Plant Propagation class

Age: Middle school, ages 12-14.

Structure of class: show a video, talk about what we learned and write in a concept box, then do
lab, clean, and paper in a folder.

Goal: Students will be familiar with new plant concepts related to plant propagation. Students
will understand how to make new plants from existing ones(propagation) as well as grow plants
from seeds. The students will finish the course and have different species of plants to bring
home with them or gift to friends and teachers.

Week one:
Go over expectations for class(lab setting cleanliness expectations, taking home projects,
cannot guarantee they will grow), Things to bring to class: pencil or pen, chromebook, your
brain, I will keep folders) hand out calendar, walk through how to fill out the form for each class,
talk about everyone’s plant knowledge try a little 20 minute quiz on where everyone’s plant
knowledge is.
A little bit about Ms. Faith: Before I got into education, I was a restoration ecology major at
Colorado state university. During my time in this field of study, I worked at the restoration
ecology lab on the CSU campus. In the summers, we would go out on field work projects in the
state of colorado. We would collect dirt and bring it back to the lab and water it, to see what
seeds would come up. We would also hike out into the woods and “bug net” to see what kind of
bugs were on specific plants we were interested in. I transferred into the study of Horticulture in
my third year of college. This was where I studied more into how to cultivate plants and keep
them alive.
Before the video: talk about where and what they are supposed to write in the concept page on
their first worksheet.
What is propagation?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh5oX0VRnzk&t=878s
What kind of soil should we use?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mru1ElmG7pg
Ask students:
What did they think of the video?
Has anyone done this before and can you tell me about it?
About
Lemon seeds(Citrus limon) facts: Lemons are a citrus fruit.
They are thought to come from India, maybe somewhere in the himalayas.
The lemon’s first time in America was in Florida somewhere in the late 1400s or early 1500.
Lemons like Mediterranean climates(warm wet winters, dry summers). What does this tell us
about what the needs of the plant are?
Plant: lemon seeds
-Talk about lemon trees, ask where do you think lemons are from, what kind of weather do you
think they endure? What kind of soil? How does knowing these things help us understand what
kind of water and light requirements the plant needs?
-Lemon seeds- have halved lemons, allow students to extract lemon seeds, then rinse them,
then option to plant them in soil, or plant them in a damp paper towel bag.
Method: dirt and maybe paper towels?

Week two:
Concept totipotency:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuwV3ywCxW8
Ask students:
What is totipotency?
How does this relate to plant propagation?
Does anyone have any thoughts?

Plant: Lysmiachia A wandering plant Ms. Happ

Lysmiachia show video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s6jfVqmA_U

Week three:
Concept: tropisms, how plants move. Connect to plant hormones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9D8a7lHZSQ
Tropisms and hormone video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ5tU45Ti_g

Talk about the chemical reactions, have them write down the photosynthesis reaction. Discuss
how this affects our house plants, what happens if we have an excess of light and not enough
water and visa versa!Talk about photosynthesis, what is it? How is it balanced? Talk about it like
a recipe for plants to make food, too much of one ingredient does not make a balanced reaction.
Spider plant week has students take off the spider plants by themselves.

Plant: Spider Plant(Chlorophytum comosum) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZu4ALa8J1Y

Gets its name from the plant babies it produces that look like spiders.
Native to south africa: climate tropical or subtropical wetter warmer climate. They like bright
indirect light to shade. What I think when I hear tropical climate: Something that is competing for
light so adapted to getting indirect light.

Method: water and dirt. Borrow a plant to show how to harvest the babies.

Save the Pilea! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XouY420-mfk

Week four:
concept: Concept: Plant anatomy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWcIhIyKeog
Have them identify where the node is, and maybe talk about stomata!

Plant: pothos(Epipremmum aureum)

From southeast asia, likes a tropical climate. So what kind of water and light should it have?
Talk about this concept and show a video. Allow students to pick and cut their own leaf. This
week, put cuttings into a water bottle with water. Discuss clipping at the node. Take a journey to
the library
Method: Have students pick a clipping and clip themselves. Try these in water.

Week five:
Concepts: plant hormone(“plant communication”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV9QcGs58l0
Talk about plant communication have each student write down the hormone function in the
concept box. Discuss how hormones tell the plant how to grow and in what way. Show a video
on how this communication works.
Plant: mother of thousands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HvxSHGwe_o
It comes from Madagascar. Climate is warm and dry. It is succulent. It is thought that since
mother of thousands lost its ability to make seeds, it adapted to produce the baby plants on the
tips of its leaves.
Method: Walk to ms. Clines class, each with a cup(empty) and have students gently plop a baby
plant into their cup. Come back to class and plant the tiny plants in cups with dirt in them.
Have them pluck Christmas
cactus this week, save for next week.

Week six:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ5tU45Ti_
Concept it : define hormones, auxin, gibberelin etc.
Plant: xmas cactus vs thanksgiving cactus(mine). Native to Brazil, they like a warm medium to
low moisture levels. They like high light but not direct light.
Thanksgiving cactus: Schlumbergera truncata
Christmas cactus: Schlumbergera bridgesii
Method, one week, bring in this plant and have them cut it, so that the next week they are callused
over

Week 7
Mother of thousands, Guava seeds, collecting all our
plants to take home, find boxes or donate to teachers!

Concept: Photosynthesis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL9A8YhwUps

Concept: how looking at plant adaptations can give us insight to what conditions they thrive in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Ib0-BlBKU

Bring in cookies or cupcakes for the last day. Maybe candy?

Conclusion
By the end of the 7 weeks, students learned concepts relating to plant
movement, evolution, plant hormones, plant anatomy, water movement in plants and
how to write plant scientific names. The students left the course with 7+ baby plants to
care for and distribute to teachers. The plants included a variety of bulb plants, cacti,
baby trees, succulents and pothos.