Year 1: Plants
Identifying Common Plants and Trees
Curriculum Requirement
- Identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
- Identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees
Pupils should use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about plants growing in their habitat. Where possible, they should observe the growth of flowers and vegetables that they have planted.
They should become familiar with common names of flowers, examples of deciduous and evergreen trees, and plant structures (including leaves, flowers (blossom), petals, fruit, roots, bulb, seed, trunk, branches, stem).
Pupils might work scientifically by: observing closely, perhaps using magnifying glasses, and comparing and contrasting familiar plants; describing how they were able to identify and group them, and drawing diagrams showing the parts of different plants including trees.
Pupils might keep records of how plants have changed over time, for example the leaves falling off trees and buds opening; and compare and contrast what they have found out about different plants.
National Curriculum in England: primary curriculum, Section: "Plants", p. 148.
The Parts of a Plant
Most of the plants and trees you see have four main parts. Each part has a very important job to do.
The Four Main Parts
The Flower
This is often the most colourful part of a plant.
Its job is to:
Make seeds so the plant can grow new plants.
💡 Fun Facts
- Flowers use bright colours and nice smells to attract bees and other insects to help with pollination.
- Some flowers, like dandelions, turn into a fluffy seed head after they have been pollinated.
- Not all flowers are big and bright; the flowers on a grass plant are very small and often green.
The Leaves
These are usually green and grow on the stem.
Their job is to:
Soak up all the sunlight to make food for the plant.
💡 Fun Facts
- The leaves are like a plant's kitchen, as this is where it makes its food.
- The green colour comes from a substance called chlorophyll, which helps the plant absorb sunlight.
- In autumn, the leaves of deciduous trees stop making food and change from green to beautiful reds, yellows, and browns.
The Stem
This is the stalk that holds the plant up.
Its job is to:
Carry water from the roots up to the leaves and flower.
💡 Fun Facts
- The stem is like a drinking straw and a backbone for the plant all in one.
- The strong, woody stem of a tree is called a trunk.
- Some plants, like stinging nettles, have tiny hairs on their stems to protect them from being eaten.
The Roots
These are the parts that grow down into the soil.
Their job is to:
Suck up water from the soil and hold the plant steady so it doesn't fall over.
💡 Fun Facts
- Roots act like an anchor to hold the plant firmly in the ground.
- Some roots, like carrots and parsnips, are vegetables that we can eat.
- The roots of a big tree can spread out under the ground much wider than the branches you can see above it.
Identifying Common Plants
These are smaller plants, often with colourful flowers, that you can find growing in gardens, parks, and school grounds.
Common Flowers
Daisy
A small, common flower often found growing in lawns.
How to identify:
Look for a yellow centre surrounded by many thin, white petals. The flower grows on a single, leafless stalk.
💡 Fun Facts
- Daisies get their name from "day's eye" because their petals close up at night and open again in the morning, just like an eye.
- You can make a daisy chain by carefully making a small slit in the stalk of one daisy with your nail and threading another through it.
- They are very tough plants and can survive being trodden on or mown.
Dandelion
A bright yellow flower with jagged leaves, which later turns into a round, white seed head.
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How to identify:
Look for its bright yellow, fluffy-looking flower and its long, green leaves with edges that look like a lion's teeth.
💡 Fun Facts
- Its name comes from the French ‘dent-de-lion’, which means ‘lion’s tooth’, because of the shape of its leaves.
- After flowering, it turns into a white, fluffy 'clock' of seeds, which are then spread by the wind.
- Every part of the dandelion is edible; the leaves can be eaten in salads and the flowers can be used to make wine.
Buttercup
A shiny, yellow flower commonly found in meadows and grassy areas.
How to identify:
Look for a small flower with five glossy, bright yellow petals that look like they have been polished.
💡 Fun Facts
- It was once believed that the yellow colour of butter came from cows eating buttercups.
- The shiny surface of the petals is due to a special layer of cells that reflects light.
- If you hold a buttercup under your chin, the yellow reflection is supposed to show whether you like butter!
Deciduous Trees
A deciduous tree is one that loses its leaves every autumn and grows new ones in the spring.
Nature Examples
Oak
A large, strong tree known for its distinctive leaves and acorns.
How to identify:
Look for its wavy-edged (lobed) leaves, its rough, cracked bark, and its small, hard fruit called acorns.
💡 Fun Facts
- An oak tree doesn't start producing its first acorns until it is about 40 years old.
- A single oak tree can be a habitat for over 500 different species of insect, bird, and mammal.
- In autumn, its leaves turn a golden-brown before falling to the ground.
Beech
A tall, graceful tree with smooth, grey bark.
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How to identify:
Look for its smooth, grey bark (which looks a bit like an elephant's leg), its oval leaves with wavy edges, and its prickly, four-lobed seed cases.
💡 Fun Facts
- Beech woodland has a very dense canopy of leaves in summer, which means the woodland floor is often very dark.
- The nuts inside the seed cases are edible and are sometimes called 'beechmast'.
- Beech trees keep their dead, copper-coloured leaves on their branches all through the winter, only losing them when the new leaves grow.
Horse Chestnut
A large tree famous for its 'conkers' and large, hand-shaped leaves.
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How to identify:
Look for its large leaves which are made up of 5-7 smaller leaflets arranged like fingers on a hand. In autumn, look for the spiky green cases containing shiny brown conkers.
💡 Fun Facts
- The 'conker' is the seed of the horse chestnut tree.
- In spring, the tree has large, sticky buds that open up to reveal the new leaves and flowers.
- It gets its name from the horseshoe-shaped mark (complete with 'nail' holes) that is left on the twig when a leaf falls off.
Evergreen Trees
An evergreen tree is one that keeps its leaves all year round, even in winter.
Nature Examples
Scots Pine
A tall, rugged conifer and the only pine tree native to the UK.
How to identify:
Look for its long, blue-green needles which grow in pairs, its woody cones, and its flaky, orange-brown bark on the upper part of the trunk.
💡 Fun Facts
- Instead of broad leaves, a pine tree has tough, waxy needles which it keeps all year. This helps it to save water.
- It reproduces using woody cones, which open up in dry weather to release their seeds.
- Red squirrels love to eat the seeds from pine cones.
Holly
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A small evergreen tree with shiny, spiky leaves and bright red berries in winter.
How to identify:
Look for its distinctive dark green, glossy leaves with sharp spines, and (on female trees) its bright red berries.
💡 Fun Facts
- Holly is a popular Christmas decoration because its green leaves and red berries provide colour in the middle of winter.
- Only female holly trees produce berries, but they need a male tree growing nearby to be pollinated.
- The leaves on the lower part of the tree are very spiky to stop animals like deer from eating them, while the leaves at the top of the tree are often smooth.
Yew
A dense, dark evergreen tree often found in churchyards, with soft needles and red, fleshy berries.
How to identify:
Look for its short, flat, dark green needles and its small, bright red berries that have a hole in the end.
💡 Fun Facts
- Yew trees can live for a very long time; some in the UK are thought to be over 2,000 years old.
- Almost every part of the yew tree—its needles and seeds—is poisonous to humans and most animals.
- Birds, however, can eat the fleshy red part of the berry (called an aril) and will fly off and poop out the poisonous seed somewhere else, helping the yew to spread.
Activities & Reflections
Activities
Leaf Rubbing Collection
Give pupils paper and wax crayons. Take them outside to find different types of leaves (both on trees and on the ground). Place the paper over a leaf and rub the side of the crayon over it to reveal the leaf's shape and veins.
Tree Sorting Game
Create two large hoops or signs labelled 'Deciduous' and 'Evergreen'. Give pupils pictures or real leaves from different trees and ask them to sort them into the correct group.
Plant Part Hunt
Ask pupils to find an example of a flower, a stem, a leaf, and (if possible) some roots in the school grounds or a park. They can draw what they find and label it.
Reflections
Self-Reflection (Exit Ticket)
On a sticky note, ask pupils to draw their favourite plant or tree from the lesson and write down one thing that makes it easy to identify.
Paired Reflection (Think-Pair-Share)
Ask pupils to discuss with a partner: What is the main difference between a deciduous tree and an evergreen tree?
Group Reflection
In small groups, pupils can discuss: Why do you think it is useful for a holly tree to have spiky leaves at the bottom and smooth leaves at the top?
Whole Class Share-Out
As a class, discuss: In autumn, lots of deciduous trees lose their leaves. What happens to all those leaves on the ground? Where do they go?
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