• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (What plants need to grow). 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? (It grows flowers faster. / It turns pale and weak. / It grows greener. / Nothing changes.) → It turns pale and weak.Prompt: What do leaves need to make food?
2. What plants need: which statement is true? (Plants eat soil to get their food. / Plants take in minerals (nutrients) from the soil through their roots. / The more water you give a plant, the better it always grows. / Plants grow best in the dark.) → Plants take in minerals (nutrients) from the soil through their roots.Prompt: Think about what keeps a plant healthy.
3. What plants need: which statement is NOT true? (Plants take in minerals (nutrients) from the soil through their roots. / Plants need water. / Plants eat soil to get their food. / Plants need light to grow well.) → Plants eat soil to get their food.Prompt: One sentence is a common mistake.

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

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Is this a seed or a bulb: sunflower seed?
• Step 1: Seeds are made by flowers and grow into new plants.
• Step 2: So the answer is: seed
• Answer: seed
• 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. Is this a seed or a bulb: sunflower seed? (seed / bulb) → seedPrompt: Seeds are usually small and hard. Bulbs are rounder, with papery layers.
2. Cress seeds are put on damp cotton wool with no soil. What happens? (They still germinate. / They turn into bulbs. / They melt. / Nothing, seeds need soil.) → They still germinate.Prompt: What do seeds really need to start growing?

• 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. What grows first out of a germinating bean? (a root / a fruit / a flower / a new bean) → a rootPrompt: The plant needs to hold on and find water first.
2. Is this a seed or a bulb: pea? (seed / bulb) → seedPrompt: Seeds are usually small and hard. Bulbs are rounder, with papery layers.

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