Photosynthesis Unit for Middle School-Activities, Worksheets, & Reading Passages

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In the unit, students are observing the phenomenon of watching a plant grow from seed. The phenomenon will be used to help students understand how plant systems are able to change matter into food we rely on for energy.

Each lesson begins with a lab or activity and is designed to guide students to their own understanding of the cycling of matter through the process of photosynthesis. After gaining concrete experience through hands-on activities and discussion, students will connect their own understanding to the science terminology through interactive reading passages. Finally, students will demonstrate their knowledge through a differentiated modeling project. The project can be broken up throughout each lesson of completed as a continuous model throughout the unit (both options are made available in each lesson).

BONUS LESSON – The bonus lesson included in the unit bundle includes two introduction activities to start the unit. Students will be asked to think about where the food on their plate comes from (there is an option to wrap back to this activity in the final lesson). They will also grow and chart the growth of their own plant, which forms the overarching phenomenon for this unit.

Unit Question: How do plant systems operate in order to reconstruct molecules into new forms that become the foundation of our food chains?

Unit Phenomena: A seed transforming into a plant

Unit Lessons:

1. What’s on My Plate? (Unit Phenomenon) – BONUS LESSON only available with bundle

2. Plant Vascular System

3. Parts of a Leaf

4. Chemical Reaction of Photosynthesis

Next Generation Science Standards:

MS-LS1-6 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

MS-LS1-3 Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Grade Level:

6-8

Teaching Days:

4-5

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