New
New
Year 3

Nutrients and fertilisers for plants (non-statutory)

I can explain how soil quality can be changed using fertilisers.

New
New
Year 3

Nutrients and fertilisers for plants (non-statutory)

I can explain how soil quality can be changed using fertilisers.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Soil is an important source of nutrients for plants.
  2. Some plants may struggle to grow and survive in certain types of soil.
  3. Nutrients can be added to soil using fertilisers.
  4. Fertilisers added to soil make plants grow bigger and be more healthy.
  5. Fertilisers can be organic, such as compost and manure, or human-made.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that fertiliser added to plants is their ‘food’ and so is necessary for their survival.

Explain that plants do not eat food in the same way that we do but they do need nutrients to survive, grow and stay healthy. They get these nutrients from soil and we can add fertiliser to soil to increase the nutrients within it.

Keywords

  • Soil - Soil is ground up rock mixed up with plant and animal remains.

  • Organic - Anything which is alive or was once alive is organic.

  • Nutrients - A nutrient is any substance that plants or animals need in order to live or grow.

  • Fertiliser - A substance containing nutrients that we can add to soil to make it better for growing plants.

  • Human-made - Something that is human-made is made or caused by humans.

Setting up a simple observation over time investigation alongside this lesson would help pupils to see how fertilisers affect plant growth by purchasing two of the same plants from a supermarket and adding fertiliser to the soil of one of them.
Teacher tip

Equipment

none required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which part of the plant usually grows beneath the soil?
An image in a quiz
flowers
leaves
stem
Correct answer: roots
Q2.
What does it mean to survive?
to get bigger
Correct answer: to stay alive
to die
to build a home
Q3.
Something that is human-made is …
found in nature.
Correct answer: created by humans.
a part of a human body.
Q4.
What is soil made from?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: organic matter, air, water and tiny pieces of rock
mud, air, water and small pieces of dirt
organic matter, mud, dirt and small pieces of plastic
insects, water, plants and tiny pieces of rock
Q5.
Which of these statements about soil is correct?
An image in a quiz
Soil is not useful.
All soil is the same.
Soil is just another word for ‘dirt’.
Correct answer: There are different types of soil.
Q6.
Which of these is not a type of soil?
An image in a quiz
sandy
silt
Correct answer: muddy
clay
loam
Q6 Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.com

6 Questions

Q1.
To grow well, plants need from soil.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: nutrients, nutrition
Q2.
We can add more nutrients to soil by …
adding more plants to the soil.
keeping it in the sunlight.
Correct answer: using fertilisers.
Q3.
Which of these statements is correct?
An image in a quiz
All plants can grow in sandy soil because it is full of nutrients.
Correct answer: Some plants may struggle to grow in certain types of soil.
All plants are able to grow in any type of soil.
Q4.
How do fertilisers affect plants?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: They can help them grow bigger and be more healthy.
They can make them need less water.
They can provide the plant with more sunlight.
They can make the flowers change colour.
Q5.
fertilisers are better for the environment than human-made fertilisers, which can damage the habitats they are used in.
Correct Answer: organic, natural
Q6.
Which of these fertilisers are organic?
Correct answer: compost
fertiliser granules
Correct answer: manure
liquid plant food