In this inquiry investigation, students will use basil to see if growing conditions will change the taste of the herb. Students will test basil in different growing conditions while also comparing it to a controlled variable. Students will keep a science journal of their investigation. Also, students will create a poster and lead their own poster session about the results of their investigation.

Students are introduced to pH levels using common household materials. One of the tests will involve testing the pH level of a soil sample. The final culminating activity will be for the students to find a plant and determine what the best soil conditions would be for the plant.

Students will investigate light and shadow in the context of the cloud forest. They will arrive at a correct explanation for how shadows form and begin to develop an understanding of how plants use light.

In this short video, students learn how fire plays an important role in the survival of the plants (such as venus flytraps and longleaf pines) in the habitat of Carolina Beach State Park.

In this short video and accompanying activity and readings, students learn about Longleaf Pine Ecosystems by exploring Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in North Carolina.

This lesson introduces students to the natural resources that help plants grow. Students will work in small groups to explore natural resource items and discuss their importance to humans. The teacher then shares with students a booklet about the natural environment, which provides information via a series of concept maps and allows recording of students' experiences and thoughts through both writing and drawing. Students will also read, discuss, and illustrate booklets about seeds and plants.

Discover 66 plants from around the globe, and their biomes, with Plant Hunter - a dynamic interactive tool supported by the Verizon Foundation. Students are able to take a virtual walk through the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden, exploring plants through photographs, videos and interactive games.

In this lesson students will explore the links between pollination and food production. The lesson concludes with a discussion about the importance of bees in pollination. Note: This is the first lesson in a 3-lesson series; each lesson can be used independently.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Science. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Science.

In this video, students learn how some plants live and grow in certain environments. These plants must adapt to their surroundings to get their basic needs met and to ward off predators.

In this video, students learn that plants produce seeds in order to reproduce. When a seed is fertilized, with the right conditions, it will germinate, starting the life of a new plant. Students will see different seeds in the video.

Through this website students can learn about seeds and how they grow by conducting their own plant investigation and sharing their thoughts with other kids.

In this three-month project, students investigate the best conditions for growing plants. Students create a problem statement, develop a study plan, test their ideas and use construction technology and computer technology as tools for research, planning, recording data and communicating.

Students will use a thermometer to measure the air temperature in several places around the school and then return to the classroom to graph the data. In addition, students will grow three plants in different amounts of sunlight and record their growth.

In this lesson, students review the three main parts of a tree. They complete a worksheet to learn the parts of a tree that are used in identification. Students play a game and act out how a tree meets its basic needs. They then label and put in order the life stages of a tree. As a conclusion, students draw their own tree, label it, and write a paragraph about how that tree is identified.

The activities in Underground Adventure guide students through an outdoor field study of soil life and some of the variables that affect soil biodiversity. Through these activities, students will gain experience in scientific skills such as hypothesis, observation, and inference. When done together as a unit of study, the activities are designed to help students answer this research question: What is the relationship between the soil's physical properties, environmental and human factors, and soil biodiversity?

Students demonstrate how substances are dissolved and transported by water through the soil.

In this lesson, students match plant species with forest ecosystems and learn that living things are influenced by the nonliving things around them. They create a song or skit to show what they have learned about living and nonliving connections. The students conclude the lesson by creating a mural of different types of forests.