AWF’s Habitat Lab Field Investigation Activities

Below are free activity pages related to woodland wildflowers and their pollinators:

• Plant Growth Investigation (2nd Grade): (Word Doc / PDF)- Students will grow bean plants from seeds, and record their observations as the plants grow over a two-week period. Each group of plants will test a different variable (water, soil or sunlight), and the students will compare their results at the end of the investigation. AL Science Standard #5: Plan and carry out an investigation, using one variable at a time (e.g., water, light, soil, air), to determine the growth needs of plants.
• How Pollinators Pollinate (2nd Grade): (Word Doc / PDF) – Students look for a pollinator in the Habitat Lab, record their observations about the pollinator, and then draw a model of the pollination process. AL Science Standard 2nd Grade #6: Design and construct models to simulate how animals disperse seeds or pollinate plants (e.g., animals brushing fur against seed pods and seeds falling off in other areas, birds and bees extracting nectar from flowers and transferring pollen from one plant to another).
• Parts of a Plant (2nd Grade): (Word Doc / PDF)- Students find two different flowers in the habitat lab to study and compare as they draw pictures of the plants and identify the plants’ flowers, leaves and stems.
• What’s the Scoop on Soil? (4th Grade): (Word Doc / PDF) – Students learn about the soils in your Habitat Lab as they investigate the properties of four different soil samples and examine the soils’ texture, color, capacity to retain water, and ability to support plant growth. AL Science Standard 4th Grade #13: Plan and carry out investigations to examine properties of soils and soil types (e.g. color, texture, capacity to retain water, ability to support growth of plants).
• Parts of a Plant (4th Grade): (Version #1: Word Doc / PDF) (Version #2: Word Doc / PDF) – Students explore the habitat lab to find a plant with a flower, and then they draw it, label its parts, and answer questions about how its internal and external structures help the plant survive, grow, and reproduce. AL Science Standard #9: Examine evidence to support an argument that the internal and external structures of plants (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, colored petals, xylem, phloem) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.