Science fiction
Mahak Katyal and Shradha Patnaik
Research has shown that stories are a great way of introducing concepts to children. Stories help children connect information from the story with their own experiences. Moreover, stories play a dynamic role in child growth and development. This article aims at providing the teacher with an alternative method to teach science to primary grades through the storytelling approach.
This lesson plan, created as part of the curriculum development work at Educational Innovations*, was prepared for grade three students on the topic, ‘Plants’. The lesson is an introduction to the concept of photosynthesis. By now, students have a fair knowledge about the parts of a plant, types of leaves, and leaf and vein arrangements. By the end of this lesson, they will understand the importance of the stomata and leaves while describing the key factors that help leaves make food.
You will require the following materials:
• Leaf puppet – 1 puppet
• Story cards – 1 copy for each student
• Worksheet – 1 copy per pair (Annexure)
Before you go to the class with this lesson, keep the above materials ready. For the leaf puppet, draw a leaf on a thick card or white paper (refer to the picture below). Then cut it out and stick the leaf on the top half of the ice cream stick. In case you draw the leaf on a white paper you will need to paste your leaf on a cardboard (also cut in the shape of a leaf) to give it some thickness. Your puppet is now ready to be used.
Story card 1
Once upon a time there lived Mother plant with her family – Rooty, Leafy, Stemy, and Flowery. They all loved each other a lot and played and ate together. There was a big factory nearby, which supplied their food. One day this factory closed down. The family was now worried. Where would they get their food from? All the members went to Mother plant to share their feelings. “What will we eat?”, “Where will we eat from?”, “What do we do now?” Mother plant asked them to calm down.
She said, “Let us make our own food rather than depend on another factory again.” Each member then started fighting for the important post. Mother plant stopped them and said, “Let me choose the best amongst you for the job. I give the crown to Leafy to do this for all of us.” All the other members immediately objected. Why was Leafy chosen? Mother plant replied, “I chose Leafy because he has the best room for the task. He has access to all the resources required for making food for us.” Seeing the sense in it everybody agreed with Mother plant and Leafy’s room was made the kitchen of the house.
Read this story aloud in class with appropriate gestures and expressions. You can introduce the leaf puppet once it is chosen as the chef in the story. Now pose the following questions to the students:
• Who was chosen by Mother plant to make the food for the family?
• Why was he chosen?
You should now explain to students that the leaf is where the food of the plant gets prepared. Hence, they are very important for the plant. Also ask the following questions:
• What ingredients does the leaf require to make food for the plant?
• Where do you think the leaf gets these ingredients from?
Continue the story and tell students how Leafy prepares the food for his entire family and where he gets the resources from.
Story card 2
Leafy told Mother plant, “I am honored by this mother. But how will I alone make the food for the whole family? I need some help. Mother told him, “Take help from your brothers and sisters, and your friends.” Rooty and Stemy volunteered to help. Rooty brought the water and minerals from the soil and gave it to Stemy. Stemy was very tall. She carried it all the way to the kitchen and kept it there. Leafy asked his neighbour, Stoma, the “invisible” friend that lived below his room, to bring the air to him. So, Stoma brought air from the surroundings and gave it to Leafy. Leafy hired a famous chef to help him prepare the food for the family – Chef C. Leafy with Chef C’s help mixed all the ingredients together and made yummy food for his family. With tasty food to eat everyone was happy.
After completing the story, the teacher can ask students the following questions:
• Was Leafy successful in making the food by himself?
• How did he prepare the food?
• Who volunteered to help him?
• Whom did he hire to help with the cooking?
• What ingredients did Leafy and Chef C choose to prepare a yummy meal for the family?
• Who was the neighbour that helped Leafy in this work?
After the students answer the questions, you should explain to them that stoma is a small opening which is not visible to the eyes. It is present on the lower side of the leaf and helps in bringing air to the leaf. Chef C that helps the leaf in preparing food is a green pigment that is present in leaves called chlorophyll.
Now, hand out one worksheet (Refer to annexure 1. This is just one example. Have more activities based on the lesson taught) each to a pair of students. Discuss the answers and explain to the students that the leaf requires air, water, and sunlight to prepare food for the plant.
Complete the story and ask students about their understanding of plants and how leaves make food.
Story card 3
The neighbouring plants heard everything and decided to do the same for their families. Slowly all the plants in the forest started preparing their own food. All of them came from different families and had different shaped leaves. But they too managed to make the same food. Now no one in the forest was hungry.
Pose the following questions:
o Were all the plants in the forest able to learn how to make food?
o They all belonged to different families. So did they struggle to make food? Why or why not?
Have a brief discussion on how leaves belong to different plants and have different structures and shapes but their functions still remain the same.
Annexure
From the given ingredient clouds, choose the ingredients that chef Leafy chose from the surroundings to prepare a yummy meal for her plant family.
The authors work at Educational Innovations. They may be contacted at contact@educationalinnovations.in.
