A single-period, 5E inquiry lesson where students discover that a plant's mass comes mostly from the air — then model how light energy becomes the chemical energy that powers nearly every food web on Earth.
Students will be able to…
Where does a giant tree's mass actually come from — the soil beneath it, or the air around it?
Project this for the whole class or let groups drive it. Slide the sunlight up and down, flip between day and night, and have students record what happens to the sugar and oxygen output in their science notebooks.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions. The timing bar on the left adds up to one class period.
A 400-year-old oak weighs many tons. Where did all that stuff come from?
Students manipulate the interactive model above and collect evidence — no formula given yet.
Formalize the vocabulary and the equation — then have students build it themselves.
Connect one leaf's chemistry to ecosystems, energy flow, and the carbon cycle.
Three quick checks for understanding — students answer before they revisit their opening prediction.
Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy in science. State-standard crosswalks available on request.
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.
Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions, forming new molecules that support growth and release energy.
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words with a version expressed visually (a diagram or model).
Write an informative/explanatory text to examine a topic and convey ideas through relevant, well-organized evidence.
Developing & Using Models · Constructing Explanations from evidence.
Energy & Matter — tracking flows, cycles, and conservation through a system.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap "Sample answer" to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Add the classic leaf-disk float lab: students sink spinach disks in baking-soda solution, then time how fast they rise under different light conditions to measure the rate of photosynthesis and identify limiting factors. Full lab handout available in the Science library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.