Needs of Plants

Needs of Plants

What students learn

Students learn that plants are living things and need sunlight, water, air, and nutrients to grow. Start with Plants Need the Right Things to Grow: Hear the Big Idea to name the main idea, then use Plants Need Water and Sunlight: Hear the Plant Needs Song to say the needs out loud.

Why it matters

When children know what a plant needs, they can explain why a plant might droop, stretch toward light, or grow better in one spot than another. Plants Need Nutrients and Sunlight: Learn What Plants Use helps them see that plants need more than soil alone.

Learn the idea

A plant cannot choose food the way an animal can. It has to get what it needs from the environment. Plants and Air: See the Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen Cycle helps students notice that plants and air work together, while the earlier moments show that light and water are part of the same living system.

Try it

Point to a plant and ask what it gets from the sun, the air, and the soil. Then replay Plants Need Water and Sunlight: Hear the Plant Needs Song and have the child say each need as they hear it.

Parent guide

Keep the examples visible and concrete. If the child says a plant only needs water, point to light, air, and soil and ask where each one comes from. Have the child explain one way to care for a plant at home or at school.