Mcu ELA SCIgK LifeCycles

Life Cycles:
Content Literacy Science

English Language Arts and Literacy and Science, Kindergarten
This unit is designed for two and a half weeks in the spring and focuses on strategies for reading informational text and writing informational/
explanatory text. The unit introduces students to the life cycles of plants and animals, highlighting key stages for each life form, including
germination/birth, growth/development, reproduction, and death. Some lessons address the stages of the life cycle at a general level, while others
focus on the life cycle of specific plants (e.g., bean, pumpkin, apple tree) or animals (e.g., frog, butterfly, chicken).
Literacy learning activities include interactive read-alouds of nonfiction books about plant and animal life cycles, featuring relevant science
vocabulary and core concepts and exploration of books in small groups through discussion as well as writing and drawing activities. Science
activities include planting beans and recording observations about their development in science journals.
These units are designed to be used in conjunction with a core literacy curriculum and do not to address all components necessary for early grades
instruction. For suggestions about planning your literacy block, please see General Resources and Notes.
These Model Curriculum Units are designed to exemplify the expectations outlined in the MA Curriculum Frameworks for English Language
Arts/Literacy and Mathematics incorporating the Common Core State Standards as well as all other MA Curriculum Frameworks. These units include
lesson plans, Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessments, and resources. In using these units, it is important to consider the variability of learners
in your class and make adaptations as necessary.
This work is licensed by the MA Department of Elementary & Secondary Education under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
(CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). Educators may use, adapt, and/or share. Not for commercial use. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
July 2015 Page 1 of 48
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Table of Contents
Unit Plan ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
General Resources and Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Lessons 1–6 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Lessons 7–12 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 28
CEPA Teacher Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 41
CEPA Student Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 42
CEPA Rubric ............................................................................................................................................................................ 43
Unit Resources ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Stage 1 – Desired Results
ESTABLISHED GOALS G Transfer
Science and Technology/Engineering Students will be able to independently use their learning to… T
NOTE: These are draft revised STE standards (as • Communicate ideas effectively in writing to suit a particular audience and purpose.
of 12/20/13). The final adopted STE standards • Use principles of the physical world to analyze living systems.
may be slightly different. • Use appropriate evidence and reasoning to develop scientific claims and engage in
K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that discussions of scientific and technical topics.
animals (including humans) and plants need
food, water, and air to survive. Animals get Meaning
food from plants or other animals. Plants UNDERSTANDINGS U ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Q
make their own food and need light to live Students will understand that…
and grow. U1. All plants and animals have a life cycle, Q1. Do plants and animals go through the
K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and which includes beginning from seed or egg same changes during their lives?
animals have a life cycle: a. most plants (germination, hatching, or birth), growing
begin as seeds, develop and grow, make and developing, reproducing (making more Q2. Do plants get old the way animals do?
more seeds, and die; and b. animals are seeds or making babies), and dying.
born, develop and grow, produce young, and U2. All plants and animals need food, water, Q3. How can I use words and pictures to
die. and air to grow and develop. explain my thinking?
U3. We can learn how plants and animals
English Language Arts and Literacy live and change over time from many
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting sources, including books, videos,
and support, ask and answer questions experiments, observations, and field trips.
about key details in a text. Acquisition
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting Students will know… K Students will be skilled at… S
and support, identify the main topic and K1. A life cycle is a pattern of changes in the S1. Using multiple sources (books, videos, or
retell key details of a text. lives of plants or animals. observations) to gather information and
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting K2. Plants make their own food from learn about a concept.
and support, describe the connection sunlight, air, and water. Animals get food S2. Making and recording observations of
between two individuals, events, ideas, or from plants or other animals. plant growth and development.
pieces of information in a text. K3. Stages of life cycles shared by plants and S3. Using a combination of drawing,
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting animals. dictating, and writing to compose
and support, ask and answer questions informative/explanatory texts.
about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting
and support, describe the relationship
between illustrations and the text in which
they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing,
or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination
of drawing, dictating, and writing to
compose informative/explanatory texts in
which they name what they are writing
about and supply some information about
the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and
support from adults, recall information from
experiences or gather information from
provided sources to answer a question.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm
understanding of a text read aloud or
information presented orally or through
other media by asking and answering
questions about key details and requesting
clarification if something is not understood.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or
other visual displays to descriptions as
desired to provide additional detail.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and
phrases acquired through conversations,
reading and being read to, and responding
to texts.
Stage 2 – Evidence
Evaluative Criteria Assessment Evidence
• Students make a claim and explain their CURRICULUM EMBEDDED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS) PT
reasoning with evidence.
• Student writing, dictation, and Students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals
illustrations accurately reflect an do? Students can use a combination of drawing, writing, and dictating to answer
understanding of the concept of a life this question. With teacher guidance and support, they use their science journals,
cycle, and what plants and animals need their own knowledge, books read, and videos seen as sources to explain and
to grow. support their claim and reasoning with evidence. On the final day, they display
• Students write, draw, and dictate an their responses to some of their peers, and answer questions about their response.
informational/explanatory text. On the final day, they display, discuss and answer questions about their responses
with some of their peers.
Standards assessed:
• Science (MA): K-LS-1, KLS1-2
• English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8, CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.SL.K.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6
• Classroom interaction and discussion OTHER EVIDENCE OE
participation follow agreed-upon rules. • Participation in discussions and activities related to life cycles of plants and animals
• Comprehension strategies are • Participation in activities related to understanding word meanings and applying
demonstrated through use of reading comprehension strategies
information from provided materials. • Participation in informational writing activities
• Students use multiple resources.
Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction
Lessons 1–6: Plant Life Cycles
• Lesson 1 introduces the unit and the idea of life cycles. Students set up beans to germinate, followed by an interactive read-aloud of
One Bean, by Anne Rockwell. They watch a video about seeds germinating.
• Lesson 2 involves students in learning more about the life cycle of a plant and what plants need to grow through an interactive read-
aloud of From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons. Students learn about making observations of beans, and try out the process in their
science journals, explaining how a bean plant begins.
• Lesson 3 includes an interactive read-aloud of Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, engaging students in learning more about a plant’s
structure and the changes that plants go through during their lives. Students observe, discuss, and document the progress of their
bean plants. They explain how plants make new seeds what they know so far about how a seed grows and develops into a plant.
• Lesson 4 engages students in listening to the book, From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer, and discussing the life cycle of a pumpkin
plant compared to the life cycle of a bean plant. Students observe and discuss the progress of their bean plants and explain in their
science journals how bean plants grow and develop.
• Lesson 5 begins with an interactive read-aloud of A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by Stacey Schuett. Students
learn about the life cycle of an apple tree compared to life cycles of other plants as well as about plants growing old and dying.
• Lesson 6 engages students in transplanting their bean plants in cups with potting soil. Students review their science journals and
consider how words and pictures can help them learn.
Lessons 7–12: Animal Life Cycles and the CEPA

• Lesson 7 engages students in learning about the life cycle of a butterfly through an interactive read-aloud of Born to Be a Butterfly, by
Karen Wallace. Students continue to observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants.
• Lesson 8 involves an interactive read-aloud of Frogs, by Gail Gibbons, and associated activities related to learning about the life cycle of
a frog and how it compares to the life cycle of a butterfly.
• Lesson 9 focuses students on learning more about making observations through an interactive read-aloud of Growing Frogs, by Vivian
French. Students continue to observe, discuss, and document the progress of their bean plants.
• Lesson 10 introduces the life cycle of birds with a read-aloud of One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury. Students compare the life cycle of a
chicken with that of butterflies, frogs, and humans. They watch a video of chickens hatching.
• Lesson 11 includes an interactive read-aloud of Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, in which students learn about how life cycle stages
compare across different animals, and watch a video about hatching/birth and newborn animals. Students explain through writing and
drawing what plants and animals need to grow.
• Lesson 12 asks students to consider what is common to all animal life cycles and how they compare to plant life cycles. For the CEPA,
students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way animals do? and share their thinking and writing with a classmate.
Understanding by Design®. © 2012 Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Used with permission.
General Resources and Notes
This unit is intended to impart to three things to students: a beginning understanding of plant and animal life cycles -- what plants and animals
need to grow, develop and reproduce; a beginning understanding of scientific observation and speaking, writing and drawing based on
observation, and practice making a claim and supporting their reasoning with evidence.
There are multiple opportunities through revisiting the Essential Questions for students both to clarify the information that they are learning
about life cycles as well as make claims in which they apply their learning and tryout their own ideas.
Time: Most lessons are designed for about 45 minutes each day. They may be divided up into parts and taught with breaks in between or at
different times of the day. The unit is designed for approximately 13 days, but may be extended as needed.
Preparation
• Review the Science Standards in this Unit (see the last paragraph at the end of this section and the following page): This page lays out the
continuum between prekindergarten and grade 1 for the two standards used in this unit: K-LS1-1 and K-LS1-2 (MA). This will help in
understanding what the content and expectations for these standards are and the background for the unit. This should help to provide context
for the unit as well as a sense of where various children are on this continuum of knowledge and skills relevant to the topic of life cycles of
plants and animals.
• Growing plants: The lessons in this unit are based on planting beans; however other kinds of seeds can be used. The lessons in this unit are
designed around planting beans but can be easily adapted for other plants or Wisconsin Fast Plants.
o Plant some plants several weeks before starting the unit to ensure some plants reach “old age” (past flowers and seeds, to
dormancy/death) before the end of the unit. It is important students see the entire life cycle of the plant.
o What to plant: Beans typically germinate quickly, but you could plant radishes or some other seed that has a short life cycle instead. If you
decide on beans:
 Types of beans: All students could plant the same type of bean (e.g., lima beans or kidney beans) or different students could plant
different varieties -- get a bag of mixed beans (e.g., 15-bean soup). The Wisconsin Fast Plants (http://www.fastplants.org) grow
quickly and flower within two to three weeks (whereas regular beans can take months to flower).
 When to plant: Although students will see germination and growth, the unit probably will not be long enough to see the entire life
cycle (depending on the kinds of bean seeds you plant). Calculate the life cycle of type of bean you select, then plant a few (you will
need at least one plant) in advance of the beginning of the unit (e.g., a month or six weeks before the start, another group two weeks in
advance), so that students will be able to observe later parts of the life cycle by about Lessons 4-6.
 How to plant: This unit describes a method for germinating (bean) seeds in clear plastic bags so that students can observe early
development of roots and shoots. Students then plant them in soil in large plastic cups and can continue to observe shoot growth.
Ultimately, they can take their seedlings home to plant in a larger pot or a garden. You could also plant some seedlings in a school
garden, if that is an option.
o The approach to growing beans is described in the “Germinator” video and activity description (see link in the Resources for Lessons for
Lessons 1–6). Decide when to plant, what to plant, when to plant, how to plant, and how much to plant: The “Germinator” video and
activity includes step-by-step instructions for germinating bean seeds. Find a window or sunlit wall to hang bean bags. You may want to
create a bean-bag “germinator” a few days before teaching students to do it. Another resource for ideas about planting seeds in a book
read in the unit, From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons. The page on “How to raise bean plants” is at the end. Other variations on this
approach to planting and growing seeds in the classroom can be found through an Internet search or other books.
 How much to plant – You may decide to have each student plant his or her own seeds, which requires enough room in the classroom
or school to grow them in proximity to light, or you might have pairs or small groups of students germinate, plant, and observe one or
more plants together (but they will not each be able to take one home). You may want to plant some extra seeds in order to replace
those student plants that do not grow and/or experiment under different conditions (e.g., trying to grow a plant without light and/or
with too much or too little water) to observe what happens.
 Purchase the beans locally in time to plant them (or order the Wisconsin Fast Plants well in advance).
• Science journals: Each child will need a science journal. Create journals using binders, folders, spiral notebooks, or individual sheets of paper,
which you will bind into a book at the end of the project.
• Science center and extension activities: For this unit and throughout the year, a center for additional hands-on science activities and materials
are is recommended and should be available to students. Use your creativity and students’ curiosity and interests to encourage and support
discovery, inquiry and experimentation.
o Activities in a science center are listed at the ends of some of the lessons. Depending on how you implement the lessons and the time you
have available for the lessons, science center activities may be done during the allotted lesson time or done at another time of the day.
o Place the books read in the unit in the science center. Related, recommended books included in the Resources for Lessons sections for
Lessons 1-6 and 7-12. These books should be available for students to look at, read and refer to.
o You could extend plant observations beyond the span of the unit.
o Additional extension activities:
 Take a field trip involving observations of animal life cycles, such as butterflies, frogs, or chicks. Destinations might include a farm,
plant nursery, or butterfly garden.
 Plant corn seeds (in a school garden or other suitable outdoor space) to enable children to the full (natural) life cycle of a plant, from
planting seeds in the spring to the plant dying in fall. Another possibility would be pumpkins. Coordinate with first grade teachers to
enable students to continue observing the plants after they return to school in order for them to observe the full life cycle of a plant.
• A large variety of prints of plants and animals can be seen at the Royal Society Print Shop website (http://prints.royalsociety.org/). These are
illustrations of scientific observations of animals and plants made by scientists and artists prior to the availability of the camera. For plants,
see in particular a bean sprouting from 1675: http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting or the phases of a pea plant’s life
cycle from 1750 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum); for the life cycle of a moth from 1818
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth). Students may be intrigued by the variety and beauty of
scientific observations of plants and animals from the past. Consider making color copies or projecting prints of plants and animals.
Planning the Literacy Block:
• Planning for core literacy instruction should make use of formative and summative data to differentiate instruction for students, and include daily
instruction in all components of reading, ideally in an integrated fashion. The Model Curriculum Units provide instruction in comprehension,
speaking and listening, and content vocabulary. Thus, in planning to teach this MCU, you will need to reserve some time from your literacy block to
make sure students have instruction or opportunities to practice fluency and phonics. Whenever possible, instruction on these strategies should be
integrated or connected to this Model Curriculum Unit. In order for a strong foundational base in literacy to be achieved, these components should be
utilized in your students’ literacy block daily, additional foundational reading strategies will need to be introduced and integrated during your daily
literacy block. For further information see: http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/nationalreading.pdf
Practices throughout the Unit

• Place books that are read in class, any of the recommended books, and other relevant books in a place where students can refer to them on
their own or with each other, such as in the science center.
• Reinforcement of foundational reading skills is encouraged during interactive read-alouds (see below) and other activities related to the
books read during the unit. For example, attention might be drawn to words on the page of a book that start with a particular consonant or
contain a vowel sound that has been the focus of recent literacy development activities. Similarly, students might be asked to count the
number of syllables in a particular word or to identify sight words that have been taught recently.
• To maximize active conversation, offer all students a chance to share their ideas with a partner or in a small group before whole-class
discussions. In class discussions, enlist a variety of contributors, use wait time, random selection or other strategies. Ask students to answer
questions and/or offer thinking prompts before providing answers.
Vocabulary Protocol
Students need multiple exposures to words over time in order to not only recognize them but define and use them correctly in conversation and
in writing. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002) divide words into three tiers:
• Tier 1 words are the basic words that most people know, such as cat, happy, sad.
• Tier 2 words are more sophisticated words that are found across contexts and domains, such as brilliant, embarrassing, enthusiastic.
• Tier 3 words are words that are more specific to a content area or domain, such as metamorphosis, peninsula, archaeologist.
Tier 2 words are the most useful to teach because they are high-frequency words that are used across contexts. This unit includes a modified
version of Margarita Calderon’s Seven Steps for Pre-teaching Vocabulary (2011). The steps are as follows:
1. Say and show the word and then ask students to repeat it. Do this step two more times.
2. Read the word in context from the text (if appropriate).
3. Read the definition from the dictionary or glossary.
4. Explain the meaning of the word in child-friendly language.
5. Highlight an aspect of the word that will help students to remember it; e.g., the number of syllables.
6. Engage students in an activity to practice using the word orally or to recognize examples of when the word can be used correctly; e.g., asking
them to Turn and Talk to a partner about something related to the word, using the target vocabulary word in their sentence. Or, provide
examples and non-examples of the word and ask students to put their thumbs up when an example is named.
7. Assign peer reading with oral and written summarization activities. Explain how the new word needs to be used.
Sources: Beck, Isabel L., McKeown, Margaret, G., and Kucan, Linda. (2002). Bringing Words to Life. New York: Guilford; Beck, Isabel L., McKeown,
Margaret, G., and Kucan, Linda. (2008). Creating Robust Vocabulary. New York: Guilford; and Calderon, Margarita (2011). Teaching Reading and
Comprehension to English Learners, K–5. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Reading Response Formats

• Oral and written responses to reading enhance students’ understanding and connections to the books that they are reading. Consider a
variety of oral response formats that will allow all students to participate in discussion, share their ideas, and listen to the ideas of others.
Whatever the format, students should be provided with a common question or topic that will prompt and focus their thinking. Some formats:
o Whole-class discussion – Students respond in a whole-class discussion to a question posed by the teacher or a student. The question may
be used to initiate a discussion or to summarize what was learned.
o Turn and Talk – This format is used during whole-class instruction and is a way to get all students to participate. After a teacher-posed
question or prompt, students turn to the person next to them and briefly discuss their ideas. While they are doing this, the teacher
circulates and listens in, commenting when necessary to focus the students’ thoughts or clarify misunderstandings. The teacher can also
use this time to jot down observations. With young children, it is helpful to have them practice the Turn and Talk process during a time
other than the lesson when it will be used. A simple prompt, such as, “Turn to your partner and talk about your favorite food,” can be used.
Students may also discuss in trios—groups of three—if they are not paired evenly. After students have talked to partners for a few
minutes, the class is called back to attention. If desired, a few students can be chosen to share what their partner said. This encourages
good listening skills.
o Engaging in argument from evidence. Primarily in response to the EQ: Do plants get old? Students document evidence through plant
observations and obtaining information from texts and videos that are used as evidence to justify their claims.
Instructional Models
• KWL strategy – This reading strategy is used throughout the unit to emphasize reader practices before, during, and after reading. The
acronym stands for What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned, and is especially useful when reading informational text. This
approach activates students’ background knowledge—what do they already know about a topic? What are key terms and concepts they
already know? Next, they use this background knowledge to determine questions they have that they want to learn more about. Finally, they
read and record information learned. While the chart is linear in format, the thinking process used to complete it is not. Readers continually
recall their knowledge; ask questions, during, and after reading; and revise and synthesize their learning. (Source: Ogle, D. (1986). "K-W-L: A
Teaching Model That Develops Active Reading of Expository Text," The Reading Teacher, 39: 564–570.)
• Interactive read-alouds – The whole class listens as the teacher reads a text aloud. Students think and talk about the text before, during, and
after the reading. This promotes students’ active engagement. Their thinking about the text is extended because of this interaction. Prior to
the read-aloud, the teacher may ask students what to think about before reading the text (e.g., a prediction based on the title or illustration or
reflection on relevant prior experience).
• Interactive writing (Source: Fountas, Irene C. and Pinnell, Gay Sue. (2006). Teaching for Comprehension and Fluency. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann) -- The teacher and students work together to write a text on chart paper or a screen projection. This provides an opportunity to
teach/model/review specific writing skills, such as stating the topic, supporting ideas with details, capitalizing the first letter of each sentence,
etc.
1. Talking about the idea and the specific text to write.
2. Deciding on the exact wording of the text (or part of it).
3. Writing the text: the teacher models the writing/transcribing of the ideas. At times during this step, the teacher can “share the marker”
and have a student come to the chart paper and write a letter, a sound, or the word. This practice increases student ownership of the piece
and keeps the whole group engaged. Balance “sharing the marker” with the need to complete the writing piece in a timely manner.
4. Reading and rereading chorally, sometimes revising.
5. “Publishing” by displaying the text in the classroom.
Differentiation for ELL Students and Students with Advanced Skills and/or Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
• When you pair ELLs or any other students, you must always consider the WIDA proficiency levels as well as what the students “Can Do” along with
the objectives for the task as you plan the groupings and supports. The groupings will vary depending on the objectives of the task. For example, if the
focus of the task is reading comprehension, pair a student with limited English skills with another student who speaks the same language or is
bilingual. If the objective is the speaking and listening domain, groupings by common language is not a consideration, but provide students with
visual, interactive, graphic, or sensory supports.
• Remember to provide scaffolding for conversations during whole-class discussions and Turn and Talk. For example, supply students with sentence
frames of increasing complexity, reflecting the different levels of language proficiency in your classroom, to help students to respond to prompts during the lesson.
The sentence frames should model the use of the lesson’s targeted academic language.
• Students with disabilities may need flexibility about the means to accomplishing the goal. For example, if the goal of the lesson is comprehension,
what is the appropriate amount of text for the student to read?
• Students with Advanced Skills should be given the opportunity to read independently and answer questions that require a degree of inference. These
students should participate in group discussions, such as lesson openings and closings, as much as possible.
• All students, ELLs, students with disabilities, and advanced skills, should be given ample opportunities to apply their learning, including reading
selections of the text and discussing evidence from the text.
Resources
• Individual texts and resources are detailed in the Resources for Lessons in the lesson overview sections and in the Unit Resources.
• Teacher resources, such as additional videos and books, are listed in the overviews in the Resources for Lessons and in the Instructional Tips
sections.
• Science Standards in the Unit: This unit assumes students have a sense that plants and animals grow and change over time, and that plants and
animals interact to meet their basic needs (such as for food and shelter). The key focus of this unit is on what plants and animals need to
survive and the concept of a life cycle. See the strand map on the next page for a display of the standards relative to prekindergarten and first
grade. Note: Sunlight as a form of energy or its role in photosynthesis in plants is not emphasized. Those standards come later.
Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – Plant Life Cycles
Brief Overview of Lessons: In these lessons, students are introduced to and investigate plant life cycles. Students
plant bean seeds and keep science journals in which they observe the development of their bean plants. Lesson 1
introduces the idea of life cycles. Students set up beans to germinate, followed by an interactive read-aloud about a
bean plant. In Lesson 2 students learn more about the life cycle of plants and what they need to grow. They make
observations of beans in their science journals. Lesson 3 includes a read-aloud about plant life cycles and engages
students in learning about a plant’s growth and development. Students observe, discuss, and document the
progress of their bean plants. In Lesson 4, an interactive read-aloud engages student in the development of flowers,
fruits and new seeds. Lesson 5: students learn about the life cycle of an apple tree compared to life cycles of other
plants as well as about plants growing old and dying. They continue to observe, discuss, and document the
progress of their plants. In Lesson 6, students transplant their bean plants into soil. They review their science
journals and consider how words and pictures can help them learn. As you plan, consider the variability of
learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary.
Prior Knowledge Required:

• How to listen to a book, interact appropriately in a group, and follow rules for discussion, including Turn and
Talk
• Animals and plants depend on one another to meet their basic needs and organisms grow and change over time.
Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson
Resources for Lessons

Teacher read-aloud texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book):
• One Bean, by Anne Rockwell
• From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
• From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by James Graham Hale
• Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri
• A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Recommended books (for optional additional reading):
• How a Seed Grows, by Helene Jordan
• Once There Was a Seed, by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon
• A Bean’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann
• From Bean to Bean Plant, by Anita Ganeri
• From Seed to Apple, by Anita Ganeri
Websites
• “Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse” (1:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk
and/or “Fantastic Nature Photography of Plant Growth of Brambles” (1:38):
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304
• Germinator activity instructions: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html
• “Germinator” video (2:10):
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/
• “Flower Power” video (1:38): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-
105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/
• “From Seed to Flower” video (1:07):
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/
Teacher Resources
• Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL Extension:
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html
• “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seed/from-seed-
to-fruit/
• “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-
seed-to-fruit-interactive/
• “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33):
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd.sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/
• Various plant videos: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets
• Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and
animals: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/
• Royal Society Print Shop: http://prints.royalsociety.org/, including a bean sprouting (1675)
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting); the phases of a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum)
Materials
• Materials for growing plants (Lesson 1):
o Presoaked beans (or alternative seeds to plant)
o Clear plastic bags with zip tops or plastic cups
o Paper towels or black construction paper
o Watering cans or containers
• Dried beans (Lesson 1)
• A collection of different seeds (for Lesson 1 Science Center activity)
• Science journals
• Additional presoaked beans (Lesson 2)
• Recommended: Already-growing plant (Lesson 2, pre-planted – see General Notes and Resources)
• Flowering plant with visible pollen (Lessons 3 and 5)
• Apples (Lesson 4 Science Center activity)
• Large plastic cups and potting soil (Lesson 6)
Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Literacy and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read
Science, Kindergarten aloud or information presented orally or through other media by
Unit: Life Cycles asking and answering questions about key details and requesting
Time: 45 minutes for each lesson clarification if something is not understood.
Lessons 1–6: Plant Life Cycles CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays
to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in these lessons: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired
Science through conversations, reading and being read to, and
K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including responding to texts.
humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals
get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own Essential Question(s) addressed in these lessons:
food and need light to live and grow. Q1. Do plants and animals go through the same changes during
K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life their lives?
cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make Q3. How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking?
more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow,
produce young, and die. Objectives
• Students will understand that a plant’s life cycle includes
English Language Arts sprouting from seed, growing and developing, making more
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and seeds, and dying.
answer questions about key details in a text. • Students will understand that plants need water, air, and
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify sunlight to grow and develop and that they make their own
the main topic and retell key details of a text. food.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe • Students will understand that reading and writing about
the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces observations can help us to learn information about nature.
of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and What students should know and be able to do before
answer questions about unknown words in a text. starting these lessons:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe • How to listen to a reading, interact appropriately in a group,
the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they and follow rules for discussion, including Turn and Talk.
appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an
illustration depicts). Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, • Plants and animals have little in common besides being alive.
and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which • Plants do not need food.
they name what they are writing about and supply some • Plants that grow fruits and vegetables do not have flowers.
information about the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults,
recall information from experiences or gather information from
provided sources to answer a question.
Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions for Teacher life cycle, but may be more effective in engaging young
• Review the strand map in the General Resources and Notes children in the life of plants.)
section (page 11) which lays out the continuum between • Prepare charts:
prekindergarten and grade 1 for standards K-LS1-1 and K- o Anchor charts for each of the Essential Questions.
LS1-2 (MA). This will provide more context for the content o A life cycle chart to be developed over the course of the
and expectations for these standards. It may also provide a unit with details from students.
better sense of where various children are on the knowledge o A KWL chart about plants (used in several lessons) with
and skills relevant to life cycles of plants and animals. three columns: K (what students know), W (what
• Plan the logistics of seed germination activities and gather students want to know) and L (what students learned).
materials. Read the General Notes and Resources – You could use three pieces of chart paper (to leave plenty
Preparation section for more complete advice on selecting of room) or project a digital document.
and planting beans/seeds: o A T-chart with the question: Do plants get old and die?
o Decide if you will do the planting as a whole group or as a o A chart listing observation steps noted in Lesson 3.
center activity. o A chart listing transplanting steps noted in Lesson 6.
o Decide on the kinds of bean (or other seed) that you and • Prepare science journals (see General Notes and Resources
students will grow. for details), including a template with the steps for
o You will need demonstration plants that will be old or observations and/or other handouts.
dying by Lessons 4-6. • Prepare the Science Center for the activities for this unit (see
o Soak beans overnight before planting.= the “Preparation” section in the General Notes and
o Get potting soil and plastic cups for transplanting the Resources).
bean seedlings once they have germinated. • For a short review on plant structures and growth (as much
• Preview read-aloud books before lessons and number pages as you will need to know for kindergarten students), see
for easy reference if they are not numbered. Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL
• Preview videos (see Resources for Lessons).. Additional Extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html
videos are listed under Teacher Resources to provide • Lessons 1-2: Place a variety of seeds in paper cups for
backgroung information for you, or to be used in the science observing and sorting in the science center.
center and/or extension activities. • Lesson 2: Bring in a plant with flowers with pollen for
• Review and choose one or both time lapse videos of a plant observations.
growing: Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse Video • Lesson 4: Bring one or more apples for the science center.
(1:38) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk, • Lessons 2-6 and/or Lessons 7-13 (optional): Provide color
showing students the whole life cycle of a bean plant, copies or projections of plants and animals from the Royal
prefiguring what will happen their own plants; Plant Growth Society Print Shop (http://prints.royalsociety.org/), e.g., a
of Brambles (1:28): scientific observation of a bean sprouting from 1675
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445 (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouti
&CategoryID=2304, showing a bramble (vine) growing in the ng) and/or a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750
tropics, or both. (The second one does not show the entire (http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum).
• Lessons 1-6 (optional): Review additional videos that may be Targeted Academic Language
of interest: • Change, fact, seed, sprout, grow, predict
o “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01):
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.li Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
fe.seed/from-seed-to-fruit/ • Introduce and discuss Essential Question 1: Do plants and
o “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: animals go through the same changes during their lives?
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.li Discuss the question and record students’ comments.
fe.seedint/from-seed-to-fruit-interactive/ • Explain that over the next few weeks, the class will be
o “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33): investigating how plants and animals change over time.
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd. Introduce the word change. Say the word as you write it and
sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/ ask students to repeat it.
o Various plant videos: o Ask students what it means.
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+ o Ask for some examples of how they themselves have
plants&selected_facets changed over time (e.g., grown taller).
• For pointers about talking to young children about death, • Post a T-chart and ask the questions: Do plants get old and
particularly about the death of plants, insects and animals die? (Yes or No). How do you know? Record each suggestion.
that will come up in the unit, see: Keep the chart to return to in Lesson 6 when the questions
http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a- and “evidence” will be reviewed.
parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/ • Tell students that all the books you will be reading in this
unit are full of information, or facts, about the lives of plants
Assessment and animals.
• Observe small-group and whole-class discussion o Review the differences between fiction and nonfiction.
participation and note individual and group understanding of o Explain what a fact is, share a few examples that can be
key concepts. easily observed by anyone (e.g., grass is green, tigers
• Review seed journals and other student writing for evidence have stripes, wings help birds to fly), and ask students to
of developing skills and concepts and identify needs for share a few examples of facts that they know about
individual and/or group reinforcement. animals or plants.
• Explain: We will explore the facts about what happens to
plants and animals during their lives by starting with plants.
Lesson 1 (45 minutes) Setting up seeds We will all plant beans (or the type of seed you decide on)
and make notes about how they change over time by drawing
Language Objectives and writing in science journals, like scientists do.
• Students will discuss what they know and want to know
about plants. During the Lesson (25 minutes)
• Students will talk about what beans need to sprout and grow. • As you write the word plant on the board, invite students to
help identify the sounds and letters as you write.
• Ask what they know about the life of a plant. Record their light, too. Explain that students will be growing beans in
responses in the K (know) section of a KWL chart about the classroom.
plants. • Show the “Germinator” video (2:10)
o Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about (http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.s
some questions they have about the life of plants. Discuss tru.germinator/germinator/) to show students what they
responses and record them in the W (want to know) will be doing.
section of the KWL chart. Tell students that they can find • Demonstrate how to set up a bean bag (i.e., germinator). (See
out answers to their questions during this unit. the Germinator activity instructions for details at
• Say that because they probably don’t see plants move very http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html.)
fast or very far, it is sometimes hard to understand that they o Distribute to each student three to five presoaked beans,
move and change at all. a paper towel, and a plastic bag with a zip top.
o Tell students that they will watch the video of the life o Help students to set up their beans to germinate
cycle of a plant. It was made in a way that speeds up the according to the germinator activity instructions.
life of a plant (bean or bramble). (Organize logistics as you see fit. For example, help
o Show the time lapsed video of a plant life cycle: students to staple bags midway down and/or measure
Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse video (1:28): and pour water).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk or o Make sure students’ bean bags are labeled with their
Plant Growth of Brambles (1:38): names.
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6 o Tape all bean bags to the window or sunlit wall, as clearly
445&CategoryID=2304. visible as possible. (If no window is available in the
o Ask whether this gave anyone new ideas about the life of classroom, try to find one nearby.)
a plant. o Point out, if necessary, that this is not the “natural”
• Tell students that today they will start to learn how a plant process for growing a plant. Ordinarily, they need earth
grows by growing their own plants. to grow.
o Show them dried beans from a bag. Distribute some so
that students can look at them closely. Ask if they know Lesson Closing (10 minutes)
what part of a bean plant they are. Explain that a bean is • Show the cover of the book One Bean, by Anne Rockwell.
a seed. Distribute copies of the book to small groups of students. Ask
o Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they know them to look at the cover and predict what the book is about.
about seeds. Discuss responses as a group and add to the • Begin reading through page 15. Ask students to Turn and
“K” section of the KWL chart about plants. Talk about what they know about leaves. Discuss responses
• Introduce the word sprout. Ask students to Turn and Talk as a group and add to the K column of the KWL chart about
about what they think seeds might need to sprout and grow plants.
into plants. Discuss responses as a group. • Continue reading through page 23. Ask students to Turn and
o Explain that seeds need water and warmth to sprout Talk about what they know about flowers. Discuss responses
(and, ordinarily, soil). Once they grow leaves, they need as a group and add to the K column of the KWL chart.
• Continue reading to the end of the book. Ask students to Targeted Academic Language
Turn and Talk about what they predict would happen if the • Life cycle, Observe/observation, record,
children in the book planted one of the beans that they germinate/germination, stage, pollen/pollination/pollinator,
picked from their bean plant. Discuss their responses as a sprout
group.
o Explain that students are learning about a bean plant’s Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
life cycle. A seed grows into a plant and makes new seeds, • Introduce the words observe, observer and observation. Offer
which can be planted all over again. examples of observations and invite students to do so.
• Ask students what they learned from the book that might be o Explain that science can help us to learn about nature
helpful for growing their own bean plants (e.g., plants need through trying things out, observing or noticing what
water and sunlight). Record responses in the L column of the happens using our senses, and recording what we
KWL chart. observe through words and pictures so that we can keep
track of what happens over time.
Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) • Introduce the word record, both as a verb (to record
• Provide cups of different kinds of seeds (e.g., dried beans, observations) and a noun (a record of observations). Explain
sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). Ask students to discuss that students will record their observations with words and
and/or write about what they notice about what is in the pictures.
cups. They could also sort/match the seeds. • Distribute science journals to students. Tell students that
• If a variety of seeds are not available, open a few copies of they will be observing beans and how they change over time
the book, From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons, to page 4 for and recording their observations in their journals.
students to look at. • Review what beans need to sprout and grow. Make a list on
o Ask students if they have ever seen any of the seeds. Ask chart paper. Ask students to check if their plants have what
if anyone recognizes any seeds that they see in the they need.
picture and knows what plants those seeds might
become (e.g., corn, bean, hazelnut, dandelion, sunflower, During the Lesson (30 minutes)
oak, maple). • Introduce the word cycle. Remind students that growing
involves predictable changes, which are called cycles,
because they are in some ways circular. Ask students to
Lesson 2 (45 minutes) Germinating/sprouting repeat the word. (You might show the word bicycle, noting
that it has the word cycle in it, although it is pronounced
Language Objectives differently. Discuss why this mode of transportation would
• Students will discuss what plants need to grow. have the word cycle in it.)
• Students will talk about observations of beans and practice o Explain that the pattern of day changing into night and
making them. then back into day is a cycle because it happens over and
over again.
o Ask students for other examples of cycles in nature. Be
prepared to offer some (e.g., seasons, tides, moon phases).
• Explain that a life cycle is a pattern of changes that happens wind, etc.) is necessary for flowers to produce seeds. The
to plants and animals, and people, throughout their lives. Say insects, or winds, are the pollinators.
that you will discuss this more throughout the unit. Start a • Continue reading. Stop after page 16. Introduce the words
diagram by drawing a circle and labeling it, Life Cycle. fruit and pod. Ask students to name some of the different
• Place students in pairs and distribute another presoaked fruits and pods that they have seen. Record them on chart
bean to each pair. Help students open the beans. paper.
o Ask them to look inside the beans, then Turn and Talk o Explain that the bean plants that they are growing will
with their partners about what they see. Discuss have pods containing bean seeds.
responses as a group. • Read through page 21. Directing students’ attention to the
o Tell students that you soaked the beans that they placed illustrations on pages 20 and 21, point out and read the
in bags yesterday in order to loosen their seed coats and labels.
make it easier for them to sprout. Show and explain that • After reading page 22, point out that what is labeled as
inside the bean is the beginning of a tiny root as well as “beginning of the plant” is called a sprout.
stored food for the bean plant to use to start growing. o Introduce the word compare. Ask students to Turn and
• Teach students how they will do observations: Using a Talk with a partner about how the picture in the book
projector or chart paper, demonstrate a first observation: compares to the observations that they just recorded in
o Write the date. their journals, discussing what is alike and what is
o Draw the outside and the inside (cross-section) views of different.
the bean. o Discuss responses about their comparison as a group.
o Write a brief description of what you observe. o Note what the illustration in the book includes (e.g.,
o Narrate what you are doing and ask students for input detailed drawings, labels, etc.). Invite students to return
(e.g., “Now I’m going to describe or observe what I see. to their own seed observations and add details they think
What should I write? The bean is white and wrinkly on would make them more complete.
the outside. The inside is smooth…”). • Read pages 21and 23. Explain that germinate is a word that
• Ask students to follow the same process to record their first scientists use for sprout (or to sprout). Germination is the
observation of their soaked beans in their own science process of a seed sprouting or a plant starting to grow.
journals. o Remind students of the Germinator video they watched
• Introduce the book, From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons. in the last class.
Distribute a copy to each small group. o Tell students that their beans are germinating in the
• Read through page 6. Introduce the word flower. Ask a plastic bags. They will be able to observe their beans
student to point out a flower on your demonstration plant. sprouting through the plastic bag. Then they will plant
• Read through page 8. Introduce the word pollen. Point out the beans in soil. In a regular garden or in the wild, the
the pollen inside the flower on page 7. (Plants such as lilies, seeds would sprout under the ground.
daffodils, tulips, and irises have flowers with clearly visible • Read through the end of the book. Review what plants need
pollen.) to grow (e.g., water, warmth, sunlight, air) and update the
• Continue reading through page 10. Introduce the words chart accordingly.
pollination and pollinator. Explain that pollination (by insects,
Lesson Closing (5 minutes) • Explain that life cycles have different stages. Introduce the
• Show the video “From Seed to Flower”: word stage. Ask what the first stage in a bean plant’s life
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.co cycle is. Discuss responses, probing for accurate explanations.
lt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/. • Add “Plant” to the Life Cycle diagram. Write:
o Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they observed o Stage 1: Germination and sprouting. Note students’
in the video. Discuss responses as a group. How did the contributions of information (e.g., plants begin as seeds,
plants change over time? Was there a pattern to the seeds sprout roots and shoots, etc.), and draw a simple
changes? illustration.
• Ask students to write and draw about how a plant’s life
begins. Assist students by writing what they dictate, if During the Lesson (25 minutes)
needed. They may also refer to the books read so far. • Distribute copies of the book Plant Life Cycles, by Anita
Ganeri, to small groups of students. Show students the book’s
Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) cover and read the title. Ask them to look at the picture and
• If you have planted seeds/beans prior to the start of the unit explain what they think it shows.
(see General Notes and Resources), place the plant(s) in the • As a group, turn to the glossary and read through the words
science center for students to study, observe and draw. in the glossary. Discuss which words students know from
• Put a collection of seeds (with multiples of at least some previous discussions and which words are new.
seeds) that students can sort and examine closely. • Begin reading, stopping after page 5. Introduce the word
pattern. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about
why a plant’s life cycle is a pattern.
Lesson 3 (45 minutes) Growth and development o Discuss responses. Note that seeds grow into plants,
make new seeds, and then die, while their seeds grow
Language Objectives into new plants, and the cycle (pattern) continues.
• Students will discuss the stages of plant life cycles. • Continue reading through page 9. Ask students to look at
• Students will talk about whether plants get old. pages 8 and 9 in their small group and discuss the changes
they observe from page 8 to page 9. Once students have
Targeted Academic Language talked, ask for volunteers to explain what is pictured.
• Pattern, root, shoot, stage, stem, develop o Introduce the words root and shoot. Ask students how
their bean plant observations compare to the
Lesson Opening (5-10 minutes) illustrations.
• Ask students to bring in any evidence they can find of plants’ • Read through page 11. Ask a student to point out the roots of
life cycle. This could be anything from seeds or pods to dried- your demonstration plant (they are under the soil) and/or
up fruit, wilted or dried up flowers, leaves or twigs. They their sprouting bean plants.
should place these in a place that you designate in the science • Read pages 12 and 13. Explain that plants make their own
center (or elsewhere). Give them a “deadline” day (three food using sunlight, air, and water. Read the explanatory
days or more). labels/captions and explain how these are to help readers
understand the pictures.
• Revisit the chart listing what plants need to grow and ask Lesson 4 (45 minutes) Developing flowers, fruit and seeds
students if they have anything to add.
• Continue reading pages 14 and 15. Introduce the word stem. Targeted Academic Language
Ask a student to point to the stem of your demonstration • Fruit, seedling, develop, compare, pod
plant.
• Return to your Plant Life Cycle diagram and add: Stage 2: Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
Grow and Develop. • Show the “Flower Power” video:
o Introduce the word develop. Ask students to explain what http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-
happens during this stage. Add information to the chart adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-
(e.g., plant grows bigger with water and sunlight, leaves 105e84f2511f/.
develop and make food, etc.) and draw a simple • Ask students to Turn and Talk about what they observed in
illustration. the video. Discuss responses as a group.
• Ask students to write and draw what they know so far about o Ask students if they have ever seen bees or butterflies
how a seed grows and develops into a plant in their science around flowers. Discuss what they were doing and what
journals. Assist students who need help by writing what they an important role that pollinators play in plants’ lives.
dictate. Encourage them to use the books read so far to help (You may need to stress the idea that bees are generally
them. doing good things, not just waiting to sting.)
• Let students know that they can study the pictures at other
times in the day to learn about what happens next in a plant’s During the Lesson (25 minutes)
growth and development. • Today you will read a book about pumpkins. Distribute
copies of the book From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
Lesson Closing (10-15 minutes) and illustrated by James Graham Hale, to small groups of
• Ask students to look closely at their bean bags and observe students. Show students the cover and read the title. Ask
any changes to their beans since they were placed in the bags, students what they think the book is about.
following the observation steps on the chart (assist as • Review the word fruit as a container or package for seeds
needed): that can be eaten by an animal or insect (a bean pod is a kind
o Meet with a partner, your seed, and your science journals. of fruit).
o Observe your seed/plant. Turn and Talk to discuss what • Read through page 9. Introduce the word seedling. Ask
you observe. What has changed? students to Turn and Talk about how the first stage of a
o Draw, label, and write about what you observe in your pumpkin plant’s life cycle compares to the first stage of a
journal. bean plant’s life cycle.
o Trade journal pages and your seed with your partner. o Review the word compare. Ask how seeds change as they
What do you observe? Which details are the same on the start to grow.
plant and in the drawing and writing? Which details are • Continue reading through page 14. Ask students to Turn and
missing? Talk to your partner and share your Talk with a partner about what is different about how plants
observations so he/she can add any missing information. get food from how they themselves get food.
• Continue reading. Stop after page 17 and ask students to Lesson 5 (45 minutes) Old age, death or dormancy
predict how the flower helps the pumpkin plant.
• Read pages 18 through 20 and ask students if this Language Objectives
information confirms or changes what they predicted. • Students will talk about their observations of their bean
o Some children will probably notice that page 19 refers to plants.
male and female flowers. The bees move the pollen from • Students will talk about whether plants get old.
male to female flowers. If anyone asks for more details –
the flowers are slightly different, but you have to Targeted Academic Language
carefully observe a number of flowers on the vine to be • Blossom, trunk, orchard
able to tell them apart.
• Continue through page 21. Tell students you noticed that the Note: the discussion about the comparison between the tree’s
author calls the pumpkins “fruit” and ask if they know why. and the pumpkin’s life cycle on p. 25 as well as the Turn and talk
Explain that a pumpkin is a fruit, even though some people in the lesson closing are practice for the type of claims and
may not call it that. It is actually a kind of squash (also fruits). reasoning that the students will make in the CEPA.
• Continue reading. Stop after page 27. Ask students what they
would expect to find inside a ripe pumpkin fruit. Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
• Continue reading to the end. Ask students to Turn and Talk • Ask students to look closely at their beans and observe any
about what they think happens to the pumpkin plants in the changes since the previous observation. Remind them to
fall (whether the pumpkins are picked or not). Discuss follow the steps to making a good observation to record their
responses and ensure that students understand that observations in their journals by drawing what they see
pumpkin plants die, but that new seeds planted in the spring and/or describing it in writing or by dictation.
and the life cycle will begin again. • Refer back to the T-chart used in Lesson 1. Ask again if plants
get old. Ask for students’ additional thoughts about this and
Lesson Closing (10 minutes) whether students have changed their minds about what they
• Ask students to Turn and Talk about how plants grow. thought in Lesson 1.
• Revisit the KWL chart about plants. Ask if students have
anything to add to the L section. Discuss responses. During the Lesson (25 minutes)
• Tell students that you are going to read A Tree Is a Plant, by
Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by Stacey Schuett.
• Put out a few apples. Cut the apples in half. Ask students to Distribute a copy of the book to each small group.
look at an apple half carefully. • Ask students how they think a tree’s life begins.
• Ask students to draw the sliced apple and label the seeds • Read through page 9. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a
with an arrow. partner about what they think will happen next to the apple
• They can discuss their observations with each other. seed in the ground.
• Read through page 11 and ask students what happened to
the seed. Ask if they can figure out what the word blossom
might mean, using the picture to help them. Introduce the Discuss responses as a group. Revisit the anchor chart for
word. Essential Question 2. Ask if students have anything to add.
• Continue reading through page 13. Ask students why they • Remind students who have not brought in any plant matter
think the bees are near the flowers. The apple trees, like the that they need to do so by the next lesson.
pumpkins, need to spread the pollen in their flowers in order
to make seeds that will become new plants.
• Read through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk about Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day)
how or why the apple makes a good container for seeds. • Ask students look carefully at the plant growing in the center.
Discuss responses as a group. They can review the illustrations and words in the books that
• After reading page 16, remind students that the trunk is the have been read so far to identify the stage of its life cycle the
stem of the tree. Ask students how the trunk helps the tree. plant is in.
• Continue reading, stopping after page 21 and asking how the • They could also identify, draw and label the parts of a real
roots help the tree. plant, particularly if there is a demonstration plant or plants.
• After reading to the end of the book, turn to page 33 and read
the section called “How old is your tree?” Ask for, and answer,
any questions. Note that trees, like all plants, die. Lesson 6 (45 minutes) A plant’s life cycle
• Read to the end. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what
the stages of a tree’s life cycle are. Are the stages the same or Language Objectives
different than the stages of other plants’ life cycles (e.g., • Students will discuss how seeds/plants change over time.
beans, pumpkins)? Discuss responses. Note that trees usually • Students will discuss the stages of plant life cycles.
live for a long time. Some plants come up year after year until
they die. And some plants die after one season. Lesson Opening (20 minutes)
• Ask students what happens at the end of a plant’s life. Return • Explain to students that they will now plant their germinated
to the Plant Life Cycle diagram and add: Stage 4: Die. The beans in soil. This allows the beans to grow and planted in
diagram should now include four stages: 1) begin as seeds; 2) the ground or in a bigger pot later on at home.
develop and grow; 3) make more seeds; and 4) die. • Show students a chart paper with steps to follow for
o Explain that when bean plants die, some of their beans transplanting beans. Demonstrate as you read each step:
fall to the ground and start new plants the following o Put soil in the cup (filling it halfway with potting soil).
spring. o Place beans in soil. (Open the bean bag and carefully
place the germinated beans on top of the soil, roots down
Lesson Closing (10 minutes) and shoots up. Separate them so they each have space to
• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner and take turns grow.) Emphasize the importance of handling the beans
explaining the four stages of a plant’s life cycle. carefully so that the new roots and shoots do not break.
• Revisit the KWL chart about plants. Ask if students have o Cover beans with a little more soil -- sprinkling enough
anything to add to the L section. Discuss responses. soil on top to cover them, but leaving the shoots visible.)
• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about Essential o Add enough water. Caution students to be careful to only
Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals do? add enough water to dampen the soil.
o Put the cup(s) near a window so the bean plans can get Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day)
sunlight. • Set up the center for sorting the plant matter students
• Assist students as needed in following the steps to plant their brought in.
beans. o Ask them to sort these items by stage in the life cycle (e.g.,
seeds for the beginning; pods and fruit (and seeds) for
Lesson Closing (10 minutes) reproductive point in the cycle; leaves could go into
• Review the T-chart on what students know about plants either the developing or the old age/death parts of the
getting old. Do they have any ideas to add? Are there any life cycle; flowers (living or dead) in the flowering part of
ideas to correct? the cycle).
• Ask students to review their science journals. Then, ask them o Have students work together and discuss their decisions
to Turn and Talk about Essential Question 3: How can I use about which part of the cycle it belongs to.
words and pictures to explain my thinking? Discuss o When this is completed, refer back to the T-chart from
responses as a group and document them on the anchor Lesson 3 that asked if plants get old. Has anyone changed
chart for Essential Question 3. his/her opinion? If so, why?
Lessons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12: Animal Life Cycles
Brief Overview of Lessons: In these lessons, students are introduced to the life cycles of animals through books,
videos, and related activities, including discussion, writing, and drawing. They continue to observe, discuss, and
document the development of their bean plants. In Lesson 7 students learn about the life cycle of a butterfly.
Lesson 8 features a read-aloud and activities related to the life cycle of frogs. Lesson 9 continues the focus on frogs.
In Lesson 10, another book and video introduces the life cycle of a bird and compare it to the life cycles of
butterflies and frogs. In Lesson 11 a read-aloud of Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri, compares the life cycle
stages of different animals. Students watch a video about hatching/birth and explain in their science journals what
plants and animals need to grow. Lesson 12 concludes the book started in Lesson 11. Students consider what is
common across different animals’ life cycles and how these compare to plant life cycles, including the Essential
Question: Do plants get old the same way animals do?, which is the beginning of the Curriculum Embedded
Performance Assessment (CEPA). The CEPA is completed in Lesson 13, in which students finish writing, dictating
and drawing their responses? They then show their work and answer questions about it to a few peers. As you
plan, consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary.
Prior Knowledge Required: Skills and knowledge from previous lessons
Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson
Resources for Lessons

Teacher read-aloud texts (one copy of each book for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at):
• Born to Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace
• Frogs, by Gail Gibbons
• Growing Frogs, by Vivian French, illustrated by Alison Bartlett
• One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury
• Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri
Recommended books (suggested books for additional reading):
• Once There Was a Caterpillar, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordo
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Anita Ganeri
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Bari Weisman
• A Frog’s Life, by Ellen Lawrence
• From Tadpole to Frog, by Anita Ganeri
• Once There Was a Tadpole, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordon
• A Chicken’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann
• From Egg to Chicken, by Anita Ganeri
Websites
• Eagle hatching video (3:45): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/
(Lesson 10)
• Raptor Resource Project Decorah Eagle Cam:
http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html (Lesson 10+)
• Lesson 11: Hatchlings and Newborns video (1:45):
http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/
• Optional: A frog’s life from egg to life on land, narrated by a child of about kindergarten age (2:50):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs (Lesson 9)
• Optional: frog jokes, frog games, and the like: http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml. (Lessons 8 and 9)
Teacher Resources
• Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and
animals: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/
• Optional: Prints of plants and animals are available at the Royal Society Print Shop:
http://prints.royalsociety.org/, and includes many old scientific observations of animals and plants, e.g., a bean
sprouting (1675): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting; the life cycle of a moth
(1818): http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_Pine_hawk_moth
o For the science center: print(s) of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575):
http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant, and
contemporary photos of both animals.
• Information about growing and raising frogs: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/.
Materials
• Chart paper and markers
• Science/observation journals
• Bean plants (sprouted and planted in Lessons 1-6)
• Demonstration plant with seeds/beans planted prior to the beginning of the unit
Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Literacy, recall information from experiences or gather information from
Kindergarten provided sources to answer a question.
Unit: Life Cycles CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read
Time: 45 minutes for each lesson aloud or information presented orally or through other media by
Lessons 7–12: Animal Life Cycles and the CEPA asking and answering questions about key details and requesting
clarification if something is not understood.
Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in these lessons: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays
Science to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired
humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals through conversations, reading and being read to, and
get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own responding to texts.
food and need light to live and grow.
K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life Essential Question(s) addressed in these lessons
cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make Q1. Do plants and animals go through the same changes during
more seeds, and die; and b. animals are born, develop and grow, their lives?
produce young, and die. Q2. Do plants get old the way animals do?
Q3. How can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking?
English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and Objectives
answer questions about key details in a text. • Students will understand that an animal’s life cycle includes
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify hatching or being born, growing and developing, having
the main topic and retell key details of a text. babies, and dying.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe • Students will understand that animals need water, food, and
the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces air to grow and develop.
of information in a text. • Students will understand that a life cycle is a pattern of
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and changes in the lives of plants or animals.
answer questions about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe What students should know and be able to do before
the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they starting these lessons:
appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an • What a life cycle is.
illustration depicts). • What plants need to grow.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading • How to record observations through drawing and writing.
activities with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions
and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which • All baby animals look like their parents.
they name what they are writing about and supply some • Plants and animals do not have much in common.
information about the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults,
Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions for Teacher o Lesson 8: For fun in the science center, print copies of a
• Review the strand map in the General Resources and Notes rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575):
section (page 12), which lays out the continuum between http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_co
prekindergarten and grade 1 for standards K-LS1-1 and K- mbat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant. Find photos of
LS1-2 (MA), providing context for the content and both animals for students to compare with the print.
expectations for these standards. Although not about life cycles or frogs, the activity may
• Preview read-aloud books before lessons. Number pages for build observation skills. Other fanciful renditions of apes
easy reference if they are not already numbered. and supposed animals are also available for comparisons.
• Preview videos before lessons. Cue videos and test play them • Lessons 8 and 9: Some students may be interested in more
before lessons to make sure equipment is working. Review information about raising frogs:
the optional videos. http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/, which includes some
• Prepare the science center for recommended- and other additional facts about tadpoles and frogs.
activities. • For pointers about talking to young children about death,
• Before each lesson, prepare relevant charts. including death of plants, insects and animals see:
o Charts for creating diagrams of stages in an animal’s life http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-
cycle. You can copy/print pictures of butterflies (Lesson parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/.
7), frogs (Lessons 8 and 9), and chickens (Lesson 10) at • Lesson 12: The last step of the CEPA is for students to review
different stages, or you can draw illustrations. each others’ work. Decide how to organize students to make
o Create a KWL chart about animal life cycles (to be used in this run smoothly. They could be divided in half, so that half of
several lessons) with three columns, or project a digital the students can display their response to the question and
document on a screen. answer questions while the other half of the students visit.
o Chart entitled, What to Observe (Lesson 9). (Each student should visit only one to three other students’
• Life cycles for the butterfly and other creatures may be found displays). If there’s time, students might also enjoy sharing
through a search for images. their science journal and their learning from the journal.
• Optional: Make color copies or projecting prints of plants and Additional help from an assistant, another teacher or
animals from the Royal Society Print Shop specialist, or parent(s) should be arranged in advance.
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/). Scientific observations of
animals and plants from the past can be seen. For plants see, Assessment
for example, the print of a bean sprouting (1675) • Observe small-group and whole-class discussion
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouti participation and note individual and group understanding of
ng); or a pea plant’s life cycle (1750) key concepts.
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum); for • Review observation journals and other student writing for
animals, the life cycle of a moth (1818): evidence of developing skills and concepts and identify needs
http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580481/Life_cycle_of_the_ for individual and/or group reinforcement.
Pine_hawk_moth. Students should be told that such • Assess student science journals (observations and
illustrations were needed before the camera was invented. explanatory text) using the CEPA Rubric.
Lesson 7 (45 minutes) A Butterfly’s Life Cycle caterpillar. What did they look like? Where were they? What
were they doing?
Language Objectives • Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about what
• Students will discuss the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. they observe in the pictures on pages 8 and 9. Explain that
• Students will discuss what caterpillars and butterflies need scientists try to observe as many details as they can. Discuss
to grow. responses as a group, probing for close, detail-oriented
• Students will talk about their observations of their bean observations (e.g., the caterpillar looks like it has tiny hairs
plants. all over its body).
• Continue reading, stopping after page 13. Ask students to
Targeted Academic Language Turn and Talk with their groups about how the caterpillar on
• Butterfly, egg, caterpillar, hatch page 13 has changed compared to the one on page 9. Discuss
responses as a group, probing for detail-oriented
Note: The T-chart in the lesson opening about if plants get old as observations.
well as the discussing during the lesson comparing a caterpillar’s • Read through page 17. Ask students to Turn and Talk with a
growth to a human’s growth will provide students with practice partner about how caterpillar growth is similar to and
making a claim and explaining their reasoning. different from human growth (e.g., both caterpillars and
humans grow bigger when we eat; our skin grows with us; a
Lesson Opening (10 minutes) caterpillar molts or loses its skin when it gets too big and
• Tell students that they are going to learn about the life cycles ours does not). Discuss responses as a group, clarifying
of animals. understanding as needed.
• Start a T-chart with students’ responses to the question: Do • After reading through page 21, ask students what they think
animals get old? Also note comments about how they know. crawls out of the chrysalis. Ask them to Turn and Talk with
• Note that you are going to start this part of the unit with the their groups about what they observe in the picture on pages
life cycle of a butterfly. Ask students to help you to write the 20 and 21. Discuss responses as a group, probing for detailed
word butterfly. observations.
• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what • Continue reading through page 25. Ask what the butterfly is
they know and what questions they have about the life cycle doing for the flowers while eating their nectar. Explain that
of a butterfly. Discuss responses as a group and record them like bees, butterflies are pollinators, which help plants to
in the K and W sections of the KWL chart about animal life make new seeds.
cycles. o Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what
caterpillars and butterflies need to grow. Discuss
During the Lesson (25 minutes) responses as a group. Record them on chart paper.
• Tell students that you are going to read a book called Born to • Continue reading to the end (page 31). Ask students to Turn
Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace. Distribute copies of the and Talk with a partner about the stages of a butterfly’s life
book to small groups of students. cycle.
• Begin reading. Stop after page 9. Introduce the words
caterpillar and hatch. Ask students if they have ever seen a
• Discuss the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle as a class. Create a Targeted Academic Language
diagram of a its life cycle like the one you made for a plant’s • Frog, tadpole, mature
life cycle, starting with a title and a circle.
o Discuss each stage, one at a time (Stage 1: Hatch; Stage 2: Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
Grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs; Stage 4: Die). Write • Tell students they are going to learn about the life cycle of a
the stage. frog.
o Then ask students to explain what happens (e.g., • Ask students to help you to write the word frog.
butterflies lay eggs on leaves). Record information on the • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what
diagram. Draw a simple illustration (or use pictures they know and what questions they have about the life cycle
copied from books or the Internet). Remind students to of a frog. Discuss responses as a group and record them in
use their books as a resource. the K and W sections of a KWL chart about animal life cycles.
• Revisit the KWL chart. Ask what students have learned about
the life cycle of a butterfly and record responses in the L During the Lesson (25 minutes)
section. Check to see which of their questions were answered • Tell students that you are going to read a book called Frogs,
and if any remain that can be answered through discussion by Gail Gibbons. Show the cover and distribute copies of the
or consulting the book. book to small groups of students.
• Begin reading on page 1 (before the actual title page -- “It is
Lesson Closing (10 minutes) springtime at a pond.”). Stop after page 7. Ask students to
• Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take Turn and Talk about how the life cycle of a frog begins.
place during a butterfly’s life. You may assist some students Discuss responses.
by writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use the book • Continue reading through page 11. Introduce the word
to help them. tadpole. Ask students to Turn and Talk about what happens
• Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe when tadpoles hatch from their eggs. Discuss responses,
any changes since the previous observation. Ask them to probing for clarification and elaboration.
follow the steps to record their observations in their science • Read through page 15. Ask students to Turn and Talk about
journals by drawing what they see and describing it in how tadpoles change as they grow and develop. Discuss
writing. Remind students of what makes a good observation. responses, probing for clarification and elaboration.
Assist students as needed. • Continue reading through page 19. Ask students to Turn and
Talk about what happens when tadpoles become frogs.
Discuss responses.
Lesson 8 (45 minutes) A Frog’s Life Cycle • Introduce the word mature. Explain that animals must be
mature (adult/grown up) to have babies -- the third stage in
Language Objectives an animal’s life cycle.
• Students will discuss the stages of a frog’s life cycle. • Ask students what happens at the end of a frog’s life. Explain
• Students will talk about how a frog’s life cycle compares to a that like all plants and animals, frogs die, but the life cycle
butterfly’s life cycle. continues with their eggs hatching and those tadpoles
developing into frogs.
• On chart paper create a diagram of a frog’s life cycle (Stage 1: o Afterwards, ask students if they think the artist had ever
Begin as an egg; Stage 2: Grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs; actually seen a rhinoceros or elephant.
Stage 4: Die) by drawing a circle and labeling the four stages
(or search for an image to project). Invite students to help
you to identify the stages. Lesson 9 (45 minutes) Making Observations
• Next, students will work in groups of three to make posters
explaining each stage of a frog’s life cycle. Language Objectives
o Ask each student to write and draw about one of the • Students will discuss what to observe, including examples.
stages of growth. Show them how to label their pages • Students will discuss what tadpoles and frogs need to grow.
(e.g., Stage 1: Begin as an egg) and then write and draw • Students will talk about their observations of their bean
about that stage (e.g., Frogs lay eggs in water). plants.
o Then, ask them to put their stage pages together on a
piece of chart paper and add the fourth stage together to Targeted Academic Language
create a poster of the whole life cycle of a frog,. • Height, texture
o Pair groups with each other to take turns explaining their
frog life cycle posters. Lesson Opening (10 minutes)
• Hang posters where everyone can see. • Tell students that you are going to talk more today about
what makes a good observation.
Lesson Closing (10 minutes) • Ask students to look at their science journals and think about
• Show students the diagram of a butterfly’s life cycle from the details that they see as they watch their bean plants
Lesson 8 and a diagram of a frog’s life cycle from Lesson 9. change over time.
Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what is o Then, ask them to Turn and Talk with a partner about
similar and different about the two animals’ life cycles. Then what kinds of details they have been observing. Discuss
ask for some examples of similarities and differences. responses as a group.
o Show the chart entitled: What to Observe. Make a list of
Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day) the details that students have been observing and
• Students can listen to someone complete the reading of Frogs, recording (e.g., size, color, shape, etc.). Prompt students
by Gail Gibbons, pages 20 through 29. Students can discuss as needed, using examples from their science journals.
one or two facts they each learned about a frog’s life. • Introduce the word height. Note that height is something that
• Print or project the image of a rhinoceros and elephant changes a lot during the growth and development stage for
fighting (1575): both plants and animals.
http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_comba
t_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant. Children can compare During the Lesson (25 minutes)
this with contemporary photos of these animals. (There are • Tell students that you are going to read another book about
also fanciful renditions of apes and monkeys as well as some observing life cycles: Growing Frogs, by Vivian French and
animals only rumored to exist that could be used). illustrated by Alison Bartlett. Distribute copies of the book to
small groups of students.
• Show the cover and ask students to Turn and Talk with their • Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take
groups about what the cover illustrations show. Discuss place during a frog’s life. You may assist some students by
responses. writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use both frog
• Ask students to listen for the observations that the girl and books to help them.
her mother make about growing frogs.
• Begin reading. Stop after page 9. Ask students what Lesson Closing (10 minutes)
observations the girl made. Read the sentence, “The water • Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe
was dark brown and there was gray jelly stuff floating on the any changes since the previous observation.
top.” Ask students what observations the mother made. o Ask them to follow the steps to record their observations
• Read the sentence, “The frogs were croaking so loudly, I in their science journals by drawing what they see and
couldn’t get to sleep.” Revisit the list of What to Observe. Ask describing it in writing. Remind students of what they
students if they have anything to add (e.g., sounds). Note that discussed earlier about what to observe. Assist students
while they might not hear much sound when observing as needed.
plants, they might when observing animals (e.g., when frogs
look for a mate). Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day)
• Read through page 13. Ask students what observations the • Ask students to record observations of demonstration
girl made. Add “how many” to list of What to Observe. Ask if plant(s) you started before beginning the unit. They can
anyone has counted how many leaves a bean plant had and measure and compare the height of each of the
included that in their science journal. demonstration plants with the height of the ones they
• Continue reading through page 15. Ask students to Turn and planted.
Talk with their groups about what the girl observed. • Ask them to review the T-chart about what they know about
• Read through page 17. Ask students to Turn and Talk with plants and animals growing old. Do they have anything to
their groups about what the girl observed on these pages. add about animals? Have they changed their minds about
• After reading through page 19, revisit the list of What to anything they may have suggested in earlier lessons?
Observe. Ask students if they have anything to add (e.g., how • View a video of the life cycle of a frog from egg to life outside
something feels). the water (2:49 minutes), narrated by a child of about
• Introduce the word texture. Ask if anyone has recorded kindergarten age:
observations of texture in their science journals (e.g., soaked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs.
beans were wrinkly on the outside and smooth on the inside).
• Continue reading through page 25. Ask students to Turn and
Talk with their groups about the changes that the girl Lesson 10 (45 minutes) A Bird’s Life Cycle
observed in the tadpoles as they changed into frogs while
looking together at pages 22 through 24. Discuss responses. Language Objectives
• Read to the end (page 29). Ask students to Turn and Talk • Students will talk about the stages in bird’s life cycle.
with their groups about what tadpoles and frogs need to • Students will talk about what seeds and eggs have in
grow. Discuss responses as a group and record them on chart common.
paper.
• Students will discuss how the life cycles of birds, frogs, o Ask students to Turn and Talk with their groups about
butterflies, and humans compare. what they think that they will learn about from this book.
• Explain that if you want to find where in the book a
Targeted Academic Language particular topic is explained, you can go directly to the page
• Rooster, hen, chick, yolk number listed. Show an example (e.g., find “Inside an Egg” in
the contents, then turn to page 10).
Lesson Opening (10 minutes) o Ask students to try it for themselves (e.g., ask students to
• Tell students that they are going to learn about the life cycle use the table of contents to find the page where hatching
of birds. is explained).
• Ask them to Turn and Talk with a partner about what they • Read through page 9. Check to see if students know what
know, and what questions they have about the life cycle of a roosters, hens, and chicks are and clarify if necessary. Ask
bird compared to a plant’s life cycle or to our life cycle. students to Turn and Talk with a partner about how a
Discuss responses as a group and record them in K and W chicken’s life cycle begins.
sections of the KWL chart about animal life cycles. • Continue reading through page 13. Introduce the word yolk.
• Ask students to watch the “Hatching” video Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about how
(http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.h seeds and eggs are similar (e.g., they both need warmth to
atching/hatching/) and observe how the eagle parents care start growing; they both include stored food for the new life
for their newly hatched chicks. Watch the last minute of the that is developing). Discuss responses as a group.
“Hatching” video (starting at 2:45) without the sound. • After reading through page 17, ask students to Turn and Talk
• Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about what with a partner about what is alike and what is different about
they observed. What did the eagle parents do to take care of the hatching of chicks, tadpoles, and caterpillars. Discuss
their chicks? Discuss responses as a group. responses as a group.
o Ask students to compare what eagle parents do to take • Continue reading through page 21. Ask students to Turn and
care of their chicks with what their parents do to take Talk with a partner about what chickens need to grow.
care of them (e.g., feed them). Discuss responses as a group and record them on chart paper.
• Ask students what happens at the end of a chicken’s life.
During the Lesson (25 minutes) Explain that like all plants and animals, chickens die, but the
• Distribute copies of One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury to small life cycle continues with their eggs hatching and those chicks
groups of students. maturing into roosters and hens that will have eggs (and
• Show the cover and ask students to Turn and Talk with their chicks) of their own.
groups about what they think the book is about, based on the o Note that chickens, and most birds, go through several
cover illustrations. Discuss responses. egg-laying cycles and may live beyond that. Correct any
• Show the table of contents and explain that you can tell more misconceptions that chickens (or other birds) die after
about what is in a book from the table of contents. Ask one generation of chicks.
students to turn to the table of contents and look at it while • Ask students to compare how long chickens live (3 to 7 years)
you read it aloud. with how long humans live (78-79 years on average).
• Ask students to help you to make a diagram of the life cycle Lesson 11 (45 minutes) What Animals and Plants Need to
of a bird by explaining each stage as you record it (Stage 1: Grow
Egg; Stage 2: Hatch, grow and develop; Stage 3: Lay eggs;
Stage 4: Die). Draw simple illustrations (or use pictures Language Objectives
copied from books or search for pictures on the Internet). • Students will talk about the stages of different animals’ life
• Review the life cycle diagrams for butterflies, frogs, and birds. cycles.
Ask students to Turn and Talk about how they compare. How • Students will discuss how animal life cycles compare to plant
are they alike? How are they different? life cycles and to each other.
• Ask students to write and draw about the changes that take • Students will talk about their observations of their bean
place during a chicken’s life. You may assist some students by plants.
writing what they dictate. Encourage them to use the book to
help them. Targeted Academic Language
• Born, young, adult
Lesson Closing (10 minutes)
• Place all life cycle diagrams in view. Ask students to think Lesson Opening (5 minutes)
about the life cycles of plants and animals and how they are • Show the “Hatchlings and Newborns” video (1:45 minutes):
alike. http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cy
o Ask them to Turn and Talk about Essential Question 1: c.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/.
Do plants and animals go through the same changes • Ask students to Turn and Talk about how the beginning of an
during their lives? Discuss responses as a group and animal’s life cycle compares to the beginning of a plant’s life
record them on anchor chart for Essential Question 1. cycle. How are they similar? How are they different? Discuss
responses as a group.
Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day)
• Show students the Decorah eagles' nest via live webcam: During the Lesson (15 minutes)
http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle • Distribute copies of the book Animal Life Cycles, by Anita
_xcel.html. The “About the Eagles” button will take you to Ganeri, to small groups of students. Show students the book’s
video links (e.g., “04/07/2014: 3rd Eaglet Hatches in cover and read the title. Ask them to Turn and Talk with a
Decorah”) to view historic moments in young eagles’ lives. partner about what the cover picture shows and why they
• Return to the site from time to time to keep tabs on the birth think it was chosen.
and growth process. (This could be on ongoing activity for • Read through page 7. Introduce the word young, including its
the science center beyond the time of this unit.) use as both an adjective and a noun. Ask students what “have
their own young” means. Discuss responses as a group and
record them on chart paper.
• Continue reading through page 13. Introduce the word adult,
explaining that adult animals are full grown (or mature) and
ready to have their own babies.
o Ask students if this is at all similar to a plant’s life cycle o Encourage them to use vocabulary that has been
(i.e., mature and ready to make seeds). introduced to describe what is common across life cycles
• Ask students to compare the illustrations on pages 10 and 12, of all animals (e.g., Stage 1: Begin – animals hatch from
then Turn and Talk with their groups about what is different eggs or are born from their mother’s bodies).
about the two types of insect life cycles. Discuss responses as
a group, clarifying understanding as needed. Science Center (during lesson or at another time in the day)
o Ask students which type of insect life cycle a butterfly has • Ask students to look closely at their bean plants and observe
(it starts as a larva, meaning in a different form from the any changes since the last observation. Ask them to follow
parent). the steps for making a good observation as they draw what
• Continue reading. Stop after page 17. Ask students to Turn they see and write in their science journals. Assist them as
and Talk with their groups about the similarities and needed.
differences between how fish and frogs hatch (e.g., both • Show the charts of diagrams of a plant’s life cycle and an
hatch from eggs in water, but fish look like their parents; animal’s life cycle side by side. Ask students to Turn and Talk
frogs start out in a different form and look like fish). Discuss about how they are alike and how they are different.
responses as a group, clarifying understanding as needed. • Discuss responses as a group. Revisit the anchor chart for
• Review charts from previous lessons about animals about Essential Question 1: Do plants and animals go through the
what butterflies, frogs, and chickens need to grow. Ask same changes during their lives? Ask if students have
students to Turn and Talk about what they think all animals, anything to add.
including us, need to grow. Discuss responses as a group and
record them on a chart, entitled, What Animals Need to Grow.
Clarify that all animals need food, water, and air to grow. Lesson 12 (45 minutes) CEPA
• Return to and review the chart, What Plants Need to Grow.
• Ask students to Turn and Talk about comparing what Note: If needed this lesson can take more than one day.
animals need to grow and what plants need to grow. Discuss
responses as a group, addressing what is similar and what is Language Objectives
different (e.g., both plants and animals need food to grow, • Students will talk about what animal life cycles have in
but plants make their own food, while animals eat plants or common and how they compare to plant life cycles.
other animals). • Students will discuss whether plants get old.
Lesson Closing (15 minutes) Targeted Academic Language
• Read the remainder of Animal Life Cycles (pages 18-page 29), • Old, common
answering questions as they come up.
• Ask students to help you to make a diagram titled “Animal Lesson Opening (10-15 minutes)
Life Cycle” by explaining each stage as you record it (Stage 1: • Ask students to Turn and Talk with a partner about the
Begin – emerge from eggs or live birth; Stage 2: Grow and following questions:
develop; Stage 3: Have eggs/babies; Stage 4: Old age and o What happens to people or animals when they get old?
death).
o Does the same thing happen to people as happens to Lesson Closing (5 minutes)
animals? What happens to plants? • Ask students to review what they have done in their science
o How do you know? journals so far, and think about Essential Question 3: How
can I use words and pictures to explain my thinking?
During the Lesson (25-30 minutes) o Revisit the anchor chart for this Essential Question.
• Discuss the CEPA instructions with students. (Students will
write, dictate and/or draw a response to Essential Question 2: Lesson and Unit Closing
Do plants get old the way animals do? and explain their • To finish the unit on the life cycles of plants and animals, ask
thinking). students to discuss Essential Question 1: Do plants and
o Give students some time to review books, videos, their animals go through the same changes during their lives?
own science journals and think about how they to write • Give each student his or her plant to take home, with brief
and draw their answer to the Essential Question. instructions to ensure that each plant needs to have water
o Give students a chance to write, draw, or dictate their and light.
response.
o Ask students if they have anything to add to what they
wrote or said about how people, plants and animals
growing old.
o Give students a chance to share their responses. Note the
importance of specific details, and evidence.
o Discuss some of the responses, probing for elaboration
and clarification to check comprehension.
• After work is finished, have students take their responses to
display or share with their fellow students in a designated
area.
• Provide sufficient time for students to review, discuss and
ask/answer questions about each other’s work.
Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA)
Teacher Instructions
Performance Task (PT): Students respond to Essential Question 2: Do plants get old the way that animals do? Students can use a combination of
drawing, writing, and dictating to answer this question. With teacher guidance and support, they use their science journals, their own knowledge,
books read, and videos seen as sources to explain and support their claim and reasoning with evidence. On the final day, they display their
responses to some of their peers, and answer questions about their response.
Goal: The goal is for students to explain their claim as well as demonstrating their observation skills and their understanding of the life cycles of
plants and animals.
Audience: Students will share their response with each other, their teachers, and their families.
Directions: Although this exercise builds on the entire unit, the specific task is done over Lessons 12.
• Arrange for assistance (e.g., assistants, specialists, volunteers) to help students with dictation and writing, and for the display and question
and answer activity.
• Decide how to divide the class into small groups in which students can display, explain, discuss and answer questions about their responses to
the Essential Question. Each student should visit only one to three other students’ displays.
• Physically arrange the classroom for students to display their work and discuss it in small groups.
• Decide on the approximate amount time for students (or small groups) to review and ask questions about each others’ science journals.
Standards Assessed
Science
K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants
or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow.
K-LS1-2 (MA) Recognize that all plants and animals have a life cycle: a. most plants begin as seeds, develop and grow, make more seeds, and die;
and b. animals are born, develop and grow, produce young, and die.
English Language Arts

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name
what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA)
Student Instructions
Performance Task (PT): You will use your science journal to respond to the question: Do plants grow old the way
animals do? You can review books, videos, your own science journal, and your observations of your own plant and
other plants we looked at in class. You may write or dictate your answer, and illustrate your work.
Goal: Is to explain your idea and to show your observation skills, your understanding of what plants and animals
need to grow, and your understanding of the life cycles of plants and animals.
Audience: The audience is your classmates, teacher and family.
Directions
• Think and look at the books we read and the videos we watched, the activities in the science center, and your
own science journal about the life cycles of plants and animals.
• Using pictures and words, explain your answer to the question: Do plants get old the same way that animals do?
and how you know.
• On the last day, you and your classmates will visit each other to discuss your science journals in small groups.
You will have a chance to explain your ideas and ask questions about others’ ideas.
CEPA Rubric
Science journals: 4 Exceeds Expectations 3 Meets expectations 2 Developing 1 Emerging
observations and
explanations
Idea development Students make a claim and Students make a claim and Students make a claim and Students make a claim and
explain their reasoning with explain their reasoning with provide some explanation of provide little explanation of
evidence. evidence. their reasoning with their reasoning or evidence.
Written/dictated/drawn evidence.
observations and explanations Written/dictated/drawn Written/dictated/drawn Written/dictated/drawn
include key ideas about aging observations and observations and observations and
and life cycles and include explanations identify ideas explanations include some explanations show little
specific supporting evidence. about aging and life cycles are ideas and organization, and organization and few details
organized and include some include related details or or little/no evidence.
supporting evidence. evidence
Scientific accuracy Observations and explanations Most of the observations and Some observations and Observations and
pertaining to the life cycles of explanations about the life explanations of the life explanation of the life cycles
plants and animals are cycles of plants and animals cycles of plants and animals of plants and/or animals are
thorough and accurate. are accurate. are accurate minimal.
Vocabulary and Academic vocabulary and Academic vocabulary and Occasional use of academic Academic vocabulary or
language language are used to convey language are relevant and vocabulary and language language is minimal,
ideas clearly and descriptively. convey ideas clearly. helps convey ideas. incorrect or unclear.
Illustrations Drawings/illustrations include Drawings/illustrations Some drawings/illustrations Drawings/illustrations

specific details that are clear include details that are mostly include some details that include few details and/or
and accurate. accurate. reflect the subject. inaccurate.
Unit Resources
All Lessons (1-6)
Recommended texts for students (optional additional reading):
• How a Seed Grows, by Helene Jordan
• Once There Was a Seed, by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon
• A Bean’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann
• From Bean to Bean Plant, by Anita Ganeri
• From Seed to Apple, by Anita Ganeri
Teacher Resources
• Primer on plants: The Great Plant Escape, University of IL Extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html
• “From Seed to Fruit” video (2:01): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seed/from-seed-to-fruit/
• “From Seed to Fruit” interactive: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/from-seed-to-fruit-interactive/
• “Making Observations of Leaves” (3:33): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdpd12.pd.sci.obleave/making-observations-of-leaves/
• Various plant videos: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/search/?q=growing+plants&selected_facets
• Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including the death of plants, insects and animals:
http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/
• Royal Society Print Shop: http://prints.royalsociety.org/: a bean sprouting (1675)
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/579685/A_bean_sprouting) or the phases of a pea plant’s life cycle from 1750
(http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/580700/Pisum)
Materials
• Recommended: one or more demonstration plants started prior to the unit
• Science journals (for all students)
• Materials for the science center
• Drawing/writing tools
• Students’ sprouting and developing beans (or other seeds)
Lesson 1
Texts (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book)
• One Bean, by Anne Rockwell
Websites
• “Wisconsin Fast Plants Life Cycle Time Lapse” (1:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumEfAbjBjk and/or “Fantastic Nature
Photography of Plant Growth of Brambles” (1:38): http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=6445&CategoryID=2304
• Germinator activity instructions: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html
• “Germinator” video (2:10): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.germinator/germinator/
Materials
• For growing seeds:
o seeds (e.g., presoaked beans)
o clear bags with zip tops or plastic cups
o paper towels or black construction paper
o watering cans or containers (Lesson 1)
• Dried beans (Lesson 1) and other a collection of other seeds (for science center)
Lesson 2
• From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
Materials
• A flowering plant (ideally a lily, daffodil, tulip, iris, or other flower with visible pollen)
• Presoaked beans
Lesson 3
• Plant Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri
Websites
• “From Seed to Flower” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/from-seed-to-flower/
Materials
• Germinating beans
Lesson 4
• From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer
Websites
• “Flower Power” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-105e84f2511f/7029ed58-adaa-43d6-a46a-
105e84f2511f/
Materials
• Several apples, cut in half
Lesson 5
• A Tree Is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Lesson 6
Materials
• Large plastic cups (one per student)
• Potting soil
All Lessons (7-12)
Recommended text for students (optional additional reading):
• Once There Was a Caterpillar, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordo
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Anita Ganeri
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Bari Weisman
• A Frog’s Life, by Ellen Lawrence
• From Tadpole to Frog, by Anita Ganeri
• Once There Was a Tadpole, by Judith Anderson, illustrated by Mike Gordon
• A Chicken’s Life, by Nancy Dickmann
• From Egg to Chicken, by Anita Ganeri
Materials
• Science/observation journals
• Bean plants (grown in previous lessons)
Lesson 7
• Born to Be a Butterfly, by Karen Wallace
Lessons 8 and 9
Text (one copy for read-aloud, six copies for small groups to look at the book)
• Frogs, by Gail Gibbons
• Growing Frogs, by Vivian French, illustrated by Alison Bartlett
Websites
• Optional: frog jokes, frog games, and the like: http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml. Growing and raising frogs: see, for example:
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/
• Information about raising frogs: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/
• Optional: A frog’s life from egg to life on land, narrated by a child of about kindergarten age:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs
• For science center: print(s) of a rhinoceros and elephant fighting (1575):
http://prints.royalsociety.org/art/578807/Figure_du_combat_du_Rhinoceros_contre_lElephant, and contemporary photos of both animals.
Lesson 10
• One Egg, by Louise Spilsbury
Websites
• “Hatching” video (eagle): http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/hatching/
• Raptor Resource Project, Decorah Eagle Cam: http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html
Lessons 11 and 12
• Animal Life Cycles, by Anita Ganeri
Websites
• “Hatchlings and Newborns” video: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.cyc.newborns/hatchlings-and-newborns/
Teacher Resource
• Child Development Institute: Talking to young children about death, including some information about death of plants, insects and animals:
http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-death/

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Life Cycles:

Content Literacy Science

General Resources and Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Lessons 1–6 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 14

Lessons 7–12 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 28

CEPA Teacher Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 41

CEPA Student Instructions ............................................................................................................................................... 42

CEPA Rubric ............................................................................................................................................................................ 43

Unit Resources ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Lessons 7–12: Animal Life Cycles and the CEPA

Practices throughout the Unit

Reading Response Formats

Prior Knowledge Required:

Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson

Resources for Lessons

Prior Knowledge Required: Skills and knowledge from previous lessons

Estimated Time: 45 minutes per lesson

Resources for Lessons

English Language Arts

Audience: The audience is your classmates, teacher and family.

Illustrations Drawings/illustrations include Drawings/illustrations Some drawings/illustrations Drawings/illustrations

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