Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
A Grade 7 class sealed a potted plant in a clear box with a carbon dioxide sensor. In the light, the carbon dioxide went down, as expected. Then the lights went off. By morning the carbon dioxide had gone up. "The sensor's broken," said one student. "Or the plant was breathing out," said another. "Plants don't do that!" Your team's job: follow the atoms in a plant's food and settle the argument.
Teams of three, rotating jobs: Builder (moves cards), Counter (counts atoms), Recorder (fills in the sheet).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
9 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Atom cards
- Worksheet: Case cards
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Atom accounting
- Case stations
- Exit ticket
- Atom cards
- Case cards
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 3 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Conserves atoms
- Explains plant respiration
- Uses case data
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “What happens to the food a plant makes?” take?
50–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
15 minutes: print the Atom cards, one set per team, cut apart (scissors for paper only). Print one set of the Case cards and tape one card up at each of four stations around the room.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): MS-LS1-6 and MS-LS1-7. It also matches England National Curriculum, Key Stage 3 and Cambridge Lower Secondary Science, Stages 8 and 9 (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”, “Atom accounting”, “Case stations”, “Exit ticket”, “Atom cards”, “Case cards”, “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 3 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.