investigation
Hi there,
My 5th grade class just got finished working on a 2 week photosynthesis investigation. I didn't incorporate the math component, but you definitely could (wish I would have thought of this at the time!) :-)
I bought three plants. One plant was the control. The second plant had all of its leaves cut off. The third plant had half of its leaves cut off. For 2 weeks, we watered the plants daily and left them in the sun. Everyday we measured the height of the plants and recorded them on the class chart. This was to show the importance of leaves in the photosythesis process. You could incorporate math by using a triple line graph at the end to show the progression of the plants' heights. This would be a nice visual for the effects of photosynthesis as well. I know in CA, graphing is a 5th grade math standard, so it would fit perfectly. You could also have your students do a writing assignment at the end to show their understanding of the photosynthesis process (as your assessment).
Good luck...have fun with it...my students really got into our plant unit.
P.S. This investigation was taken from the Harcourt Science series.
