shoe
box when the plant needs watering. Eventually the bean plant will grow toward the hole in the
top of the box, weaving around the cardboard like a maze! Tell your students that this is
because plants need sunlight to grow, so it is going through the maze you have made to get to the
sunlight.
Part 6: Flowers
Remind your students that flowers are the parts of the plants where the seeds are made.
Activity:
Show your students a picture of a sunflower with the seeds in it (from your local library
or the internet) and tell them that you are going to make sunflower cookies! As always, make
sure that your students don’t have any food allergies before doing any projects involving food.
Take some pre-made sugar cookie dough and mix a bit of yellow food coloring into it. Give each
of your students a piece of wax paper with a bit of dough on it. Have them form the dough into a
flat circle. Next, have them draw another circle inside the cookie with a toothpick and press
shelled sunflower seeds onto the inner circle. Then have them draw petals on the outer part of
the circle with their toothpick. Put on a cookie tray and bake according to the packaged
directions. Be sure to tell your students not to eat the raw cookie dough and to have them
wash their hands before and after this project. People have gotten deathly ill from eating raw
cookie dough!
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
Activity:
Take your students outside and collect some flowers to press. Once you have them
collected, put down a piece of corrugated cardboard and lay at least two sheets of newspaper on
top of it. Spread out your flowers over the newspaper and lay two more sheets of newspaper on
top of them. If you have more flowers you can keep layering them between the newspapers until
you are done. Finish it off with another piece of cardboard on top. Pile some heavy books on
top of the whole stack and let it sit for about two weeks in a cool, dry place. If some of your
flowers are very thick, you can take a sharp knife and cut them in half to make them thinner.
When it is time to take them out, do it carefully, so that you do not damage the flowers.
Give each child a piece of contact paper to arrange their flowers on. Carefully cover it with
another piece of contact paper to make a flower placemat.
Activity:
Have your students make tissue paper flowers by taking a green pipe cleaner, folding it in
half and twisting it to make a stem. Next, take a piece of colored tissue paper and cut it into a
circle that is about four inches in diameter. Grab it in the center and twist it to make a flower
shape. Now, take the pipe cleaner and twist the two free ends around the tissue paper flower.
Cover the stem where the flower attaches with green masking or floral tape. Give your students
lots of color choices and have them make a few flowers so they can design a bouquet. Take a
piece of construction paper and staple it into a cone-shape that they can put their bouquet in.
Part 7: Growing Plants
Activity:
Remind your students what plants need to grow (water, sunlight, nutrients from the soil).
Tell them that you are going to do an experiment to prove that plants need water to grow. Give
them each two styrofoam drinking cups with potting soil in them. Plant a bean seed in each cup.
Label one cup with the word “water,” and the other cup with the words “no water.” Over the
next few days, regularly water the bean in the cup labeled “water.” The best way to water the
plant is let the dirt dry out between each watering so that the plant does not get over-watered.
Do not water the bean in the other cup. Point out to your students that the bean in the cup with
no water was not able to grow like the bean in the cup with water. This is because plants need
water to grow and survive.
Activity:
Give each of your students a styrofoam drinking cup and have them use markers to draw
faces on their cups. Fill the cups with dirt and plant lots of grass or chive seeds in them. Water
them regularly and eventually the cups will grow “hair” that your students can cut with scissors!
Activity:
Start a vegetable garden. Be sure to include a variety of plants so that your students can
see how the different vegetables grow.
Beginning Plants
Activity:
Tell your students that sometimes you can grow whole new plants from things other than
seeds. Show them a potato and tell them that because potatoes grow underground, many people
think that they are roots, but they are wrong. Potatoes are actually a special type of stem called
a tuber. Farmers use these tubers to grow more potatoes by cutting them into pieces and
planting them. Give each of your students a piece of potato that is about 1 ½ inch by 1 ½ inch
to plant, making sure that each piece still has its skin and has some eyes on it. Plant it the same
way you planted the bean seed earlier, in a clear plastic disposable cup filled with dirt. Place
the potato piece along the side of the cup so that you can see the roots grow. Cover the cup with
dark construction paper that you can easily lift off to watch the roots grow. After you have had a
chance to watch the plant grow, you might want to plant the potato outside so that eventually you
can have potatoes for dinner!
Activity:
Give each of your students a clay pot and have them decorate it with non-toxic acrylic
paints. Fill it with dirt and give them a choice of flower seeds to plant in it. If you want, you can
varnish the pots after they are done to make them shiny and more durable.
Part 8: Review
Activity:
Tell your students the following riddles and see if they can guess the answers:
1) I start with the letter “W” and plants need me to grow (water).
2) I am tiny and start with the letter “S.” I am a baby plant (seed).
3) I am big and tall and people use me to build houses (tree).
4) I protect trees from disease and start with the letter “B” (bark).
5) I am very warm and plants can’t grow without me. I start with the letter “L” (light).
6) I am the part of the plant that carries water to the leaves (stem).
7) I am a flower that people like to eat. I start with a “B” (broccoli).
8) People put seeds in me to help them grow. I start with a “D” (dirt).
9) I am the part of the plant that gathers sunlight for the plant to grow. I start with an
“L” (leaves).
10) I am a leaf that people like to eat. I start with the letter “L” (lettuce).
11) I am the part of the plant that makes the seeds. I start with the letter “F” (flower).
Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
12) I am the part of the wood that moves water through a tree. I start with the letter
“S.” (sapwood).
13) I am a root that people like to eat. I start with the letter “C” (carrot).
14) Plants put this back into the air for people to breathe. I start with the letter “O”
(oxygen).
15) I am the part of the wood that is dark and in the middle of the tree. I start with the
letter “H” (heartwood).
Beginning Plants
If you enjoyed this chapter and would like to purchase the rest of the book, you can order
it through Amazon.com in paperback by searching for the title, or you can use the following link:
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keywords=science+unit+studies+for+homeschoolers+and+teachers&x=22&y=18
You can also order it through iuniverse in either paperback or pdf format at the following
link:
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