Life Science · Plant Responses
Plants Respond to Light: Which Way Will a Plant Grow?
Use a sequence of plant observations to notice that a growing plant can bend toward a light source, then plan a simple fair test that changes only the direction of light.
Lesson plan
Plants Respond to Light: Which Way Will a Plant Grow?
A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.
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Lesson overview
What students will learn
- Describe how the direction of a plant stem can change over several days when light comes from one side.
- Use before-and-after observations as evidence that plants can respond to an external input such as light.
Key science ideas
- A plant does not bend toward light all at once; the change happens as it grows.
- When light comes mostly from one side, a stem can gradually bend toward that side.
- Scientists compare observations from different times to see the change.
Lesson at a glance
- Grade 1
- 37 min
- ~10 min prep
- 5 materials
What’s included
- Lesson Plan
- Investigation
- Teacher Slides
- Printable Worksheet
- Teacher Answer Key
- Interactive Activity
- Vocabulary