Unit Plan 23 (Grade 4 Science): Plant Responses

Focus: Investigate how plants respond to light, gravity, and touch, and connect these responses to survival, growth, and behavior.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Science (Life Science)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students explore how plants are not passive—they respond and change based on their environment. Through simple investigations, observation logs, and models, students see how plants grow toward light, grow roots with gravity, and change growth when touched or bumped. They connect these responses to survival and growth, building toward arguments that plants’ structures and behaviors help them live in their environments.

Essential Questions

• How do plants sense and respond to things like light, gravity, and touch?
• In what ways do these responses help plants survive and grow?
• How can we observe and measure plant responses over time?
• How can we use evidence from our investigations to argue that plant responses are important for survival?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe and give examples of how plants respond to light, gravity, and touch (e.g., stems bending toward light, roots growing downward, vines wrapping).
2. Plan and carry out simple investigations to observe plant responses over several days (light direction, plant orientation, gentle touch).
3. Record qualitative and simple quantitative data (drawings, height, angle changes) to show how plant structures change over time.
4. Use models (diagrams, arrows on plant sketches) to explain how responses help survival and growth (e.g., reaching light for photosynthesis, roots anchoring the plant).
5. Construct a short written or oral argument using evidence from investigations that plant responses are connected to survival, growth, and behavior.

Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 4-LS1-1 — Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
  • Example: Use evidence from plant response investigations to argue how growing toward light helps plants get enough energy to survive and grow.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can name and describe at least one plant response to light, gravity, and touch.
• I can help plan and run a simple plant investigation, changing one thing and watching how the plant responds.
• I can record my observations with drawings, labels, and simple measurements over several days.
• I can explain with evidence how a plant response (like bending toward light) helps the plant survive or grow.
• I can share a short argument that uses my data and observations to support my idea.