• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (What plants need to grow; Test what a plant needs: light and water). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. A plant is left in a dark cupboard for two weeks. What will probably happen? (Nothing changes. / It turns pale and weak. / It grows greener. / It grows flowers faster.) → It turns pale and weak.Prompt: What do leaves need to make food?
2. Two bean plants are the same. One gets water, one gets none. After a week, what do you see? (Both look exactly the same. / The watered plant turned brown. / The plant with no water is droopy and dry. / The plant with no water grew taller.) → The plant with no water is droopy and dry.Prompt: What happens to a plant left without a drink?
3. What plants need: which statement is true? (Plants never need water. / The more water you give a plant, the better it always grows. / Plants eat soil to get their food. / Plants take in minerals (nutrients) from the soil through their roots.) → Plants take in minerals (nutrients) from the soil through their roots.Prompt: Think about what keeps a plant healthy.

• Bring in a plant that has been kept in the dark next to one in the light, and ask what happened.
• Share the objective: Plant growth experiments: read the results. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: A sunflower seedling was 3 cm tall on Monday. Two weeks later it was 17 cm tall. How many centimetres did it grow?
• Step 1: 17 − 3 = 14
• Step 2: So the answer is: 14 cm
• Answer: 14 cm
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. A tomato seedling was 3 cm tall on Monday. Two weeks later it was 17 cm tall. How many centimetres did it grow? → 14 cmPrompt: Growth is the change in height.
2. Why is it better to grow five plants in each group instead of just one? (Plants are lonely on their own. / It makes the chart more colourful. / One plant might be unusual; more plants give more reliable results. / More plants make the test faster.) → One plant might be unusual; more plants give more reliable results.Prompt: What if your only plant had a weak seed?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Why is it better to grow five plants in each group instead of just one? (It makes the chart more colourful. / One plant might be unusual; more plants give more reliable results. / Plants are lonely on their own. / More plants make the test faster.) → One plant might be unusual; more plants give more reliable results.Prompt: What if your only plant had a weak seed?
2. A bean plant was 6 cm tall on Monday. Two weeks later it was 11 cm tall. How many centimetres did it grow? → 5 cmPrompt: Growth is the change in height.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-2.