Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Exploring Plant Growth

Objectives:
Students will be able to identify and describe the basic needs of plant growth and survival.
Students will demonstrate their understanding by investigating to determine what plants need for
their growth.
Students will be able to conduct investigations using various digital tools, class discussions, and
small group activities to determine the essential requirements for plant growth.

State Standards: 2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine what plants need to grow.

Context: I will be teaching this particular lesson because it is important for my young students
to understand the interdependent relationships in ecosystems. This lesson is the first in its unit so
there is no prior lesson in this unit. The unit before this unit is the “Matter and its Interactions”
unit. The current unit is called “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics”. In the next
lesson, they will be learning about pollination and seeding. The students should not have
previous knowledge on this topic considering it is a brand new unit and they are in second
grade.To get my students ready for the next lesson/topic I will create a bridge and teach the
connections between both units. For example, this lesson discusses the growth of plants the next
lesson is about the food they create. After plants grow they have a responsibility in life as
another living organism, they create food.
Data: The students will be grouped into random, mixed groups. Most likely they will be grouped
by the areas they are sitting at.
Materials: Flowerpots, Seeds, Soil, Watering cups or cans, sunlight source, paper, markers,
crayons and colored pencils, computers or tablets (with internet access), EdPuzzle. Websites are
linked through the procedure portion.
Procedures:
Introduction (10 minutes): For the first few minutes the teacher will explain that plants
depend on air, water, minerals (in the soil), and light to grow. Explain and instill in their heads
the significance of sunlight and water on plant's lives. Also describe the different plants survive
better in different settings because they have varied needs for water, minerals, and sunlight. Next
after a brief lecture lesson, the teacher will divide the 24 students in the 2nd-grade class into 3
groups creating, 8 students in each group and assigning which rotation each group will go to.
 Teacher Directed (15 minutes): For the teacher-directed instruction the students will be
planting seeds in a pot. The group at this rotation will plant seeds in 3 pots which should end up
with a total of 9 seeded pots at the end of this blended learning lesson plan. The students in this
group will be given a potted plant, seeds, soil, and a watering cup. The teacher will provide
hands-on aid to the students currently planting the seeds and soil in the pot. The teacher will
ensure the students are understanding the process. After the students conclude planting the seeds
they will discuss where the best place is to place the plant and predict what they think their plant
needs to grow. They will write all their ideas in their notebooks.

Collaborative (15 minutes): For the collaborative portion of the blended learning lesson
plan they will watch a video about plant growth that will explain the key factors necessary for a
successfully grown plant. This video will be on EdPuzzle, https://youtu.be/Gskasi4-O3E?
si=1eqYx9wIoWpKTOgm, and will have questions that go along with the video. The students in
this group will watch the video and when the questions come up, they will discuss them and
answer them together. After the 7-minute video, the students will create a basic drawing on
printer paper divided in half of what they think a seeded pot watered in sunlight on the left side
of the paper and on the right a seeded pot that gets no sunlight and no water. Only one drawing
per group.

Independent Digital (15 minutes): At this rotation, students will be working

independently with no conversation. They will be working on tablets or computers with
headphones on. They will play a game called “parts of the plant”
https://www.tinytap.com/activities/g3bj6/play/parts-of-the-plant and must get a full 3 stars on
that activity and screenshot it and turn it in on Google Classroom. After completing that will
have the option to play any of the following educational interactive games,
https://pbskids.org/sid/games/vegetable-planting,OR
https://www.abcya.com/games/let_me_grow OR
https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantsgrow.html OR
https://pbskids.org/sesame/games/ready-set-grow/.

Closure (10 minutes): Students will return to their personal desks and the teacher will
call on each group to discuss briefly about their findings throughout the rotations. Next, the
teacher will ask for the students to identify the essential elements for plant growth. The teacher
will then wrap up the lesson by summarizing the key points and concepts of plant growth.
Rationale: You must have at least two paragraphs (one for each mandatory piece of
multimedia)

EdPuzzle: This is a highly beneficial tool to be used in a classroom due to its engaging
experience of asking questions mid-video. This ensures that the students are actively
listening rather than just guessing to get to the end of the video. Edpuzzle facilitates a
more dynamic and student-centered learning environment, enhancing students' overall
comprehension. It also helps a teacher see what part of the topic/unit some students may
not be understanding/struggling with and you can adjust your teaching with those
statistics.

“YouTube Video: Do Plants Need Water and Sunlight to Grow?”: This video is
extremely educational and thorough. This video walks us through the steps we can take
to answer this question (the title), complete with materials and instructions. The pictures
and examples throughout the video are perfect for the lesson. The video also has very
attention-grabbing visuals that will help the students grasp the concept. It has many
animations shapes colors etc. which will be very useful when it comes to a child's
attention span.

“Website: Parts of the plant”, “Website: Ready, Set, Grow with Abby and Elmo”,
“Website: PBS Kids, Vegetable Planting”, “Website: ABCYA, Let Me Grow”,
“Website: Science Games for kids, How Plants Grow”: All of the games above are
relatively the same concept. They are interactive website games to help children really
understand and grasp the concept of the necessity of sufficient water and sufficient
sunlight for a plant to grow properly. These games all show success when proper water
and sunlight are provided, which is the exact objective for this topic.