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Grow It 3-5 / Week 10 / Monday
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Week 10 · The Garden Food Web

Monday

Plants make the food
// Who eats what, and where it all goes
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Plants Make the Food

Rocket sets a tray of lunch on the garden bench. "Every living thing needs food," he says. "So who feeds the plants?"

Raven points at the bean plant on the windowsill. "What do you notice? Nobody brings it lunch."

Nova hovers beside a leaf. "Think back to the light test," she says. "What did the leaves need?"

Rocket taps his chin. "The plant makes its own lunch!"

Producers

A producer makes its own food.

Plants are producers. They use energy from the Sun to make sugar.

They build that sugar from air and water. This is called photosynthesis.

Grass, trees, ferns and your bean plant are all producers.

Every food chain in a garden starts with the Sun and a producer.

IS IT A PRODUCER?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
An oak tree grows leaves in the sunshine. Is it a producer?
A bee drinks nectar from a flower. Is the bee a producer?
Moss grows on a shady rock. Is moss a producer?
What gives plants the energy to make food? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEPlants use energy from the Sun to make sugar.

Check your bean plant

This week your bean plant is a scientist's partner again.

Look closely at it each day. Producers are busy all the time!

  1. Set your bean plant on a sheet of paper.
  2. Count its leaves.
  3. Measure its height with a ruler, from the soil to the top.
  4. Feel the soil with one finger. Is it dry or damp?
  5. Write the date, the leaf count and the height in your notebook.
Safety first
Wash your hands after you touch the soil.
Never eat any part of a plant you are growing.
For a grown-up
No bean plant from earlier weeks? Any potted plant works for this week.
Help your child water only when the top of the soil feels dry.
A living thing that makes its own food is a ____.
Plants make food from air, light and ____.
StatementTrue or false?
Plants get their food by eating soil.?
A food chain in a garden starts with the Sun.?
Ferns and grass are producers.?
A bee is a producer.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEPlants are producers. Animals like bees are not.

Great observing! Tomorrow we meet the eaters of the garden, called consumers.