When exploring outdoors, explain any plant parts not covered in the lesson. First-grade curricula across the country include lessons on the parts of plants, as well as plants’ basic needs for survival. Keep a first-grade lesson on the parts of a plant interesting by varying traditional instruction and hands-on activities. This approach will allow students to absorb the information and then put it into practice. Furthermore, introducing actual plants into the lesson will help your students connect the ideas they've learned about with actual plant parts. Read and Instruct Begin the lesson by reading a book about plants to your students, such as "The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss or "From Seed to Plant" by Gail Gibbons. Discuss what the first graders already know about plants and what they learned from the book. Ask your students what plant parts they know; write all of their answers on the chalkboard. Pass out a worksheet that shows an image of a plant, and instruct students to label the stem, leaves, seed, roots, flowers and so on.

After they've finished, project an image of a plant onto a screen or an interactive whiteboard -- or draw one on the chalkboard -- and call on students to identify parts of the plant. Explore and Craft After you've completed the initial traditional instruction about plant parts, take the class outside to study some real plants. When outside, ask students to point out nearby plants. For each plant, ask first graders to identify the visible parts -- stem, leaves, flowers, and so on -- as well as the ones they can't see, such as the roots and seeds. Using a digital camera, take pictures of the plants they locate, along with close-ups of individual plant parts. When you get back into the classroom, load the images onto your computer, print them out and have students help you make a collage with the pictures. Seeds and Sun Explain to the class that plants are the only life forms on Earth that make their own food. Introduce the term "photosynthesis" and explain that plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air to perform photosynthesis.

Call students' attention back to the book you read in the beginning of the lesson, particularly to the fact that plants grow from seeds. Explain that for seeds to grow, they also need water and heat from the sun. Then, ask the first graders whether they'd like to see it happen for themselves. Germinate and Plant Bring in a roll of paper towels, a resealable sandwich bag for each student in your class and a packet of carrot seeds. Give each first grader one of the bags and a paper towel. Fill a shallow tray with water and have students wet their paper towels; then gently wring the towels out so that they are damp. Help your students spread a few carrot seeds onto half of their paper towel and then fold over the other half of the towel, covering the seeds. Have students place their paper towels carefully into their bags, and then place the bags on a sunlit portion of the windowsill. In a few days, the first graders will see that the seeds have germinated. You can then bring in pots and potting soil and help students plant their own carrot plants.

References Georgia Department of Education: First Grade Science CurriculumWaltham Public Schools: Grade 1 Science Curriculum GuideTime 4 Learning: First Grade OverviewScholastic: Let's Learn About Plants!Dachshund Puppies For Sale Columbia MoLakeshore: Parts of a Plant"The Carrot Seed"; House For Sale In La Brea Trinidad1989"From Seed to Plant"; Bkt Tyres For Sale2012Lakeshore: Parts of a Plant DiagramScholastic: Let's Grow Plants! Photo Credits Brand X Pictures/Stockbyte/Getty ImagesThe student demonstrates knowledge and appropriate use of hardware components, software programs, and their connections. The student is expected to: (A) use technology terminology appropriate to the task; (B) start and exit programs as well as create, name, and save files;

(C) use networking terminology such as on-line, network, or password and access remote equipment on a network such as a printer.The student uses data input skills appropriate to the task. student is expected to: (A) use a variety of input devices such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive, modem, voice/sound recorder, scanner, digital video, CD-ROM, or touch screen; (B) use proper keyboarding techniques such as correct hand and body positions and smooth and rhythmic keystroke patterns as grade-level appropriate; (C) demonstrate touch keyboarding techniques for operating the alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, and symbol keys as grade-level appropriate; (D) produce documents at the keyboard, proofread, and correct errors; (E) use language skills including capitalization, punctuation, spelling, word division, and use of numbers and symbols as grade-level appropriate.The student complies with the laws and examines the issues regarding the use of technology in society.

(A) follow acceptable use policies when using computers; (B) model respect of intellectual property by not illegally copying software or anotherThe student uses a variety of strategies to acquire information from electronic resources, with appropriate supervision. (A) apply keyword searches to acquire information; (B) select appropriate strategies to navigate and access information for research andThe student acquires electronic information in a variety of formats, with appropriate supervision. (A) acquire information including text, audio, video, and graphics; The student evaluates the acquired electronic (A) determine the success of strategies used to acquire electronic information; (B) determine the usefulness and appropriateness of digital information.The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems. (A) use software programs with audio, video, and graphics to enhance learning

(B) use appropriate software, including the use of word processing and multimedia, to express ideas and solve problems.The student uses research skills and electronic communication, with appropriate supervision, to create new knowledge. (A) use communication tools to participate in group projects; (B) use electronic tools and research skills to build a knowledge base regarding a topic, task, or assignment.The student uses technology applications to facilitate evaluation of work, both process and product. (A) use software features, such as on-line help, to evaluate work progress; (B) use software features, such as slide show previews, to evaluate final product.The student formats digital information for appropriate and (A) use font attributes, color, white space, and graphics to ensure that products are appropriate for the defined audience; (B) use font attributes, color, white space, and graphics to ensure that products are appropriate for the communication media including multimedia screen displays and printed