Grade 4 - Science

Topic: Plants - Classification Based on Growth Habit

L Learning Objectives:
 Students will be able to understand the purpose and importance of plant classification.
 Students will be able to perform simple classification of plants and to justify their reasoning by
pointing to defining plant characteristics (e.g. plant’s height, shape, and the kind of growth it
undergoes).
 Students will be able to compare and contrast plants and to identify specific characteristics that
distinguish one plant group from another.

Procedure:
Teacher’s Activity Student’s Activity
BIG IDEAS PLANT SCAVENGER HUNT
 Plants must be classified into identifiable groups in
1. The students will form into
order for us to have a clear, organized way of
scavenger groups of 3 or 4 individuals,
identifying the diverse array of plants that inhabit
and will be assigned to a different part
the planet.
of the school. (Note: This is dependent
PRE- AND POST-ASSESSMENT on the nature and environment of the
Have the students make a list of plants then classify them school, so the teacher should make
and justify their reasons. Repeat this activity after the unit adjustments as necessary. For example,
of study, using the same list of plants. the parts could include the school
garden, courtyard, cafeteria, the
Materials classroom, etc.)
 Note Cards/Paper, Pencil/Pen, Scissors
2. Encourage the students to find as
many plants as they can and then draw
Introduction:
them on their note cards. They can also
 Introduce vocabulary words related to the topic.
draw food that they see, such as lettuce,
Examples: herbs, shrubs, trees, climbers, creepers
spinach, or various fruits. (This would
be more appropriate for students
 Define the term “Growth habit”
assigned to indoors areas.)
Warm-up Activities:
3. Each group should keep its plant
Knowledge Refresher
cards (or the teacher can collect them)
 The teacher will refresh the knowledge of students for use later in the lesson.
by having them list 10 different plants.
 Put some examples on the board to get them started. 4. Have the students put each plant card
(e.g. apple tree, pine tree, fern, grass, rice, corn, into a category. For example, a student
wheat, algae). with a rose card would label it “shrubs”,
a student with tomato card would label
 Have the students call out the plants that they came it “herbs”, etc.
up with, and add these to the examples already on 5. Have the class pool all the cards
the board. created in the scavenger groups
 together. Then ask the students to use
the cards to create a hierarchy chart of
 Ask the students to get into groups of four and give plant categorization and to explain their
them 7 to 10 minutes to come up with categories (no reasoning.
more than 4-5) that can be used to organize the
The students should be able to answer
plants on the board. This is just a warm-up to get
the following questions:
them thinking about ways of categorization.
1. Did you find this way of
 Have the groups of students talk to each other about categorization effective? Why or why
how they chose to classify the plants. not?
2. Compare and contrast the
Discussion: characteristics of one classified plant to
another.
The teacher will discuss the different classification of plants
based on growth habits. 3. Are there any other ways you might
have categorized the various plants?
Focus Discussion Questions Based on Warm-Up How?
Activities
1. What are some ways the groups classified plants?
How did they come to those decisions? POST-ASSESSMENT

2. Is it important to have an organized and -Let the students classify plants they
predetermined way of classifying plants? Why or listed during pre-assessment and justify
why not? their reasons. What have they
observed? Are there variations or
3. Talk about how scientists generally conduct changes to the classifications previously
classification of plants (using physical similarities done?
and dissimilarities) to distinguish species from one
another.
4. Talk about why classification is important. The
following are some suggested reasons: Have the students participate in
answering the questions given at the
 It helps us remember different plants (i.e. it is end of chapter / unit in textbook.
possible to remember more plants if we can
organize them into categories)
 It helps in the discovery of new species because it
aids in predicting what characteristics newly
discovered species have if we can compare and
contrast them with already known species. (For
example, if all female mammals produce milk for
babies, then females in a new mammal species
should also have the ability to produce milk.)
 It provides a way of “mapping out” the diverse and
vast world of plants, since it gives us a method of
creating relationships.
Conclusion:
Ask each group to share their assessment from the class
activities.