Life Cycle Relays

Grade Level: K-5

Time Needed: 10 minutes
Subject Area: Physical Education and Integrated Science
Lesson Location: Recreational Center

Standards Addressed:
Standard 1 - The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor
skills and movement patterns.

Standard 2 - The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles,

strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.

Curriculum Integration: Integrated Science

3-LS1-1 From molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in
common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

Objectives:
1. The student will demonstrate a variety of locomotor movements in a relay.
(psychomotor)
2. The student will create the full life cycle for a plant and understand the resources needed
to complete that cycle. (cognitive)

Number of Students: 22 students

Resources Needed:
 A large open area to conduct activity in
 Life Cycle Relays printed cards
Optional:
 Tape
 Cones (or other way to identify stations)
Directions:
 Put students into groups by lining students up and counting them off by fives.
 Pass out life cycle cards, one to each student. (But they can’t look at their cards yet)
 When the game begins students will look at their cards with a part of the plant life cycle
on it and then they will arrange their group so that the life cycle is in the correct order.
 Once life cycle is in order the group raises their hand and the instructor checks their
group for accuracy.
 If their life cycle was in the right order, their group receives a card from the instructor
telling them what kind of plant their group is and the resources their plant needs to
complete its life cycle.
  The resources are different stations around the gym. One student at a time must run to a
station and get one resource before running the rest of the way around the gym back to
their team
 Only one team member can run at a time and students must wait for their group member
to return before the next group member leaves to get the next resource.
 There are three resource stations. One for soil, one for sun, and one for water. At each
resource station there is an activity that must be done in order to earn that resource. To
earn soil the student must do 5 push-ups, to earn sun the student must do 5 squat jumps
and to earn water the student must do 5 sit-ups.
 The team who gets all of their resources that their plant needs and gets back to their team
first wins!
Instructor Script:
Instructor: “Good afternoon friends! Today we are going to play a brand new game! I know that
in your class room you have been working on different kinds of life cycles, am I right?”
Students: “Yes!”
Instructor: “Well today we are going to put your knowledge to the test and of course have fun
too, because that’s what we do in here! We are going to get into teams of four, but first I need a
single file line on that black line.”
-Put students into five teams of four. Have students line up on a line in the gym and count down
the line by fives. Once everyone is numbered tell all of the ones to stand in a specific spot, then
all the twos, threes, and fours. All of the teams should be on the same side of the gym. (Team
numbers can be adjusted by adding more specific parts to the life cycle and having the plants
need more materials to grow)
Instructor: “I need all of the ones in a group here, all of the twos in a group here, all of the threes
in a group here, all of the fours here and all of the fives in a group here. All of your friends with
the same number as you are going to be a part of your relay race team. Everyone on your team is
going to a get a card. Each card has a part of the plant life cycle on it, but you can’t look at it
until I say go! When I say go you will look at your card and then your group must work together
to put your plant life cycle in order. Once your life cycle is in order, your group must raise your
hand. When your group raises your hand I will come to check if your life cycle is correct. If it is
correct you will have earned a card that tells your group what kind of plant it is. How are plants
different from each other?”
Students: “Some plants are big and some are small.” “Not all plants grow in the same places of
the world.”
Instructor: “Do plants that grow in the desert and plants that grow in the rainforest need the same
things to complete their life cycle?”
Students: “Yes, they need sunlight and water and soil.”
Instructor: “Correct! But plants in the desert and plants in the rain forest have adapted to their
surroundings and need different amounts of those things to complete their life cycle. So once you
find out the type of plant you are, on that same card you will find out the amounts of resources
that plant needs to grow. For example some of your plants will need more water and some will
need more sunlight. Around the gym are stations where you can find those materials you need to
complete your life cycle. First there is a soil station, if your plant card tells you that you need soil
one person from your group will begin to run around the gym to the soil station. Only one person
in your group can go at a time and you must wait for your group member to return before you
leave to go get the next item. At each station you have to do an activity to earn your material
there. When you go to get soil you must do five push-ups, when you go to the sun station you
must do five squat jumps, and when you get to the water station you must do five sit ups. Can
anyone show me what any of those exercises are?”
-Students volunteer and demonstrate the particular exercises for each station.
Instructor: “Are there any questions?”
-If there are no questions have students get in their groups, pass out the cards, and go!

Closure Activity:
 Have students sit in a circle in the middle of the gym to have them cool down.
 Ask students some comprehensive questions:
“What does the plant life cycle consist of?”
“Do all plants need similar things?”
“Does the amount of materials a plant needs change for different kinds of plants?”
“What affects how much of a material a plant needs?”
 Thank students for coming, playing, and learning

-Nicole Denny
Images From:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/PLANT-LIFE-CYCLE-Mini-Reader-Vocabulary-Cards-
Foldable-1153159
Plant Cycle Cards
 Sun

5 Squat-jumps
 Rain

5 Sit-ups
 Soil

5 Push-ups
 Cactus
(I grow in the desert!)

I need:
 Hibiscus
(I grow in the rain forest!)

I need:
Daisy

I need:
Corn

I need: