Integrated Unit: Plants
by Jessica Jaffe
1. Root Experiment: Dye a white carnation by putting stem in colored water
2. Language & Literacy
2.1. Songs & Poetry
2.1.1. My Garden
2.1.2. The Little Plant
2.1.3. Little Brown Seeds
2.2. Read Alouds
2.2.1. Introduce plant vocabulary
2.3. Observation Journal
3. Mathematics
3.1. Seed Sorting
3.2. Seed Graphing
3.3. Favorite Plant Graph
3.4. Seed Seriation - order various seeds from smallest to largest
3.5. Create index cards with numbers programed on them. Children place that many seeds on the card.
3.6. Uses various seeds to copy, extend, & create patterns.
3.7. Comparing More/Fewer/Same amount of seeds
4. Science
4.1. Parts of a Plant
4.1.1. Edible Plants - children taste all 5 parts of the plant: roots, stem, leaves, flower, seeds
4.1.2. Disect a seed
4.2. Plant Life Cycle
4.2.1. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
4.3. What plants need to survive
4.3.1. Sprout seeds in various places (no sunlight, fresh air etc)
4.4. Observation Journal
5. Social Studies
5.1. How people use plants
5.2. How plants & animals help each other
6. Fine Arts
6.1. Seed Art - glue seeds onto paper to create a picture
6.2. After reading The Tiny Seed, create a picture using spatter art
6.3. Plant imprinting on fabrics
6.4. Use a variety of materilas, tools, & techniques to create artistic representaions of plants.
6.5. Dramatic Play
6.5.1. Farmer's Market
6.5.2. Flower Shop