Exam (elaborations) Student Exploration Growing Plants

Directions: Go to Explore learning and Launch the Growing Plants Gizmo. Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary: compost, fertilizer, mass, seed, soil, variable Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. What do you think plants need to grow and stay healthy? Plants need light, water, nutrients, air, and space to grow and stay healthy. 2. Soil is a combination of tiny rock fragments and decayed plant materials. How do you think soil helps a plant? Soil provides nutrients and support for the plant to grow. Also the water gets stored in the solid to then get to the plants roots. Gizmo Warm-up: Grow the Biggest Plant! 1. In the Gizmo set up the three pots however you like: ● Choose a seed to drag into each pot. ● Click on the light bulbs to turn them on or off. ● Drag the Water slider up or down to set the amount of water each plant will get. ● If you like, drag fertilizer or compost into a pot. ● When the pots are ready, click Play ( ) and wait for the simulation to end. 2. How tall was your tallest plant? My tallest plant was 43.8cm. 3. Click Reset ( ) and Clear pots. Run a few more trials to grow the tallest plants you can. What conditions led to the tallest plant? The conditions that led to the tallest plant were having enough light and water