Early Science  /  Plants  /  Week 1: Lesson 1  /  Activity

Growing Beans: Journal Entries

 

Plants
Digital Journal

Children photograph and describe their bean plants in a bag. Then they take a photo and discuss their bean plants growing in soil. Once a bean plant has emerged from the soil, they also record the plant’s measurement.

Journal Entries screenshot from the app. App screenshot showing a photo of seeds in a bag.

Open the Plants Journal app on the iPad. Tap the colored journal for your group, and then tap Journal Entries.

Select Plant in Bag. Take a picture of your bean seeds in the bag.

 

Materials


 
Materials PDF
  • Plants Journal app on an iPad (the iPad designated specifically for Guided Small Group work)
  • Group’s seeds in the plastic sandwich bag
  • Group’s bean plants in the containers of soil.
  • Plant Measuring Strip (PDF)
  • Spray bottle
 

Directions: Lesson 1


Guided Small Group

Children work in groups to document the growth of their plants in the Journal Entries section of the Plants Journal iPad app, as was introduced in Introducing Seeds & Journals. Later, they will review the changes in their plants over time. See Growing Beans: Journal Review as well as Science Talk: How Our Beans Grew and Review & Reflect for details.

  1. Plants Journal: Journal Entries. Tell children that they are going to use the iPad as a science journal. Each time the group meets, they will take photos of their seeds and plants and discuss how they are growing.
    • Open the Plants Journal app on the iPad. Let a child tap the journal that matches the color of their group.
    • Point out the Journal Entries button: it shows Nor photographing a plant. Let a child tap it to open today’s journal entry screen.
  2. Point out the Day 1 heading and the three activity choices on the screen. Today we will plant our seeds. The journal helps us know how many days they have been growing and how they have changed. Each day we will take photos of the seeds. After the seeds grow above the soil, we can also measure how tall they are.
  3. Take a photo: Plant in Bag. Help a “photographer of the day” take a photo of the bean seeds in the bag. It may help for one person to hold the iPad so the bean seeds can be seen well and to have another person tap to take the photo. You can tap redo to delete the photo and take a new one if you wish.
  4. Encourage children to talk about the seeds. Possible discussion ideas:
    • What do the bean seeds look like? Can you describe them?
    • Do all our bean seeds look exactly the same? How are they different?
    • What color are the seed coats?
    • What do you predict might happen to the seeds over time? Why do you think that?
  5. Take a photo: Plant in Soil. Tell children that next, they are going to take a picture of their bean seed in the soil. First, observe the container of soil together. Possible discussion ideas:
    • Can you see a bean plant in this container? Why not? (The bean seed is under the soil. It hasn’t grown enough yet to come out of the soil.)
    • Do you think that someday we will see a little bean plant poking through the soil? Why do you think that?
    • When do you think we will see the first bean plant will pop out of the soil? Tomorrow? Next week?
    • What color do you think that bean plant will be?
  6. Tell children that they will take a photo of their bean in the soil container every day the group meets, even if the baby bean plant is still below the soil. Help the “photographer of the day” take a photo of the top of the soil container. Invite all children to participate in a conversation about what is in the soil and why no plant can be seen yet.
 

Directions: Lessons 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11


Guided Small Group

Children just discussed their bean seeds and plants in the Science Talk: Sprouting Bean Seeds, Science Talk: Plant Parts, and/or Measuring Our Plants. Now they use the digital Plants Journal to record the growth of their plants. Open the Plants Journal app on the iPad and have a child tap the journal color of the group. Tap Journal Entries to enter photos and measurement data.

  1. Plant in Bag. Help children record today’s journal entry by photographing the bean seeds and discussing the photo. Refer to the detailed guidelines in Lesson 1 (above) as needed. Use some of the following questions to prompt conversation and close observation. Choose questions that match the bean seeds’ current stage of development. Possible discussion ideas:
    • What do you notice about our bean seeds today? Do they all look the same?
    • How many of the seeds have sprouts? How many do not have sprouts?
    • Where does the sprout come out of the bean seed?
    • Are the sprouts straight or curled?
    • Which bean seed has the straightest sprout? The curliest sprout? The longest sprout?
    • How many of the sprouts have root hairs?
    • Which sprout has the most root hairs? The fewest root hairs?
    • Have any of the seeds lost their seed coats? How many?
    • Do any of the sprouts have leaves? How many?
  2. Plant in Soil. Help children take a photo of the container that has their bean seed planted in soil, even if the plants have not emerged above the soil yet. Engage children in conversation about what the bean seeds might be doing under the soil. Once plants have emerged, talk about the plant parts and what they look like. Possible discussion ideas:
    • Who would like to share an observation about our bean plants?
    • What do you notice about each plant? What’s the same (or different) about them?
    • What different parts of the plant can you name? Where are the roots?
    • How would you describe the stem?
    • How many leaves do you see? What color are they?
  3. Plant Measurement. Once a bean plant has appeared above the soil, children measure the plant in the activity Measuring Our Plants. Now have children record that height in the digital journal. From today’s Journal Entry screen, tap the Plant Measurement button. Children can either tap the matching number on the measuring strip or use their finger to pull the plant up to the matching height.
  4. Encourage children to care for their plant. Have them feel the soil to see if it is dry. If so, ask a child to spray it with water.
  5. Together check the soil of the plants in the Class Garden as well, and water if needed.
 

Directions: Lesson 12


Guided Small Group

Children just discussed their bean seeds and plants in the Science Talk: How Our Beans Grew. Now they use the digital Plants Journal to record the growth of their plants. Open the Plants Journal app on the iPad and have a child tap the journal color of the group. Tap Journal Entries to enter photos and measurement data.

  1. Help children take a final photo of their bean plants in soil.
  2. Then have a conversation predicting what will happen to the plants as they continue to grow.

Length of Play

5–10 min.

Group Size
In the Schedule

 
Vocabulary

  • describe
  • leaf
  • measure
  • observe
  • predict
  • root
  • root hairs
  • seed
  • seed coat
  • sprout
  • stem
  • tall, taller
 
Learning Goals

Science
  • Observe and describe plant parts and their functions.
  • Observe and describe how plants change over time.
  • Predict how plants change over time.
  • Compare and contrast how plants change over time.
  • Record observations and data about how plants change over time.
Math
  • Count a set of objects with one-to-one correspondence.
  • Identify the last number counted as the total number in the set (cardinality).
  • Use nonstandard units to represent and compare object length.