--- title: Parts of Plants | Understanding Plant Survival and Growth | KnowAtom description: Explore how kindergarten students learn about plant parts and their functions through hands-on modeling activities, fostering understanding of plant survival and growth essentials. --- More Lessons for Your State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Other NGSS # Parts of Plants During this second unit of Kindergarten, students explore the differences between living and nonliving things and discover what living things need to survive. This page is a high-level overview of lesson three in which students make models of adult sunflower plants to explore how plants have different parts that help them get what they need to grow. 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It seeks to answer the deeper “how” and “why” questions that teachers may have about the concepts being investigated. In this lesson, students learn about the parts of a plant and how each part helps the plant to survive and thrive. All living things depend on other living things and their environment for survival. For example, plants cannot grow without air, water, and sunlight. A plant is a living thing that makes its own food from sunlight. A common misconception is that plants primarily need sunlight for warmth. While plants cannot grow if temperatures are too hot or too cold, the primary reason that plants depend on sunlight is that they use sunlight, along with water and carbon dioxide, to make their own food through a process called photosynthesis. This is different from animals, which have to eat other organisms for food. In photosynthesis, plant cells use the sun’s energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and a kind of sugar called glucose. Glucose holds stored chemical energy, which plants use to grow and develop. Plants first grow roots and a stem, and then leaves. Each of these structures has an important role to play in helping the plant get what it needs to survive. Roots form the root system, and they have three important jobs: helping the plant take in water and nutrients from the soil; anchoring the plant in place; and storing food for the plant. The stem, leaves, and flowers are all part of the shoot system. The stem holds the leaves and flowers in place. Water and nutrients also travel from the roots through the stem to the rest of the plant. Leaves allow the plant to capture energy from sunlight so it can make food. #### Supports Grade k ![Sneak Peek Seal with Arrow](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Sneak%20Peek%20Seal%20with%20Arrow.svg) ## Science Lesson: Modeling the Parts of Plants In this lesson, students create models of adult sunflower plants to explore how plants have different parts that help them get what they need to survive. Students will use their understanding of plant parts and plant survival as they continue to learn about how plants grow and what they need to grow. [Download a Sample Unit ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum#state) ## Science Big Ideas - Plants are living things that make their own food from sunlight. - Each part of a plant has an important role to play in keeping the plant alive. ![sample unit-k8 science curriculum-knowatom](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png?width=327&height=264&name=Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png) ###### Discover Complete Hands-on Screens-off Core Science Curriculum for K-8 Classrooms Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards. [Click Here to Learn More](https://www.knowatom.com/talk-to-knowatom-sales) ## Science Essential Questions - What are some plants you have seen? - What do all of these plants have in common? - How would you describe a plant’s roots? Why do plants need roots? - How would you describe a plant’s stem? Why is the stem important for plants? - Why do plants need leaves? - Why do you think plants grow their leaves above ground, while they grow roots underground? - Where does a plant make its seeds? ## Common Science Misconceptions ![close-circle-red](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-close-circle-red-1.svg) **Misconception:** Anything that moves is alive, while all nonliving things have died.   ![checkmark-circle-green](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-checkmark-circle-green.svg) **Fact:** Not all moving things are living. Living things all have certain characteristics in common, including the ability to grow, exchange gasses with the environment, reproduce, excrete waste, and respond to stimuli, and all living things need energy to carry out these functions. Nonliving things do not meet all of the characteristics of life. ![close-circle-red](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-close-circle-red-1.svg) **Misconception****:** Plants are not alive because we cannot see them move. ![checkmark-circle-green](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-checkmark-circle-green.svg) **Fact:** Plants are alive because they meet all of the requirements for life. For example, there is movement within plants; we just cannot see it. ## Science Vocabulary **Flowers :** the parts of a plant that make seeds **Leaves :** the parts of a plant that collect sunlight and make food **Plant :** a living thing that makes its own food from sunlight **Roots :** the parts of the plant that hold it in place and take in nutrients and water from the soil **Seed :** a young plant inside a protective coat; needs air and water to grow **Stem :** the part of a plant that holds the leaves and flowers in place; water and nutrients travel through the stem to the rest of the plant ## Lexile(R) Certified Non-Fiction Science Reading (Excerpt) ![image2-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image2-1.png?width=264&height=340&name=image2-1.png) ![image3-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image3-1.png?width=262&height=340&name=image3-1.png) ## Hands-on Science Activity In this hands-on mini-lesson, students create a model sunflower plant to explore the structure and function of primary plant parts. After students build their plant models, they participate in a classroom discussion to explain each part of the plant using their model as a source of evidence. This process gives students a foundation of plant knowledge that will continue to serve them throughout this unit. In a subsequent lesson, students will use these plant models to further explore what plants need to live and grow. [ Learn More About KnowAtom ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum) ## Science Assessments KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning. - Vocabulary Check - Lab Checkpoints - Concept Check Assessment  - Concept Map Assessment  - And More... [Download a Sample Unit ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum#state) ![image1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image1-1.png?width=876&height=1126&name=image1-1.png) ![alabama state standard](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Alabama-State-Standards-Alignment-1.png?width=540&height=402&name=Alabama-State-Standards-Alignment-1.png) ###### See How KnowAtom Aligns to NGSS Science Standards Discover hands-on screens-off core science curriculum for student centered K-8 classrooms. KnowAtom supports classrooms with all hands-on materials, curriculum, and professional development to support mastery of the standards. [Download the Alignment to NGSS](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum) ** Standards Tags: ** [K-LS1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-1) , [K-LS1-2 (MA)](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-2-ma) , [K.2.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.2.1) , [1.LS1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/1.ls1.1) , [S1L1](https://www.knowatom.com/s1l1) , [K.L1U1.6](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.6) , [K.L1U1.7](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.7) , [0L.2.1.1.3](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.2.1.1.3) , [0L.3.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.3.1.1.1) , [K.LS1.C.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls1.c.1) , [3.1.K.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.k.a) , [3.1.1.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.1.a) , [3.1.2.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.2.a) , [K.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls.2) , [Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics 3](https://www.knowatom.com/ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics-3) , [Developing Possible Solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/developing-possible-solutions) , [Obtaining evaluating and communicating information](https://www.knowatom.com/obtaining-evaluating-and-communicating-information) , [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms](https://www.knowatom.com/organization-for-matter-and-energy-flow-in-organisms) , [Patterns](https://www.knowatom.com/patterns) , ### Supports Grade k #### Science Standards - [K-LS1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-1) - [K-LS1-2 (MA)](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-2-ma) - [K.2.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.2.1) - [1.LS1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/1.ls1.1) - [S1L1](https://www.knowatom.com/s1l1) - [K.L1U1.6](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.6) - [K.L1U1.7](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.7) - [0L.2.1.1.3](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.2.1.1.3) - [0L.3.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.3.1.1.1) - [K.LS1.C.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls1.c.1) - [3.1.K.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.k.a) - [3.1.1.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.1.a) - [3.1.2.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.2.a) - [K.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls.2) - [Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics 3](https://www.knowatom.com/ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics-3) - [Developing Possible Solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/developing-possible-solutions) - [Obtaining evaluating and communicating information](https://www.knowatom.com/obtaining-evaluating-and-communicating-information) - [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms](https://www.knowatom.com/organization-for-matter-and-energy-flow-in-organisms) - [Patterns](https://www.knowatom.com/patterns) [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/347944/b5a1446e-d782-4a5f-a019-0b3b98c8304f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/347944/b5a1446e-d782-4a5f-a019-0b3b98c8304f) Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it. ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "USA", "addressLocality" : "Salem", "addressRegion" : "MA", "postalCode" : "01970", "streetAddress" : "27 Congress Suite 410" }, "alternateName" : "KA", "areaServed" : { "@type" : "GeoCircle", "geoMidpoint" : { "@type" : "GeoCoordinates", "latitude" : "+42.5182274", "longitude" : "-70.8877569" }, "geoRadius" : "150 km" }, "description" : "Next Generation Science STEM Curriculum", "email" : "fvigeant@knowatom.com", "image" : "https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/KA-GSD.png", "logo" : "https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Knowatom-2017/Image/logo-1.png", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.knowatom.com/science-phenomena-videos/kindergarten-science/parts-of-plants", "@type" : "WebPage", "description" : "Explore how kindergarten students learn about plant parts and their functions through hands-on modeling activities, fostering understanding of plant survival and growth essentials." }, "name" : "KnowAtom", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/KnowAtom", "https://twitter.com/KnowAtom", "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS0rbN0RfqaU1xaISrdVpTA", "https://plus.google.com/110709105138117096940" ], "telephone" : "(617) 475-3475", "url" : "https://www.knowatom.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.knowatom.com", "name" : "Home", "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.knowatom.com/science-phenomena-videos", "name" : "Science Phenomena Videos", "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.knowatom.com/science-phenomena-videos/kindergarten-science", "name" : "Kindergarten Science", "position" : 3 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.knowatom.com/science-phenomena-videos/kindergarten-science/parts-of-plants", "name" : "Parts Of Plants", "position" : 4 } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : [ "WebPage", "LearningResource" ], "description" : "Explore how kindergarten students learn about plant parts and their functions through hands-on modeling activities, fostering understanding of plant survival and growth essentials.", "educationalLevel" : "Elementary School", "learningResourceType" : [ "lesson plan", "hands-on activity", "phenomena video" ], "name" : "GKU2L3 Parts of Plants", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "KnowAtom", "url" : "https://www.knowatom.com" }, "teaches" : [ "life cycle", "metamorphosis", "pollination" ], "url" : "https://www.knowatom.com/science-phenomena-videos/kindergarten-science/parts-of-plants" } ```