Adapted from PSIP : Life Cycles of Plants
Estimated Time:
1 period of 30 minutes
Purpose:
Students engage in a common experience to develop an understanding that living things grow
and change over time. During this activity, students observe and record their observations on
how different types of seeds grow and change over a period of time.
Science as Inquiry
Guiding Questions
Learning Outcomes
Skills and Processes
Observe and compare the life
cycles of plants grown from
seeds over a period of time.

How does a seed
change over time?
Lesson Design Considerations
Pedagogical and Assessment
Considerations
Students observe and describe the
growth of seeds over time.
Through the hands-on
investigation, they can observe
growth and change in plants. From
the student’s individual record
sheet, teachers can assess if
students are able to communicate
their observations on the growth
and change of plants.
Materials:
For Students
Growing Plants:
 Record Sheet
 Bean seeds (e.g. Red bean seeds, green bean seeds, lady’s finger’s seeds)
 Small plastic bags with moist paper towel
 Planters with soil
About Growing Seeds
Get each student from each group of 3-4 to grow different types of seeds so that they can
observe each other’s plants and compare their life cycles.
Suggested steps to grow bean seeds:
 Place 2 folded paper towels into a small plastic bag.
 Place 5 staples at 5 points along a straight line (one for each seed to rest on) about 3 or 4
cm from the bottom of the bag. Each staple should be about 2 cm apart for growing larger
seeds and 1.5 cm apart for growing smaller seeds.
 Place the seeds on the staples.
 Wet the seeds and the paper towels thoroughly.
 Label the name of the group on the top of the plastic bag.
 Pin the plastic bags on the notice board.
 Observe the growth of the seeds and moisten the paper towels when they are almost dry.
Adapted from PSIP : Life Cycles of Plants
Est
Time
Outcomes
Observe and
compare the life
cycles of plants
grown from
seeds over a
period of time.
Learning Experiences
Resources
Growing Plants


Distribute a few bean seeds to each student. Different students should grow
different types of bean seeds so that they can compare the life cycles of different
plants (e.g. red bean seeds, green bean seeds, lady’s finger seeds).
Get students to grow seeds on moist paper towel in small plastic bags and record
their daily observations on the Record Sheet. Observations can include:
- Number of leaves
- Length of stem
Bean seeds
Small plastic bags
with moist paper
towel
Planters with soil
Record Sheet
Note: Encourage students to observe the direction of growth of both the roots and
shoots.

Encourage students to carefully transplant the young plants into pots filled with
soil after the seeds have grown into young plants. Students can continue to record
their observations on the growth of the plant.

Facilitate a brief discussion of students’ observations at the end of each week by
asking relevant questions such as:
- What do you observe about the seeds that have grown?
- How has the seed changed over time?
- What do you think will happen next to the seed / young plant?