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Grow It 3-5 / Week 03 / Friday
5/6
Week 03 · Life Cycles

Friday

Many cycles, one pattern
// From seed to seed again
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Many Cycles, One Pattern

Rocket holds up a fern leaf picture. "This plant has no flowers. So it has no life cycle!"

Raven flips the picture over. "What do you notice on the back of the leaf? Tiny brown dots."

Nova hovers close. "Not every plant uses seeds," she hints. "Those dots are a clue."

Rocket smiles. "So ferns have a different cycle!"

Not all plants make seeds

Ferns do not make flowers or seeds.

Ferns make spores instead. Spores are often under the leaves.

Spores can grow into new ferns. It takes a long time.

Ferns and beans have different life cycles.

Both still have birth, growth, reproduction and death.

StatementTrue or false?
Ferns make flowers.?
Ferns make spores.?
Every life cycle includes growth.?
All plants have the same life cycle.?
WHY THIS EXERCISELife cycles differ, but all include birth, growth, reproduction and death.

Germination test results

Look at your germination test table from this week.

Compare the water cup and the no water cup.

Which cup had more sprouts? Type water or dry.
Which seed need was missing from the other cup?

Measure your seedling

Measure your seedling again from the soil to its top.

Subtract Tuesday's height from today's height.

The answer tells how much your seedling grew this week.

Try it
On paper, make a bar graph with two bars.
One bar shows Tuesday's height. One bar shows Friday's height.
Label each bar with its number in centimeters.
LIFE CYCLE WRAP-UP
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What do ferns make instead of seeds?
Which stage is your bean plant in now?
Safety first
Wear gloves near potting mix, and wash your hands after.
Never eat any seed or leaf from your plant.
Copy your two-bar graph here, or draw your seedling as it looks today.

Superb science! Tomorrow is Grow It Day: your family builds a life-cycle wheel.

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