Subscribe

3rd grade · Science · Unit 1 of 10

How Plants Grow & Change

Life cycles, seeds, and making food from sunlight

What your child practices

From seed to flower and back to seed, how seeds travel, how plants react to light and seasons, and how they use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make food and release oxygen.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 3-LS1-1 · the life cycle of flowering plants

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Life cycle: seed, sprout, seedling, flowering plant, new seeds.
  2. Seeds travel by wind, water and animals, like burrs stuck in fur.
  3. Plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, which we breathe.

Example: Fluffy seeds float away on a breeze. How do they travel? Fluff catches moving air. They travel by wind. Answer: by wind

How Plants Grow & Change in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 10 in 3rd grade Science, before Pushes, Pulls & Forces.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which gas do plants release that people need to breathe?

    💨
    • helium
    • smoke
    • steam
    • oxygen

  2. Question 2

    Most plants make their food using energy from…

    ☀️
    • the Moon
    • the soil
    • the rain
    • the Sun

  3. Question 3

    What is the first stage in the life cycle of most plants?

    🌰
    • a flower
    • a fruit
    • a seed
    • a leaf

  4. Question 4

    In spring, snow melts and the soil warms up. What do many seeds do?

    🌷
    • stop being seeds forever
    • turn into stones
    • fly away
    • begin to germinate

  5. Question 5

    A burdock burr sticks to a dog's fur. How does this help the plant?

    🐕
    • the dog waters the plant
    • the plant gets more sunlight
    • the seeds travel to a new place
    • the plant makes more nectar

  6. Question 6

    Put the life cycle of a bean plant in order. Tap the first stage first.

    • 🌱seed sprouts
    • 🌿seedling with leaves
    • 🌰seed
    • 🫘pods with new seeds
    • 🌼plant with flowers

More 3rd grade