• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Seeds, bulbs and germination). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

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? (Nothing, seeds need soil. / They melt. / They still germinate. / They turn into bulbs.) → They still germinate.Prompt: What do seeds really need to start growing?
3. Which of these is a bulb? (apple pip / onion / pea / sunflower seed) → onionPrompt: Seeds come from inside fruits and pods. Bulbs are round and have papery layers.

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

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: In the life cycle of a bean plant, what comes straight after "plant with flowers"?
• Step 1: bean seed → root and shoot appear → seedling → plant with flowers → pods with new beans
• Step 2: So the answer is: pods with new beans
• Answer: pods with new beans
• 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. In the life cycle of a bean plant, what comes straight after "seedling"? (pods with new beans / plant with flowers / root and shoot appear / bean seed) → plant with flowersPrompt: Picture the plant growing bigger, then making seeds.
2. After pollination, which part of the flower becomes the fruit? (the stem / the petals / the roots / the ovary) → the ovaryPrompt: It is the part that holds the ovules, which become seeds.

• 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 8 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. In the life cycle of a flowering plant, what comes straight after "adult plant"? (seed dispersal / flowering / seedling / pollination) → floweringPrompt: The cycle starts and ends with seeds.
2. Why is it useful for seeds to be spread far from the parent plant? (Because seeds dislike their parents / So the parent plant can eat them / So new plants do not compete with the parent for light, water and space / So they stay in the shade) → So new plants do not compete with the parent for light, water and spacePrompt: What would happen if all the seeds grew right underneath the parent?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.