Early Science  /  Plants  /  Week 1: Lesson 2  /  Activity

The Carrot Seed

 

Plants
Books & Songs

Children listen to and discuss the book The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss.

Teacher holding up The Carrot Seed book. Teacher reading The Carrot Seed book to class.

This is a story about a little boy who plants a carrot seed.

Every day, the little boy sprinkled the ground with water.

 

Materials


  • The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

Preparation

  1. Familiarize yourself with the pictures and text in The Carrot Seed.
 

Directions: Lessons 2, 4


Circle Time: Introduction
  1. Introduce the book The Carrot Seed. Draw attention to and discuss the art on the cover. Possible discussion ideas:
    • What is this boy doing?
    • What do you think is going to happen to that carrot seed? What is your prediction?
  2. Read the story aloud. Pause occasionally to ask questions, such as:
    • Do you think a carrot plant is going to come up? What do you predict will happen? Why do you predict that? Does anyone have a different prediction?
    • Do you think the carrot plant will come up today? Do you think it will come up tomorrow? Turn to a friend and share when you think the carrot plant will come up.
    • Why do you think the boy is sprinkling the ground with water?
    • Wow, that’s a huge carrot plant! Where do you think the carrot is? How do you know?
  3. At the end of the book, remark that the little boy was very patient. He knew that seeds could take a long time to grow. Sometimes you have to wait and wait and wait before a plant pops out of the soil.
  4. On repeat readings, once children have been taking care of their own plants for several days, help them make connections to their own experiences. Possible discussion ideas:
    • How did the little boy take care of his carrot seed?
    • How are we taking care of the seeds that we have planted?

Length of Play

5 min.

Group Size
In the Schedule

 
Vocabulary

  • Grow
  • plant (noun, verb)
  • predict
  • seed
 
Learning Goals

Science
  • Observe and describe what plants need to live and grow.