Name: _______________________ 

 
Plant and Animal Learning Contract 
 
We have been learning about how the weather affects plants and 
animals. You will complete four activities that will help you practice your 
knowledge of the unit. For the next ​four​ days, you will have ​30 minutes​ to 
work on ​all four​ learning contract activities. You may also work on these 
activities if you finish another assignment early. You may complete these 
activities in any order, but you must finish them by ​December 3rd​.  
 
Once you believe that you have finished an activity to the best of 
your ability, you will sign your name at the bottom of this contract. When 
you finish the life cycle of a plant skit or Claymation, please tell Ms. Reeder 
or Ms. Vargas. You may turn in your animal research and sequencing 
activity into the science tray. 
 
Each time you finish a learning contract activity, please sign your 
name along with the date you completed it below. We will put a check mark 
next to each activity that we have checked for completion. 
 
Activity 1 ​ Activity 2 
 
X________________ Date: ________ ☐ X_________________ Date: ________ ☐ 
 
 
Activity 3 ​ Activity 4 
 
X_________________ Date: ________ ☐ X__________________ Date: ________ ☐ 
 Life Cycle of a Plant Skit  Animal Research 
 

 
   
In a small group, you will act out the  You will research an animal of your 
life cycle of any plant that you choose.  choice with a partner using the books 
Acting as a Flower:  from our classroom or library. You will find 
In a group of four, one of you will act  information about what your animal looks 
as the seed, one person will act as the  like, the food it eats, and where it lives. You 
root, another person will act as the bud,  will also write at least two interesting facts 
and the last person will act as the flower.   about your animal, including whether it 
Acting as a Tree:  hibernates or migrates. You will find this 
​In a group of four, one of you will act  worksheet in your “Learning Contract” 
as the seed, one person will act as the  folder. 
sprout, another person will act as the   
sapling, and the last person will act as the   
fully grown tree.    

Life Cycle of a Plant Claymation   ​ ear Snores On 

Sequencing B

  
​ s a group of four, you will use 
A
 
playdough to show the life cycle of a 
You will listen to an audio recording 
flower or a tree. If your group decides to 
​ ear Snores On​, which you can find in 
of B
show the life cycle of a flower, each of you 
the reading center. You may follow along 
will choose which part in a flower’s life you 
with the book. Once you finish listening to 
want to make; it could be the seed, root, 
the story, you are going to sequence the 
bud, or flower. Your job is to add to the 
events. You will cut out the pictures, and 
flower each time you make something out 
then paste them in the correct order. You 
of the playdough (seed, root, bud, or 
will complete this activity by yourself. You 
flower) so that the seed eventually blooms 
will find this worksheet in your “Learning 
into a flower. You may create more than 
Contract” folder. 
one flower or tree, and show how a flower 
 
or type of tree would look during the four 
 
seasons.  
Hello Principal X,

We are writing to inform you that our students will complete learning contracts for our

upcoming science unit. We decided to have our students complete learning contracts instead of

learning menus because we wanted them to practice managing their time. They will sign and date

their contracts after they have completed each assignment to the best of their ability. Students

will engage in four activities related to our unit on how the weather affects plants and animals.

We have designed our learning contract to benefit all of our learners, regardless of their readiness

level. Ms. Reeder and I have also considered our students’ learning profiles. Many of our

students enjoy learning through movement. For this reason, we have included a skit activity and

an assignment where students use playdough to recreate the life cycle of a plant. Students

typically have difficulty remembering the life cycle of a plant throughout the seasons, so these

activities will reinforce their knowledge of the topic. We chose the last activity because our

students have struggled with sequencing. The book, ​Bear Snores On​,​ ​reinforces students’

knowledge about hibernation while practicing an important literacy skill.

We also wanted to consider our students’ interests while designing this learning contract.

For this reason, we decided to allow students to research any animal of their choice. They must

look for information about the animal’s habitat, and think about whether it migrates or

hibernates. These are two key concepts that we will be learning throughout the unit. This activity

also encourages students to research topics that interest them. Since we do not have enough time

to cover all of the animals that students are interested in, we thought this activity would be the

perfect opportunity for students to learn about their favorite animal while including concepts that

we are currently studying.

 We will begin discussing how the weather affects people, and then we will transition into

talking about how the weather affects plants and animals. Each of these learning contract

activities challenges students to think deeply about our unit. All students are required to

complete all of the activities. If our gifted students finish an assignment early, they can work on

one of these enrichment activities. Students will be ready to complete this learning contract about

a week after we introduce this part of the unit. We will allow about thirty minutes over the

course of four days for students to directly focus on these activities during the plant and animal

section of our science unit. Students will learn to manage their time efficiently. We have also

ensured that our students have the opportunity to complete the assignments independently, with a

partner, or in a group. The learning contract activities are another way that we have incorporated

flexible grouping in our classroom. We are excited to support our students with these engaging

and rigorous activities. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about the

learning contracts.

Thank you,

Ms. Reeder and Ms. Vargas

 References

Torino, Stacy. (2019). 17 Creative ways to teach plant life cycle. Retrieved from
https://www.weareteachers.com/plant-life-cycle-activities/

Wills, Deedee. (n.d.). Hibernating animal lesson plans. Retrieved from

https://mrswillskindergarten.com/hibernating-animals-lesson-plans/