Science Clubhouse Workshop - 2nd Grade: Plants, Sunlight, and Water

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a game-changer for science at the elementary level. They are performance standards – the students must “do science” in order to show attainment. Because they need to be worked into the very busy day in an elementary classroom, it is imperative the science standards be integrated with reading and writing workshops and not treated as a separate subject. The Science Clubhouse Workshop series does just that. As a matter of fact, this lesson is also included as a part of a larger, 10 lesson + science journal compilation sold here on TPT. Search for: Science Clubhouse Workshop 2nd Grade Compilation (10 lessons and Journal).

Plants, Sunlight, and Water integrates science, reading, and writing standards. It is a lesson about what a plant requires in order to grow.
1. Use Berenstain Bears GROW-IT: Mother Nature Has Such a Green Thumb as a Read-Aloud “double” book accompanied by accountable talk from readers (students ask each other about their thinking and build on the contributions of others as they cite evidence, ask for clarification, and mention other student’s comments).
2. Do a two-week experiment to determine how plants react when they have differing amounts of sunlight and water. Make observations about plant conditions and write those notes in Science and Engineering Journals.
3. Write a 4-page science lab report including a hypothesis page, procedural page, results page, and conclusion page. The goal will be to do the best writing the students can do. Expectations should match students’ skills and goals.

Keyterms: Edvance21, Gail Wortmann, Second Grade, 2nd Grade, CC, CCSS, Common Core, Writing, Reading, Science, Engineering, NGSS 2-L-S2-1, Next Generation Science Standards 2-L-S2-1