school plant experiments

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23 Plant Experiment Ideas

ThoughtCo / Hilary Allison

• Cell Biology
• Weather & Climate
• B.A., Biology, Emory University
• A.S., Nursing, Chattahoochee Technical College

Plants are tremendously crucial to life on Earth. They are the foundation of food chains in almost every ecosystem. Plants also play a significant role in the environment by influencing climate and producing life-giving oxygen.

Plant experiments and studies allow us to learn about plant biology and its potential usage for plants in other fields such as medicine , agriculture , and biotechnology . The following plant experiment ideas provide suggestions for topics to be explored.

Plant Experiment Ideas

• Do magnetic fields affect plant growth?
• Do different colors of light affect the direction of plant growth?
• Do sounds (music, noise, etc.) affect plant growth?
• Do different colors of light affect the rate of photosynthesis ?
• What are the effects of acid rain on plant growth?
• Do household detergents affect plant growth?
• Can plants conduct electricity ?
• Does cigarette smoke affect plant growth?
• Does soil temperature affect root growth?
• Does caffeine affect plant growth?
• Does water salinity affect plant growth?
• Does artificial gravity affect seed germination?
• Does freezing affect seed germination?
• Does burned soil affect seed germination?
• Does seed size affect plant height?
• Does fruit size affect the number of seeds in the fruit?
• Do vitamins or fertilizers promote plant growth?
• Do fertilizers extend plant life during a drought ?
• Does leaf size affect plant transpiration rates?
• Can plant spices inhibit bacterial growth ?
• Do different types of artificial light affect plant growth?
• Does soil pH affect plant growth?
• Do carnivorous plants prefer certain insects?
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• Gram Positive vs. Gram Negative Bacteria
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• Nematoda: Roundworms
• Is Spontaneous Generation Real?
• Parts of a Flowering Plant
• 5 Tricks Plants Use to Lure Pollinators
• Carnivorous Plants
• Mutualism: Symbiotic Relationships
• The Photosynthesis Formula: Turning Sunlight into Energy
• All About Photosynthetic Organisms
• All About the Protista Kingdom

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• Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS): Primary Resources/

Primary science investigations with plants

A collection of investigations around the topic of plants, looking at life cycles, factors affecting growth, parts of a plant, composting and plants that we eat. Investigations provided by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) are:  

Holly leaves : investigate questions about holly leaves.

Tree rings : investigate cut tree trunks to determine the age of the tree, how fast it grew and climatic conditions during its growth.

Investigating if plants grow better with fertiliser : plan and carry out a fair test looking at the effect of fertiliser on growing radishes

The life cycle of a flowering plant : a sequencing activity looking at the lifecycle of Brassica, a fast cycling flowering plant.

How does light affect growing plants? : Plan and carry out a fair test looking at the effect of light on plant growth.

Having fun growing plants: provide the conditions for germination and observe a variety of seeds over time.

Finding out about the number of flower parts : three ways to dissect a flower in order to identify and name the different parts.

Designing a seed:  design and make a seed from a newly discovered plant using junk materials.

Are you a plant eater?: Develop an awareness of the parts of a plant that are eaten.

Composting, recycling and the curriculum : investigate what happens during the composting process.

• Cross curricular
• Activity sheet
• Presentation
• Teacher guidance
• Include Physical Resources

Holly Leaves - Themes and Variations

This resource, aimed at primary level and linked to the curriculum area of plants, investigates holly leaves. Designed to be used in an outdoor area where holly plants grow, it provides questions about holly leaves which children may investigate, for example, how many...

This teaching package, aimed at Key Stages Two and Three, investigates the science of tree rings (dendrochronology). Linked to the topics of plants and living things and their habitats, it looks at cut tree trunks to determine the age of the tree, how fast it grew and...

Investigating if Plants Grow Better with Fertiliser

This resource, aimed at primary level, helps to develop an understanding of what plants need to grow well. It provides an opportunity to plan and carry out a fair test looking at the effect of fertilizer on growing radishes. It includes detailed notes on setting up and...

The Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant

Aimed at primary level, this resource provides a sequencing activity looking at the lifecycle of Brassica, a fast cycling flowering plant. It is designed to help children demonstrate their understanding of the progression through the lifecycle and reinforce their...

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Activities and Experiments to Explore Photosynthesis in the Classroom

Photosynthesis can be a difficult concept to grasp, that’s why we’ve compiled a selection of hands-on activities and experiments to help show students some of the concepts in action.

In addition to the ideas below, PLT’s new Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide and PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide both offer a wealth of hands-on, creative activities and resources for lessons about photosynthesis. Each guide includes a comprehensive Topic Index to help you quickly find a list of relevant activities that fit your needs and every activity includes a background section for educators that gives a science-based introduction to the activity’s content. We also have a few abridged versions related to the physiology of trees and photosynthesis for families to try out together at home, for example, How Plants Grow and Tree Factory .

Introduction to Photosynthesis

The word “photosynthesis” comes from Greek root words that combine to mean “to put together with the help of light.”

All plants, algae, and some microorganisms like bacteria photosynthesize to make their own food. This makes them part of a group of organisms called autotrophs. Unlike heterotrophs, which include animals that feed off other living organisms, autotrophs make nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances. What a superpower!

To undergo photosynthesis, plants need carbon dioxide from the air, water from the soil, and sunlight. These elements combine in a chemical reaction that takes place inside of a plant’s leaves to create glucose and oxygen.

Absorbing Carbon Dioxide and Water

Carbon dioxide can be produced naturally from the decomposition of living things and events like volcanic eruptions, and from human activity like burning fossil fuels.

Animals respirate by inhaling gases in the air, retaining oxygen, and releasing carbon dioxide. However, when plants breathe, they take in carbon dioxide, which is a key ingredient required for photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide enters a plant through its stomata, tiny pores that are usually located on the underside of leaves and sometimes stems. Most plants also soak up another substance through their roots that they need for photosynthesis: water.

Adding Energy

Once a plant has carbon dioxide and water, it needs energy to enable these two substances to chemically react with each other. It gets energy from a steady stream of sunlight hitting its leaves. Chlorophyll, a green pigment found in tiny structures called chloroplasts within leaves, absorbs energy from blue and red light waves from the sun. The sunlight’s energy is then transferred to two types of energy-storing molecules within the plant.

The energy already stored from the sun fuels a reaction in the leaves’ chloroplasts that splits water molecules (H 2 0) into pure hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O 2 ). The hydrogen reacts with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to produce glucose, a type of sugar. The full chemical equation of photosynthesis looks like this:

6CO 2 + 6H 2 0 + Sunlight → C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2

In other words, the carbon dioxide and water that go into the plant combine with energy from sunlight to produce glucose, and also oxygen.

Storing and Using Glucose

Once this sugar is made, it can be stored as energy (food) that the plant uses for growth and repair. Plants also use the energy from nutrients in the soil along with glucose to grow and develop leaves, flowers, and fruits.

Students often wonder how a gas like carbon dioxide that you can’t see helps form a giant tree or the apple they eat for lunch. It’s because a chemical reaction doesn’t have to start with a solid (like soil) to end with a solid (like a tree or apple). It helps for students to understand the carbon cycle – and PLT has a variety of content to support this.

Glucose is a carbohydrate, which is simply a molecule containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Smaller glucose molecules can build bigger carbohydrates like cellulose or starch.

Similar to a human skeleton, cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls that help strengthen the plant. Humans can’t digest cellulose, but the fiber found in cellulose-heavy foods like celery and broccoli aids with digestion and can lower the risk of diseases like cancer. These strong fibers are also used to make clothes and paper. Animals like cows, horses, and sheep can digest cellulose, so it makes sense that they eat grass for quick energy and nutrients.

Plants can also convert glucose into starch, which is a larger carbohydrate molecule that can store its energy. Humans break down starches found in foods like potatoes and rice into glucose, and it, in turn, gives them energy.

Though you may not use sunlight to create your food, when you eat something like chicken or rice, you take in energy plants used from the sun. And not only does a plant produce food animals need for their energy as a result of photosynthesis, but it also releases oxygen as a byproduct through its stomata into the atmosphere.

Photosynthesis is critical for the survival of all living organisms — not just plants.

Hands-On Photosynthesis Activities

Photosynthesis can be a difficult concept to grasp, especially for younger learners. That’s why we’ve compiled these interactive activities and experiments that show some of the concepts in action.

Photosynthesis Visuals

These photosynthesis modeling activities will help students visualize and better understand what a plant needs to undergo photosynthesis and what it produces as a result. The 3D and 2D representations will also help them absorb some of the vocabulary associated with photosynthesis.

3D Photosynthesis: Tree Leaf Model 

Older students can create these more complex 3D models of a leaf’s front and backside where all of the photosynthesis action takes place, like on its stomata and chloroplasts. They will attach labels to the leaf that describe the different substances involved.

The Ins and Outs of Photosynthesis

Younger learners will enjoy this less complex visual activity that involves a leaf with “IN” and “OUT” envelopes into which they’ll place the respective chemical reactants or products of photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis Paper Craft  

Take your lesson in an artistic direction by letting students create these bright and fun paper flower and sun displays, complete with the basic photosynthesis terms.

Exploring Leaves with STEM 

These STEM experiments requiring real leaves will spark valuable critical thinking when students observe leaf structure, stomata, plant respiration, and more.

Respirating Leaves

The invisible chemical process of a leaf exchanging carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight for oxygen will become visible when your class observes what happens when they submerge leaves in water.

Stomata Microscope Investigation

Students will use microscopes to explore the structure of a leaf that makes the exchange of gasses during photosynthesis possible. They can also explore other parts of leaves and how plants gain mass.

Stomata Microscope Comparison

Compare the stomata sizes and numbers of different plant species under a microscope and examine leaf texture by creating cool “nail polish imprints.”

Exploring Plants and Sunlight

Plants need sunlight for survival, so it makes sense that their behavior or appearance would change if their access to sunlight is altered. These activities explore this concept.

Measuring Plant Growth with Sunlight 

This activity takes a couple of weeks but will give your students valuable insight into how a plant’s growth and green coloration is affected by varying levels of sunlight over time. They’ll flex their critical thinking skills as they take daily notes and conclude what happens to a seed under different light conditions.

Rotating Plants

Track how plants bend towards the sun wherever they are with this great exercise that introduces young students to just how active plants can be when it comes to gaining precious sun energy. You can grow seedlings or even experiment with a larger plant you have and see how its color or growth is affected when you rotate or move closer or further from the sun.

Fun with Plant Pigmentation 

There’s a lot of fun that can be had with the chlorophyll in leaves, including art and color experimentation! 

Chlorophyll Paintings 

Chlorophyll pigment not only turns plants green – it makes leaves great mediums for “green” art projects! Kids will love this out-of-the-box painting style, learn about chlorophyll firsthand, and expand their creativity all at once.

Leaf Color Chemistry Experiment 

When the school year begins, recreate how leaves change color in autumn with green leaves, rubbing alcohol, coffee filters, and other easy-to-find items. The pigments of chlorophyll will fade and leave behind hidden pigments that demonstrate why leaves change color in the fall – which is also when your class can reflect back on this eye-opening experiment.

Let Project Learning Tree Be Your Guide

Introduce students to photosynthesis with these PLT activities from the new Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide :

• Here We Grow Again (for grades K-2), Every Tree for Itself , and Signs of Fall (for grades 3-5) in PLT’s Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide
• How Plants Grow and Sunlight and Shades of Green (Activities 41 and 42 in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide ), and
• Power Plants (Activity 4 in PLT’s Energy & Ecosystems E-Unit).

Watch an example of an activity! This video walks viewers through PLT’s activity Signs of Fall. In this activity, participants are introduced to different leaf pigments and use chromatography to pull out leaf pigments using simple household items. It helps answer the question, “Why do leaves change color?”.

For further guidance on how to relay the essential concepts of photosynthesis to your classroom and more great activities, check out this Unit of Instruction by Project Learning Tree. It suggests linking select PLT activities to help students learn more about the topic of photosynthesis using a storyline technique. Storylines ensure connectivity and continuity between individual activities and can serve as the “instructional glue” that bind many areas of knowledge and skills. The Unit of Instruction includes a guiding question, concepts addressed, and connections to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and PLT’s Forest Literacy Framework.

To boost your teaching with 50 field-tested, hands-on multidisciplinary activities that educate and connect elementary students with nature in powerful ways, and more suggested Units of Instruction , look no further than Project Learning Tree’s new Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide .

Rebecca Reynandez

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Composting Experiments, Tips, and Resources for the Classroom (and at Home)

Composting can take place in your classroom, kitchen, backyard, neighborhood, or community. Learning about compost can be a hands-on activity, and you don’t need much space to get started.

Environmental Education Resources

Every month we carefully select new educational apps, videos, interactive websites, books, careers information, and teacher-generated materials that support PLT lessons.

STEM: Improve Your Place

Help students use Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math applications to identify ways they can improve their school or neighborhood.

PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide – Activity 51, Make Your Own Paper

Students investigate the papermaking process by trying it themselves. Students are thrilled to find that they can make paper and that their product is practical, as well as beautiful. Watch a video of the paper-making process used in this activity.

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Top 17 Plant Science Experiments: Exploring Plant Growth

Join us as we embark on a journey of scientific exploration, unveiling the wonders of plant life one experiment at a time.

We have selected the best plant-related science experiments for this collection. These hands-on, educational activities are suitable for students of all age groups and not only satiate our curiosity about the natural world but also anchor our understanding of ecology and biology.

Let’s get started, and hopefully, this botanical journey will inspire a lifelong appreciation for the marvels of mother nature.

1. Grow Your Own Plants

This experiment offers an immersive learning experience, allowing students to witness firsthand the stages of plant growth, understand the requirements for healthy development, and observe the effects of various environmental factors.

2. Chlorophyll Paintings

“Chlorophyll Paintings” offers an innovative and artistic approach to plant science experimentation that both students and teachers should explore.

This unique experiment combines the worlds of biology and art, allowing participants to create captivating masterpieces while exploring the wonders of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for a plant’s green color.

Learn more: Chlorophyll Paintings

3. Color Changing Flowers

This experiment provides an excellent opportunity to explore the process of water uptake in plants and how it affects the distribution of pigments within the flowers.

Learn more: Color Changing Flowers

4. Low-Prep Flower Dissection

“Low-Prep Flower Dissection” presents an accessible and engaging plant science experiment that is ideal for both students and teachers seeking hands-on learning experiences with minimal preparation.

This experiment offers a fascinating glimpse into the intricate anatomy of flowers and the functions of their various parts.

Learn more: Low-Prep Flower Dissection

5. Acid Rain Science

“Acid Rain Science” presents an impactful and relevant plant science experiment that offers valuable insights into the environmental effects of acid rain.

Students and teachers should engage in this experiment to understand the detrimental consequences of pollution on plant life and ecosystems.

6. Reveal a Plant’s Vascular System

“Reveal a Plant’s Vascular System” offers an exciting and enlightening plant science experiment that allows students and teachers to explore the hidden wonders of a plant’s circulatory system.

Learn more: Reveal a Plant’s Vascular System

7. Make Oxygen at Home

Through the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, a vital component for supporting life on Earth.

This experiment offers a unique opportunity to understand the connection between plants, photosynthesis, and the oxygen we breathe.

8. How Water Travels Through Leaves

Students and teachers should engage in this experiment to gain a deeper understanding of how plants absorb and distribute water, while also exploring the concepts of transpiration and the importance of water in plant survival.

Learn more: How Water Travels Through Leaves

9. Growing a Bean Plant

By following simple steps, participants can cultivate their own bean plants and observe the stages of germination, root development, and leaf growth.

This experiment offers an excellent opportunity to explore plant anatomy, photosynthesis, and the importance of environmental factors for healthy plant growth.

10. Easy Seed Sprouting

“Easy Seed Sprouting” offers a simple yet rewarding plant science experiment that students and teachers should embrace to witness the wonder of seed germination and plant growth.

Learn more: Easy Seed Sprouting

11. Leaf Color Chromatography

By conducting this experiment, participants can explore the fascinating world of pigments and chromatography, gaining a deeper understanding of the diverse hues present in plant leaves.

12. How to Revive Any Dying Plant

This experiment offers a hands-on opportunity to understand the factors influencing plant health and to develop skills in plant care and problem-solving.

By exploring various techniques such as adjusting watering schedules, providing appropriate light exposure, and optimizing soil conditions, participants can revive and rejuvenate struggling plants.

13. Make Your Own Fun Light Maze for Plants

By constructing a maze using various light sources, participants can investigate how plants respond to different light conditions and orientations.

14. How Plants Breathe

By engaging in this experiment, participants can gain a deeper understanding of how plants exchange gases and respire, just like humans and animals.

Through this experiment, students will discover the importance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in plant metabolism and growth.

15. The Color-Changing Celery Experiment

This experiment provides a unique opportunity to witness the movement of water and the transportation of pigments through the xylem vessels of celery stalks.

16. Growing Seeds in Eggshells

This experiment not only promotes sustainable practices by repurposing waste materials but also provides an opportunity to explore the principles of seed germination, root development, and plant nutrition.

Learn more: Growing Seeds in Eggshells

17. Make a 3D Flower Model with Parts

By constructing a three-dimensional model using various materials, participants can explore the different parts of a flower and their functions.

Learn more: Make a 3D Flower Model with Parts

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