…And sometimes we study plants! (a five-week unit study)

As homeschoolers, we study a lot of things, I mean A LOT!

Mathematics, reading, phonics, language arts, science, history, social studies, foreign language, creative writing, poetry, folk tales, art, music, multi-cultural studies, geography, Bible…and so much more in no specific order!

…and sometimes we study plants!

If you want in on how we did it this year keep reading!! 😉  Our Plant Study was divided into a five-week unit.

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the entire five-week unit, we’d watch a portion of the documentary: What Plants Talk About (runtime: 52 minutes).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrrSAc-vjG4

Week 1: Parts of a Plant

Lesson: 

• Parts of a Plant worksheet

Investigate:

• How water travels through a leaf

Make and Do:

• Journal observations from leaf experiment
• Go on a nature walk to gather plant samples
• Examine plant samples
• Make flower drawings
• Make Chlorophyll Rubbings

Watch:

• The Magic School Bus Gets Planted (on Netflix – S3, Ep.10)

Read:

• Plant (DK Eyewitness Books) by David Burnie
• The Magic School Bus Gets Planted: A Book About Photosynthesis by Bob Ostrom

Week 2: Plants as Food

Lesson: African American Spotlight – George Washington Carver (GWG)

• Use this GWG write up (**use this at your own discretion as it is very in-depth)
• Read: In the Garden with Dr. Carver by Susan Grigsby

Investigate:

• Try this super easy and fun Lima Bean Experiment
• Use the Scientific Method to record results from the experiment (see 2-90 & 2-91 from Scientific Method link)
• Review some of the 300 uses for the peanut that GWG found (see 2-85 & 2-86 from Scientific Method link)

Make and Do:

• Make a scrap book of GWG’s inventions and uses for peanuts from cut up magazine pictures
• Word puzzle (see 2-88 from Scientific Method link)
• Plant your own garden
  • Refer to Get Growing!: Exciting Indoor Plant Projects for Kids by Lois Walker

Watch:

• The Who Was? Show – Genghis Khan and George Washington Carver on Netflix (S1, Ep.10; NOTE: @9:17 the word “hell” is said)

Read:

• Garden to Table: A Kid’s Guide to Planting, Growing and Preparing Food by Katherine Hengel
• Corduroy’s Garden by Alison Inches

Week 3: Seeds & Reproduction

Lesson:

• African Spotlight: Wangari Maathi
  • The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Pre’vot
  • Planting the Trees of Kenya: the Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola
  • Kenya by Michael Burgan
• Discuss conservation and read: Conservation and You by Nicholas Faulkner

Investigate:

• Seed Dissection
• Grafting

Make & Do:

• Parts of a Seed worksheet
• Make journal observations about seed dissection
• Celebrate Wild Flower Week at your own pace! Do as much or as little as you’d like.

Watch:

• The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed (on Netflix S1, Ep.11)

This Crazy Tree Grows 40 Kinds of Fruit

Read:

• The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: All About How Living Things Grow by Joanna Cole
• Oh Say Can You Say Seed by Bonnie Worth
• Jack and the Beanstalk by E. Nesbit

Week 4: Poisonous vs. Medicinal vs. Edible Plants

Lesson:

• Introduction to Herbs

Investigate:

• The Herbal Academy website
• Go foraging!

Make & Do:

• Make homemade pizzas with fresh herbs & spices…don’t be shy! Get fancy if ya like!
• Herbs for Kids Word Search
• Make an herbal infusion (click link & scroll down for directions)

Watch:

Poison Plants Revolutionize Medicine

Read:

• Plants Bite Back by Richard Platt
• Fancy Nancy…Poison Ivy Expert by Jane O’Connor
• A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America by Steven Foster
  

Week 5: Weird and Wonderful Plants

Lesson:

• Giant Trees
  • Giant Sequoias of the Sierra Nevada vs. Redwoods

Investigate:

• Buy a Venus Fly Trap and follow the directions from this lesson plan

Make & Do:

• Explore carnivorous plants

Watch:

Carnivorous Plants

The Corpse Flower: Behind the Stink – NatGeo

Read:

• Corpse Flowers Smell Nasty! by Tayler Cole
• Sundew Stranglers: Plants that Eat Insects by Jerome Wexler
  
• Redwoods by Jason Chin
• Giant Sequoia Trees by Ginger Wadsworth
• Hungry Plants (Step-into-Reading, Step 4) by Mary Batten

** Its important to note that you have the freedom to do as much or as little of this unit as you would like. That’s the beauty of homeschooling! Believe it or not, I wasn’t able to get to everything I planned for this unit either. Sometimes I can be an “over achiever”! Lol Overall, my hope is to expose my kids to a diverse enough spread, that they will eventually “bite” with something. I figure we can always circle back to finish an interesting topic or we can linger a bit longer if something sparks our interest.** 

What’s most important is that you have fun! 

Oh and if you can swing it, its not too late to attend the The Philadelphia Flower Show! It ends this Sunday, March 10th! 

Thanks for reading, until next time friends!

Blessings,

Courtney