Plant nutrition
Key Stage 3 - Science - Plant nutrition and photosynthesis
Lesson Outcome
You can describe what plants need from their surroundings to stay alive and grow, and how they get food.
Key Learning Points
- Plants are living organisms that need light, air, water and minerals to stay alive and grow
- Plants take in light and gases from air through their leaves, and take in water and minerals through their roots
- Water and minerals are not food, but plants do need food to stay alive and grow
- Plants do not take in food from their surroundings, they are producers that make their own food
- The food that plants make is carbohydrate, which they use for growth and as a source of energy
Keywords
- minerals: Plants need chemicals called minerals to stay healthy and grow.
- food: Food is any substance that an organism uses as a source of both energy and materials for growth and repair.
- producer: A producer is an organism that makes its own food.
- carbohydrate: Carbohydrates are a type of nutrient found in foods. Sugar and starch are examples of carbohydrates.
Lesson video
Video Script
Hello, everyone.
How are you today? I hope you're feeling really, really good.
My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.
I'm feeling really pleased about that because we're looking at quite an interesting topic today.
I hope you'll agree.
It's the topic of plant nutrition.
That's the title of our lesson.
How do plants get their nutrition? Do you know much about this? Don't worry if you do or not.
We're gonna be getting into it today in our lesson.
Our lesson comes from the unit of work "Plant nutrition and photosynthesis." So if you're ready to dive into this topic, if you have some focus, energy and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.
The outcome for today's lesson is I can describe what plants need from their surroundings to stay alive and grow and how they get food.
I hope this sounds interesting to you.
We'll have some keywords in our lesson.
I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud.
My turn, your turn.
Minerals.
Food.
Producer.
Carbohydrate.
Good to hear those keywords out loud.
We'll be exploring all of these keywords in our lesson today.
Our lesson is called plant nutrition and it has three learning cycles: what plants need to stay alive, how plants get food, and what plant food is and how it's used.
Let's begin by exploring what plants need to stay alive.
Trees, flowers, weeds and vegetables are all examples of plants.
Pause here and share with someone what is your favorite kind of plant.
Thanks for sharing.
I love so many.
Hydrangeas, orchids are some of my favorites.
Plants are living organisms. What do plants do that show they are living organisms? Pause here and share with someone.
What do you think? Thanks for sharing.
Plants need to take in things from their surroundings to stay alive, stay healthy and grow.
All plants need to take in water.
This plant has had plenty of water and this plant on the right needs more water as we can clearly see.
All plants need light to stay alive, stay healthy and grow.
To stay alive, stay healthy and grow, plants need light and water.
And how do they take this in? Pause here and share someone.
Do you know? Thanks for sharing.
They take in water through their roots and light through their leaves, gases from the air also through the leaves and minerals also come in through the roots.
Let's have a check for understanding.
What do plants take in through their roots? Choose from this selection.
A, light, B, minerals, C, soil, D, water.
Pause here while you decide.
What do plants take in through their roots? Well done if you selected answers B and D.
Plants take in minerals and water through their roots.
Let's have another check for understanding.
What do plants take in through their leaves? Choose from this selection.
A, gases from air, B, light, C, minerals, D, water.
Pause here while you decide.
What do plants take in through their leaves? Well done if you selected answers A and B.
Indeed, plants take in gases from the air and light through their leaves.
And now it's time for your first task.
Plants need to take in four things from their surroundings to stay alive and grow.
I would like you to add arrows and labels to the diagram to show where these four things are taken in by the plant.
Light has been done for you.
And we can see it says there, light is taken in through the leaves, and we have an arrow pointing at the leaves.
So pause here while you have a go at this task showing what the four things are that are taken in by the plant.
Add arrows and labels to show this.
Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
So how did you get on with that task of showing what are the four things that are taken in by the plant? So we had the first one on already.
Light is taken in through the leaves.
Perhaps you added gases from the air are taken in through the leaves with an arrow towards the leaves and then minerals are taken in through the roots and water is taken in through the roots, and arrows pointing to the roots.
Well done if you completed the diagram in this way.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our next learning cycle, how plants get food.
Plants, animals and all other living organisms need food to stay alive, stay healthy, and grow.
Animals, including humans, are consumers.
They get their food by eating other organisms. And this is illustrated in the food chain here.
Grass is eaten by the cow and a cow is eaten by some humans.
Plants are producers.
This means that they make their own food and that's why producers are at the start of the food chain.
So there we have the grass, which is a plant, which is a producer and makes its own food at the start of the food chain.
It's eaten by the cow, which is eaten by a human.
Every food chain on Earth starts with a producer.
All the food in every food chain is made by plants and other producers.
They're at the start of all of the food chains everywhere.
Every animal, including every human, depends upon producers to make the food we consume to stay alive.
Thank you, producers for keeping us alive.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false? Plants are consumers.
Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false.
And now I'd like you to justify your answer.
Choose from one of these two statements.
A, plants make their own food or B, plants take in food through their roots.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement A.
Indeed, plants make their own food.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
Let's have another check for understanding.
Plants are producers.
Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected true.
Now I'd like you to justify your answer.
Choose from one of these two statements.
A, plants make fruit and vegetables.
B, plants make their own food.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, plants make their own food, and this statement justifies your earlier answer.
Plants take in things from their surroundings.
They take in light and gases from the air through their leaves, and water and minerals through their roots.
These things are not food.
In everyday life, we call lots of things food.
Here are some examples of food.
Pause here and share with someone.
What's one of your favorite examples of food? Thanks for sharing.
Gotta say I love pizza.
In science, the word food means something that an organism uses as both a source of materials for growth and repair and a source of energy.
The things that plants take in from their surroundings are not food.
This is because plants only use each thing as either a source of materials for growth and repair or a source of energy, but not both.
Let's have a check for understanding.
In science, the word food means something that an organism.
Complete the sentence by choosing from the following selection.
A, needs to stay alive.
B, takes in from its surroundings.
C, uses as a source of materials for growth and repair.
D, uses as a source of energy.
Pause here while you complete the sentence.
Well done if you selected answers C and D.
Let's complete the sentence.
In science, the word food means something that an organism uses as a source of materials for growth and repair or uses as a source of energy.
Let's have another check for understanding.
True or false? Plants use water, gases from the air, minerals and light as food.
Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false.
Now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements.
A, plants only use gases, minerals and water as a source of materials for growth and repair and only use light as a source of energy.
Or B, plants use all those things as a source of materials for growth and repair and as a source of energy.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement A.
Indeed, plants only use gases, minerals, and water as a source of materials for growth and repair, and only use light as a source of energy.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
And now it's time for your next task.
I would like you to write three reasons why Alex is incorrect.
Alex says, "Plants get their food from the soil." So for your task, write three reasons why this statement from Alex is incorrect.
Pause here while you do this and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with that task? What are some of the reasons why Alex is incorrect? Perhaps you said plants make their own food.
Plants don't take in food from their surroundings.
Plants only absorb water and minerals from soil.
Water is not food because it's not a source of energy.
Minerals are not food because they're not a source of energy.
Well done if you pointed out any of these reasons why Alex's statement was incorrect.
And now we're onto our final learning cycle: what plant food is and how it's used.
Plants make their own food in their leaves and other parts of the plant that are above the ground.
Here we can see a leaf of a maple tree.
The food that plants make in their leaves is carbohydrate.
The carbohydrate food is transported to all parts of the plant to keep the plant alive.
The carbohydrate made in leaves is all the food a plant needs.
This is because it's a source of energy.
It's used as a fuel for cellular respiration.
Cellular respiration provides the energy needed for all other life processes in the plant.
And it's also a source of materials for growth and repair.
Carbohydrate is made of the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
These elements are combined with others, such as nitrogen from minerals to make proteins and fats.
Carbohydrate, proteins and fats are used to make all the plant cells and tissues.
Let's have a check for understanding.
What type of food do plants make for themselves? Choose from the selection.
A, carbohydrate, B, fat, C, protein.
Pause here while you decide.
What type of food do plants make for themselves? Well done if you selected answer a, carbohydrate.
This is the type of food which plants make for themselves.
Let's have another check for understanding.
How do plants use the carbohydrate food they make? Choose from the selection.
A, only as a source of energy.
B, only as a source of materials for growth and repair.
C, as a source of both energy and materials for growth and repair.
Pause here while you decide how plants use the carbohydrate food they make.
Well done if you selected answer C.
Indeed, plants use the carbohydrate food they make as a source of both energy and materials for growth and repair.
And now it's time for your final task.
Kyle has run out of Plant Food.
He's worried that his plant will die if he doesn't give it any Plant Food.
Write some advice to help Kyle understand: A, whether plants need to be given food to stay alive.
B, how plants get the food they need to stay alive.
C, whether Kyle should buy another bottle of Plant Food.
Pause here while you have a go at this task of writing some advice to help Kyle.
Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with that task of writing some advice to help Kyle understand: A, whether plants need to be given food to stay alive.
B, how plants get the food they need to stay alive.
C, whether Kyle should buy another bottle of Plant Food.
Perhaps you wrote some advice like this.
Plants don't need to be given food by humans.
Plants are producers that make their own food, carbohydrate.
The Plant Food contains minerals, which are not actually food for plants, but plants do need minerals to stay alive, stay healthy and grow.
Plants combine carbohydrate with elements such as nitrogen from minerals to make proteins and fats.
well done if you offered some advice like this.
Well done for having a go at this task.
In our lesson, "Plant Nutrition," we've covered the following: plants are living organisms that need light, water, minerals and gases from air to stay alive and grow.
Plants take in light and gases from air through their leaves and take in water and minerals through their roots.
Plants also need food to stay alive and grow.
Plants do not take in food from their surroundings.
They are producers that make their own food.
The food that plants make is carbohydrate, which they use for growth and as a source of energy.
Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.
It was great to explore plant nutrition.
What do plants need and where do they get what they need from? Thank you, plants for being such wonderful producers, making your own food, and then providing us with food as well and keeping us alive and happy.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
I really enjoyed teaching you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.
Until then, stay curious.
Worksheet
Plant nutrition
Task 1 What plants need to stay alive
Plants need to take in four things from their surroundings to stay alive and grow.
Light has been done for you.
light is taken in through the leaves
Task 1 What plants need to stay alive
Match
Question 1 of 1
Add arrows and labels to the diagram by matching each thing plants need to where it is taken in by the plant.
Match Options
leaves
roots
light
Place a match here
carbon dioxide
Place a match here
water
Place a match here
mineral ions
Place a match here
Task 2 How plants get food
Task 2 How plants get food
Short Answer
Question 1 of 1
Write three reasons why Alex is incorrect.
Task 3 What plant food is and how it’s used
Kyle has run out of ‘Plant Food’.
He is worried that his plant will die if he doesn’t give it any ‘Plant Food’.
Task 3 What plant food is and how it’s used
Write some advice to help Kyle understand the following points.
Short Answer
Question 1 of 3
a) Do plants need to be given food to stay alive?
Plant Nutrition Quiz
Multiple Choice
Question 1 of 6
1. Which two things do plants take in from their surroundings through their leaves? (Tick 2 correct answers)
Supplementary Resources:
Supplementary teacher guidance
Learning cycle 1
Misconception or common mistake
- Some children think 'plants', 'trees', 'flowers', 'weeds', 'vegetables' and 'seeds' are mutually exclusive categories - failing to realise they are all plants.
- Misunderstandings about what is alive and what is not are common in children of all ages.
- One of the most commonly reported misconceptions is that plants are not living things.
- It can be difficult to convince children that plants carry out all the characteristic processes of living things, including moving (e.g. moving parts of themselves toward the light), because the processes can be difficult to observe in plants or happen on a slower timescale than we are used to.
Misconception response
- This learning cycle begins by activating prior knowledge that plants are living things.
Teacher tip
- Plants carry out all the characteristic processes of living things: they grow, reproduce, need nutrients, use food (in cellular respiration) as a source of energy for life processes, excrete waste substances that they have generated, are sensitive and responsive to their surroundings, and can move parts of themselves to achieve something (e.g. towards the Sun to get more light).
- This learning cycle also explores prior knowledge about what plants need to take in from their surroundings to stay alive - including water. Plants don't have bones or a skeleton, so to provide support and stay standing up they fill up their cells with water (analogous to filling a long modelling balloon with water).
- Plants also need water, and light, for photosynthesis, but this will be explored in lesson 2 of this unit.
Learning cycle 2
Misconception or common mistake
- The topic of plant nutrition and photosynthesis can seem abstract and unimportant to many students.
Misconception response
- Researchers have suggested that it may be helpful to remind students of the 'big picture' significance of the fact that "plants make their own food" - specifically that producers make the food upon which every food chain depends.
Teacher tip
- The first half of this learning cycle explores the idea that plants are producers that make their own food, and are also the source of food for food chains.
Misconception or common mistake
- In their extensive reviews of science education research evidence, Ros Driver and her colleagues noted that "any discussion of 'food' is fraught with the semantic problem of the word 'food' having different meanings in everyday and scientific contexts".
- Learners may consider something food if it is eaten, and may also extend 'eaten' to encompass anything taken in by an organism; this could lead them to incorrectly consider water, minerals, gases and even light to be food when these things are taken in by plants.
- Driver and colleagues described the misconception that plants take in food from their surroundings (e.g. from soil) as "universal and persistent... [at] all ages".
Misconception response
- To avoid creating or reinforcing the misconception that minerals are food, it may be helpful to refer to them only as 'minerals' rather than 'mineral nutrients'.
- The second half of this learning cycle explores the scientific definition of 'food' and why the things taken in by plants are not food.
- The misconception that plants take in food from soil is challenged throughout this learning cycle and the rest of this lesson.
Teacher tip
- In scientific language, 'food' refers specifically and only to substances (including carbohydrates, proteins and fats) that organisms use as a source of both energy and materials needed for metabolism & growth.
Learning cycle 3
Misconception or common mistake
- Science education researchers have noted that while starch is easy to test for (using iodine), an overly narrow focus on starch as the 'food' that plants make for themselves is not particularly helpful, as starch is unfamiliar to learners and is relatively rare in nature compared with other carbohydrates. It is also not a direct product of photosynthesis - the carbohydrate made by photosynthesis is glucose, which is then used to make other carbohydrates such as starch.
Misconception response
- Researchers have recommended that when the idea that plants make their own food is first explored, the 'food' should initially be described as carbohydrate that is used as a source of materials to make other substances (for growth and repair) and as a source of energy (in cellular respiration). Unlike glucose and starch, carbohydrate will be a familiar concept to students from their prior knowledge of food groups and the need to eat a balanced diet.
Teacher tip
- This learning cycle identifies the food made by plants as carbohydrate.
- Lesson 2 in this unit introduces the idea that the carbohydrate product of photosynthesis is glucose.
- Lesson 4 in this unit further explores the idea that plants use this glucose in various ways, including to make other substances such as starch and as fuel for cellular respiration.
Research sources
- Airey, J. and Lupton, E. (2021). Energy and materials. In Reiss, M. & Winterbottom, M. (eds.) Teaching Secondary Biology, 3rd edition. London, UK: Hodder Education.
- Babai, R., Sekal, R. and Stavy, R. (2010). Persistence of the intuitive conception of living things in adolescence. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 19(1), 20-26.
- Barker, M. (1995). A plant is an animal standing on its head. Journal of Biological Education, 29(3), 201-208.
- Barman, C. R., et al. (2003). Students' ideas about plants: results from a national study. Science and Children, 41(1), 46-51.
- Bell, B. (1985). Students' ideas about plant nutrition: what are they? Journal of Biological Education, 19(3), 213-218.
- Children's Learning in Science (1987). CLIS in the classroom: approaches to teaching energy, particulate theory of matter, plant nutrition. University of Leeds.
- Driver, R., et al. (1994). Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research into Children's Ideas, London, UK: Routledge.
- Eisen, Y. and Stavy, R. (1988). Students' understanding of photosynthesis. The American Biology Teacher, 50(4), 208-212.
- Gotwals, A. W. and Wright, T. (2017). From "Plants Don't Eat" to "Plants Are Producers". Science and Children, 55(3), 44-50.
- Kinchin, I. M. (2000). Confronting problems presented by photosynthesis. School Science Review, 81(297), 69-76.
- Leach, J., et al. (1992). Progression in conceptual understanding of ecological concepts by pupils aged 5-16. University of Leeds, UK: Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education.
- Métioui, A., Matoussi, F. and Trudel, L. (2016). The teaching of photosynthesis in secondary school: a history of the science approach. Journal of Biological Education, 50(3), 275-289.
- Noureddine, Z. and Zouhaire, L. (2017). Study of middle school students conceptions regarding the living concept. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 12(3), 475-484.
- Yorek, N., Sahin, M. and Aydin, H. (2009). Are animals 'more alive' than plants? Animistic-anthropocentric construction of life concept. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 5(4), 369-378.
Source: Original Oak lesson. Material sourced from Oak National Academy. This content is licensed on Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).