“All Good Things are Wild and Free.”
-Henry David Thoreau
Welcome to our plants, flowers, and seeds homeschool unit! This page should serve as a guide if you are teaching your K-6th grade students all about botany! If you are unfamiliar with what a unit study is, or how it works, I recommend you read my post about it here.
Each year we spend some time studying biology, which includes the study of animals as well as botany: plants, flowers, and seeds. This unit is a great time to start a garden – so we typically time it in the spring. So pick up some seeds and soil, and set up a spot for a plant or a whole garden! Also, during this unit, it helps if you have some places in mind where you can explore the local plant life in your area.
Our main areas of focus during our plant study are: parts of the plant, photosynthesis, and the plant’s life cycle. So, let’s dive into the unit!
Books
Our first step is always to dig into books. We took some time to scout out books at the library and I have several of our picks to share.
- A Seed is Sleepy – by Dianna Hutts Aston – great for the younger crowd, this book tells the story of a seed and all the different stages that it goes through before becoming a plant. View the read aloud link on YouTube here.
- The Curious Garden – by Peter Brown – enjoy this story about a young boy who builds a garden in a city. This book is a great starter to building your own garden where you live! Link to the read aloud here.
- Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Wildflowers – this one is great for the middle ages kids who love to explore. This guide shows you all about how to spot wildflowers
- DK Smithsonian: Plants and Fungi – DK Smithsonian books are by far the BEST textbook type of book I have found to learn about science. They have great pictures, easy explanations, and lots of opportunities for rabbit trails if you wish.
- Trees, Leaves, Flowers, and Seeds: A Visual Encyclopedia of the Plant Kingdom – another DK book with lots of visual on different types of plants.
- Super Cool Science Experiments: Plants by Susan Grey – for projects and experiments.
Videos
In addition to the books above, consider adding some videos to your study of plants. Please screen all videos prior to showing them to your children, to ensure the content is appropriate for their age. The video above you can use as an into to plants for the younger crowd. If you prefer an older version of a similar video, you can try plants and their functions or this one by Miacademy: Plant Structure and Function. Sprinkled throughout the rest of the unit are videos on flowers, photosynthesis, plants, and seeds.
Plant Life Cycle
First in the study of plants is learning how plants are able to grow. Older students will have a basic idea, but the younger ones (K-2) will need a refresher of how a seed germinates and turns into a plant. And how the plant in turn produces seeds.
On the right is a packet I designed to go over the basic steps of a plants life cycle. Feel free to download it from my store if you would like.
If you are looking for a video to help your child understand how seeds and plants grow, check out the 24 min episode of “Magic School Bus Goes to Seed!” Scholastic also has a free printable activity to go along with the show. You can view the episode on Netflix or on Daily Motion here. For a shorter video, try this video on the plant life cycle.
Seed Germination
Next, learn about seed germination! First you can watch Dr. Binoc’s Seed Germination video. (Older kids can skip this one). To germinate your own seed, you’ll need seeds of course, a paper towel or napkin, water, and a zip lock bag. Moisten the paper towel or napkin and put the seed inside it. Then, put it into the bag and store it in a dark place.
For seed choices: any type of bean works well. They are hardy and easy to germinate. We have also tried okra, lettuce, basil, tomato, and sunflowers. If you’d like, try them all! We recommend using a few seeds in each zip lock, just in case some of them don’t germinate. The seed packet should tell you how long the seeds will take to germinate (usually about a week). After the week has gone by, you might see some roots develop!
Once you see the roots, these seeds are ready to be planted. Grab a small pot and some potting soil, and then plant your seed. Don’t forget to give it some water every day.
Photosynthesis
As my girls aged, we focused less on the life cycle and more on the process of photosynthesis. If you have a student in 3rd grade or older, you can start by teaching them the basic process of how a plant produces its own food. Older students in middle school can learn how a chloroplast actually produces the sugar! View the packets below for choices on ways to learn about photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis videos:
- Dr. Binoc’s Video on Photosynthesis for the younger crowd
- Photosynthesis – basic video for all ages
- For advanced learners – details on how photosynthesis works inside a chloroplast.
Flowers
Flowers are so important to the life cycle of plants! Start by learning the basic parts of a flower and its function within a plant. You can use one of the books listed above or check out one of the flower videos below. If you are looking for a quick flower review sheet, I have a Flower Parts and Labeling packet in my store.
Next we ventured into some arts and crafts. Here is a simple coffee filter flower craft you can try at home for younger elementary students. Of course, there are thousands of flower crafts out there, but we like this one because of its simplicity. So easy to make and you can make as many as your like – all you need is a coffee filter, spray bottle, markers, and a pipe cleaner. Color your coffee filter, spray with water, and attach the pipe cleaner! You can also cut your flower into a special shape or design a stem with more green pipe cleaners.
For the older learners, grab a set of sketching pencils, a good eraser, and a sketch book. As you go through the study of plants, have them work on sketching out leaves, flowers, and any other plant structure they are interested in. Leaf, flower, and plant rubbings are also fun to add to the sketch book. If you need something to get you started, here is a quick tutorial on how to sketch a leaf.
Easy Stem Experiment
Next we experimented with how plants drink water. This is one you can easily try at home! All you need is blue food coloring, white flowers, and a cup with water! If you don’t have flowers on hand, you could experiment with other plants to see if the experiment still works. (Think celery or green onion)
Put a few drops of food coloring in a cup filled about halfway with water. If you’d like, use multiple cups with different color food coloring. Leave the white flowers in the water for two or three days and see what happens! Our best flowers turned blue on the edges. So pretty!
Pollination Experiment
Another top pick of ours is a pollination video with activity is from Mystery Science. Your child can pretend to be and bee and move “pollen” from flower to flower! If you haven’t used mystery science, they include a tutorial click-through video that your student can follow along with. They have videos for young children all the way through elementary school. I would recommend this particular video lesson for children age 6 and up. It does take some fine motor skills. If you go to the link it will show you the list of supplies and a print out for your child.
Hope you have enjoyed our plants, flowers, and seeds homeschool unit and found something useful on this page! Feel free to visit my TpT store for more home school resources!