OBJECTIVE

Students will be able to notice the effects of light on plants

Students will be able to make connections about how seasons affect plant growth

Students will be able to draw observations about their plants

Students will be able to make a hypothesis about how light will affect their plants growth

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What are seasons? How do seasons affect us? How do seasons affect plants? What kinds of tools can we use to help plants grow?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Seeds (any variety of quick germinating seeds)
• Potting Soil
• Possible materials: reemay/mesh, greenhouse plastic, black tray/cardboard with holes
• Our Light Experiment worksheet

PROCEDURE

Introduction:
Review the first lesson on seasons and light. Ask four students to describe the four
seasons and their differences.
Ask students to think about the kinds of light in each season. When is the sun the
brightest?
Ask students what seeds need to grow. Sun is an important element in growing plants. Explain that today we are going to do an experiment to see how different amounts of sunlight affect plants.

Activity:
Break students up into the same 4 groups: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Explain that each group is going to be planting seeds and they are going to use a different kind of light to help them grow. Go through each group and explain why they are using a certain type of material (ie, in winter there is the least. amount of sunlight, so this group will have cardboard covering their tray.) Before we start the experiment, it is important to have a hypothesis, or a guess of what you think we are going to find out. List the student hypotheses on a large piece of paper.
When all students have shared a hypothesis, begin the experiment. In each season group:

One student fills the trays with soil.
The next makes holes for the seeds.
The next student plants the seeds.
The next waters the seeds.
Finally, they put their designated material over their tray.
Review the hypotheses before the end of class.

Wrap up/ Assessment:
Class completes the “Our Light Experiment” worksheet together. Describe the steps to the experiment, share their hypothesis, perform the experiment, and make observations. Discuss other factors that affect plant growth throughout the seasons (temperature, wind, precipitation)