Unit Plan 10 (Grade 2 Science): What Plants Need
Students plan and conduct investigations to show plants need sunlight and water, using observations and evidence to explain healthy plant growth.
Focus: Plan and conduct investigations to find out that plants need sunlight and water to grow and stay healthy.
Grade Level: 2
Subject Area: Science (Life Science • Science & Engineering Practices)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students act as plant scientists to figure out what plants really need in order to grow well. They observe healthy vs. unhealthy plants, make predictions, and then plan and conduct simple investigations that change only one thing at a time—sunlight or water. Over the week, students collect observations about how plants look in different conditions and then use those observations as evidence to answer the question: “Do plants need sunlight and water to grow?”
Essential Questions
- What do plants need in order to grow and stay healthy?
- How can we plan and conduct an investigation to test whether plants need sunlight and water?
- What observations can we make to tell if a plant is growing well or not?
- How can we use our evidence to explain what plants need?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Describe how healthy plants look (color, size, number of leaves) compared to unhealthy plants.
- Help plan an investigation that tests whether plants need sunlight and/or water, changing only one condition at a time.
- Conduct the investigation by watering or not watering plants and placing them in sunlight or darkness, while keeping other conditions the same as possible.
- Make and record regular observations (drawings, notes) of plant growth, color, and leaf condition over several days.
- Compare plants in different conditions and decide which ones grew best and which did not grow well or died.
- Use their observations as evidence to explain that plants need sunlight and water to grow, directly addressing 2-LS2-1.
Standards Alignment — 2nd Grade (NGSS-Aligned)
- 2-LS2-1 — Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can describe what a healthy plant looks like and what an unhealthy plant looks like.
- I can help plan a fair test where we change sunlight or water for different plants.
- I can observe and record how my plants look over time.
- I can compare plants in different conditions and decide which grew better.
- I can explain, using evidence, that plants need sunlight and water to grow.