All About Plants

Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts.

• Knows that differences exist among individuals of the same kind of plant or animal.

(Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2009)

Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms.

• Knows the basic needs of plants and animals (e.g., air, water, nutrients, light or food, shelter).

(Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2009)

Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment.

• Knows that plants and animals need certain resources for energy and growth (e.g., food, water, light, air).
• Knows that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that distinct environments support the life of different types of plants and animals.

(Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2009)

Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life.

• Knows simple ways that living things can be grouped (e.g., appearance, behavior, plant, animal).
• Knows that there are similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals.

(Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2009)

Different types of plants and animals inhabit the earth.

• Students know how to observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals (e.g., seed-bearing plants, birds, fish, insects).
• Students know how to identify major structures of common plants and animals (e.g., stems, leaves, roots, arms, wings, legs).

(California Department of Education, 2003)

Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways.

• Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments and have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.
• Students know both plants and animals need water, animals need food, and plants need light.
• Students know roots are associated with the intake of water and soil nutrients and green leaves are associated with making food from sunlight.

(California Department of Education, 2003)

Plants and animals have predictable life cycles.

• Students know that organisms reproduce offspring of their own kind and that the offspring resembles their parents and one another.
• Students know flowers and fruits are associated with reproduction in plants.

(California Department of Education, 2003)

All plants and animals, including humans, are alike in some ways and different in others.

• Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.
• Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses.

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

All plants and animals, including humans, have internal parts and external structures that function to keep them alive and help them grow and reproduce.

• Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

Offspring of plants and animals are similar to, but not exactly like, their parents or each other.

• Observe and describe major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

Life cycles vary among organisms, but reproduction is a major stage in the life cycle of all organisms.

• Observe and describe major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

Humans can better understand the natural world through careful observation.

• Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

Access Points for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities:

• Identify a behavior of an animal or plant in a book or other media that is not real.
• Identify differences in characteristics of plants and animals.
• Distinguish a real animal and an animal that is not a living thing, such as a toy animal.
• Distinguish between a plant and animal.
• Identify the leaf, flower, and stem of a plant.
• Recognize the leaf and flower of a plant.
• Recognize that plants have leaves.
• Identify characteristics of living and nonliving things, including whether they need food or water.
• Distinguish common living and nonliving things in the environment.
• Recognize self and others as living things.
• Match identical animals and plants.
• Distinguish between and animal and plant.
• Recognize self and others as living things.
• Observe and recognize the major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals.

(Florida Department of Education, 2005)

Students will sort living organisms and non-living materials into groups by observable physical attributes.

• Group animals according to their observable features such as appearance, size, motion, where it lives, etc. (Example: A green frog has four legs and hops. A rabbit also hops.)
• Recognize the difference between living organisms and nonliving materials.
• Group plants according to their observable features such as appearance, size, etc.

(Georgia Department of Education, 2005-2006)

Students will compare the similarities and differences in groups of organisms.

• Explain the similarities and differences in plants. (color, size, appearance, etc.)

(Georgia Department of Education, 2005-2006)

Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

• Investigate the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed and by recording changes over a period of time.

(Georgia Department of Education, 2005-2006)

The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects.

• The student is expected to: record observations about parts of plants including leaves, roots, stems, and flowers.
• The student is expected to: sort organisms and objects according to their parts and characteristics.
• The student is expected to: observe and describe the parts of plants and animals.
• The student is expected to: observe and record the functions of plant parts.

(Texas Education Agency, 1998)

The student knows that organisms, objects, and events have properties and patterns.

• The student is expected to: describe properties of objects and characteristics of organisms.

(Texas Education Agency, 1998)

The student knows the difference between living organisms and nonliving objects.

• The student is expected to: identify a particular organism or object as living or nonliving; and group organisms and objects as living or nonliving.

(Texas Education Agency, 1998)

The student knows that living organisms have basic needs.

• The student is expected to: identify basic needs of living organisms; give examples of how living organisms depend on each other.
• The student is expected to: identify characteristics of living organisms that allow their basic needs to be met.
• The student is expected to: compare and give examples of the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments.

(Texas Education Agency, 1998)

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