Unit Topic or Theme: Plants
Subject/Course: Life Science
Grade Level: 7
# of Students: 78
Class Duration: 40
minutes
Lesson Topic: Characteristics and types of seed plants
Day 5 of 10
Teacher’s Initials:
Date:
Your Name: Kayla Lengerich
Instructional Goals
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify the two different types of seed
plants and use what they have learned about their characteristics in order to distinguish one
from the other.
Lesson Rationale and/or Summary (as required by instructor)
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This lesson is important because students need to be able to distinguish the
different types of seed plants. By using charts and pictures, students will be able
to visualize the different types and connect those visuals to plants they have
actually seen in their lives. Furthermore, we will discuss why each seed plant is
important to humans so that they can see how seed plants might affect their
everyday lives without realizing it.
In this lesson, students will take notes and discuss the two groups of seed
plants- gymnosperms and angiosperms. They will look at pictures of examples
of each, and discuss why they think flowers are important to angiosperms.
Students will look at a life cycle chart as well as a chart that covers the 4 types
of living plants.
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Objectives
Students will be able to:
 Distinguish a gymnosperm from an angiosperm
 Describe how seed plants reproduce
 Explain how each type of plant has specific characteristics that help them survive
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Investigate the great variety of body plans and internal structures found in
multicellular organisms. (Life Sciences, 7.1)
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Explain that multicellular organisms have a variety of specialized cells, tissues,
organs, and organ systems that perform specialized functions. (Life Sciences, 6.2)
Resources
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Paper
Pencils
Power Point presentation
Pictures of examples
Whiteboard
Markers
Gymnosperm life cycle chart
Section 4 worksheet
Life Science. Austin, TX: Holt Science and Technology, 2001.
Procedures (Four Components)
I. Readiness/Motivation for Lesson: Engage
Allotted Time: 4 minutes
 I will begin this lesson by showing the students a picture of a flower. I will tell them
that this represents one of the types of plants we will be discussing today.
 “Look at this plant. Can you tell me how being a flower affects how this plant might
reproduce?”
 I will accept any reasonable answers, and write them on the board.
 “You all have some good thoughts. We will talk more about flowers and how they
are helpful to the plant later in the period. Keep these ideas in your mind.”
II. Lesson Development: Explore, Explain, Extend
Allotted Time: 33 minutes
 Students will get out their notebooks so that we may begin talking about the
two kinds of seed plants- gymnosperms and angiosperms.
 I will pull up several pictures of gymnosperms, or plants with “naked seeds”.
 “What do you think naked seed means?”
 As we go through the pictures, I will ask students to point out similarities that
they see. I will tell students the names of the 4 groups: conifers, ginkgoes,
gnetophytes, and cycads. Because students are most familiar with conifers, we
will talk a little more in depth about conifers.
 “Conifer means ‘carry cones’. What do you think that says about this kind of
gymnosperm?” I will allow several students to answer.
 If no student says that it helps them to reproduce, I will use our discuss about
seeds from the day before to guide the students.
 I will tell them that there are both male and female cones.
 “Do you think this means conifers reproduce asexually or sexually?”
 This will lead into the life cycle of conifers and other gymnosperms.
 I will show a circle chart on the board, and give students a handout of the chart.
 After discussing the life cycle, we will discuss how gymnosperms are
important.
 We will then go back to the picture of the flowering plant.
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“Since we’ve talked about gymnosperms already, what kind of plant do you
think this is?” The correct answer is an angiosperms. Angiosperm refers to
flowering plants.
I will tell them that angiosperms are the most abundant plants.
“Why do you think that is?”
If a student mentioned that flowers help plants reproduce in the discussion at
the beginning of class, I will point to it on the board. “This is absolutely
correct!” We will discuss how flowers help plants reproduce.
Angiosperms also have fruit that are helpful in protecting seeds as they are
being transported.
Angiosperms are divided into 2 classes- monocots and dicots.
I will direct students to the chart in their books on page 283, which discusses
these differences. I will point out the difference in number of cotyledons, or
seed leaves. “This is the most distinctive difference.”
We will end our notes with a discussion about how angiosperms are important.
I will point to my clothing, and say, “I bet you didn’t know that the materials
used to make this shirt came from angiosperms!”
We will discuss the other important things angiosperms do for us.
III. Lesson Closure: Summarize, Link
Allotted Time: 3 minutes
 I will have students turn to the chart on page 273, which ties all four types of living
plants together. We will briefly discuss this chart.
IV.
Evaluate:
 No formal evaluation on this day- I will pay attention to what students
seem to be struggling with so that I can return again to the subject
matter to reinforce and further explain.
Adaptations/Differentiation: (Optional, as prescribed by instructor)
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Students may receive print out of notes.