• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Parts of a plant). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which part of a plant makes food using sunlight? (the stem / the roots / the seeds / the leaves) → the leavesPrompt: Which part is usually green and flat to catch the light?
2. Plant parts: which statement is true? (Leaves take in water from the soil. / Trees are not plants. / A tree trunk is a stem. / Only flowers are part of a plant.) → A tree trunk is a stem.Prompt: Picture a plant from its roots to its flower.
3. The trunk of a tree is a very thick… (leaf / root / flower / stem) → stemPrompt: It holds the tree up.

• Bring in a plant that has been kept in the dark next to one in the light, and ask what happened.
• Share the objective: Test what a plant needs: light and water. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: One plant is kept in a dark cupboard and one on a sunny windowsill. Which grows green and strong?
• Step 1: Plants need light to make food, so the one in the light grows well.
• Step 2: So the answer is: the plant on the windowsill
• Answer: the plant on the windowsill
• 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. Two bean plants are the same. One gets water, one gets none. After a week, what do you see? (The watered plant turned brown. / Both look exactly the same. / The plant with no water grew taller. / The plant with no water is droopy and dry.) → The plant with no water is droopy and dry.Prompt: What happens to a plant left without a drink?
2. Plant experiments: which statement is NOT true? (In a fair test you change only one thing. / Plants grown in the dark often turn pale and weak. / A plant without water will wilt. / Plants grow best in a dark cupboard.) → Plants grow best in a dark cupboard.Prompt: Remember what plants need and what makes a test fair.

• 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. To test if plants need light, what must be the SAME for both plants? (only the colour of the pot matters / the water, the soil and the type of plant / the amount of light / nothing, everything should be different) → the water, the soil and the type of plantPrompt: We only want to change one thing.
2. Plant experiments: which statement is NOT true? (In a fair test you change only one thing. / Plants grown in the dark often turn pale and weak. / A plant without water will wilt. / Plants grow best in a dark cupboard.) → Plants grow best in a dark cupboard.Prompt: Remember what plants need and what makes a test fair.

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