Plant Life Cycle Scientist

Predict, observe, conclude. The full shape of an investigation, in a form an eight year old can complete.

The prediction is written before anything is planted and is not changed afterwards. Children want to change it once they see they were wrong. Not changing it is the discipline being taught.

We use fast growers so the cycle completes inside a term. Mung bean or radish.

The page has the prediction box, dated observations, a measurement column and a conclusion frame that specifically asks whether the prediction was right. Wrong predictions score exactly the same as right ones, and the sheet says so where the children can read it. That single line changes how honestly the observation column gets filled in.