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Pre-reading activities

These activities have been designed to provide students with learning experiences around the topic of plants and plant biosecurity. It is suggested that these activities be completed before reading Plant Pest Investigation to engage students in the topic and to provide students with some background information about plants and crops.

Each activity can be adapted to suit your classroom. 

Please note that activity 5 ‘Grow your own crop' will take at least one week to complete. This activity is best done immediately prior to reading Plant Pest Investigation.

The PowerPoint files can be found at the bottom of this page under attachments.

 

Activity

 Key concepts
Students should begin to:		 Resources
1. Our school with no plants?
What would your school be like if there were no plants? 
  •  identify plants in their local environment and begin to understand the importance of plants to people and animals.
  • A3 paper or butchers' paper (one piece per student)
  • markers, pens, coloured pencils or paints
2. Plant parts
Students learn to identify different parts of a plant.
  • recognise features of plants, make and record observations about plants and use appropriate language to describe the parts of a plant.

 
  • seedlings (1 per student)

3. Healthy plant, sick plant
Can plants get sick? What would a sick plant look like? Students explore their ideas of healthy and sick and apply their knowledge to plants. 
  • recognise that plants are living things and can be impacted on by things in their environment.
  • a healthy plant
  • coloured pencils

  • ‘Sick Plants' PowerPoint or colour copy of ‘sick plants' PDF

4. Crops in your class
What items in your classroom come from a crop?
  • understand that people need plants to survive, and recognise some of the different crops grown in Australia and what they are used for.

 

5. Grow your own crop
Students grow their own plants from seeds learning about living things and making simple observations.
  • understand that living things grow and need air and water to survive.
  • trays or pots (1 per student/group)
  • cress / bean or mustard seeds ( or seeds of any fast-growing plant)
  • markers/pens
  • potting mix/soil

 

 

AttachmentSize
Sick Plants.ppt633.5 KB
Crops in Australia.ppt1.62 MB