Mississippi Science L.1.2.1
The Standard
- L.1.2
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of how living things change in form as they go through the general stages of a life cycle
Investigate, using observations and measurements (non-standard units), flowering plants (pumpkins, peas, marigolds, or sunflowers) as they change during the life cycle (i.e., germination, growth, reproduction, and seed dispersal). Use drawings, writing, or models to communicate findings.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Reproduction and Heredity
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students watch a flowering plant change from seed to sprout, flower, and new seeds. They measure its growth with objects such as paper clips and record changes with drawings or words. They show how seeds can move to new places.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student puts the stages in order and explains that the flower leads to new seeds. They compare two dated plant drawings, use paper clips to describe how much the plant grew, and show one way seeds can move.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the sprout is a different plant from the seed, or that pods appear without flowers. They may think new seeds always stay beside the parent plant.
How to Assess It
- Give students four picture cards: pea seed, sprout, flowering plant, and pod. Ask them to order the cards, measure the sprout picture in paper clips, and draw one way a seed could move.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place pea seeds in a clear bag with damp paper towels; measure root length in paper clips each day and draw the changes.
Show photos of a pea flower and a pod; ask, "Where did the seeds come from, and what changed?"
Give pairs pumpkin seed, sprout, flower, and fruit cards to order; have them draw how an animal could move a seed.
Cut open a grocery pumpkin, count its seeds, and ask how a squirrel might carry one to another spot.
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