Ivy: Hello? Police? Yeah, they're all dead. Sobs
Posey: What's wrong?
Ivy: My plants, my lovely plants. I tried to take care of them but now they all look like they're dying.
Posey: OK calm down tell me what's happened.
Ivy: Well it all started, when I decided that the plants needed their own special homes.
Posey: So, where did you move them to?
Ivy: Well, first I moved Janine.
Posey: Janine?
Ivy: Yes Janine, they all have names, you know. Like people. Blows nose So first, I moved Janine into the cupboard, to get her out of the sun.
Posey: Right…
Ivy: And then I stopped watering Geoff, because I don't think he likes getting wet.
Posey: Interesting…
Ivy: And then I decided that Julian… Julian deserved a little holiday, so I took him out of the soil and put him in a pot full of sand.
Posey: You have got to be joking…
Ivy: And Josephine looked really cold, so I wrapped her up all nice and warm in a plastic bag.
Posey: Aunt Ivy, you've already said it - plants are like people, plants need certain things to survive. What do you need to survive?
Ivy: Oh well I don't know what I'd do without a nice cup of tea… Listening to the radio… Bingo on a Sunday afternoon…
Posey: No. Those are things that you want, not things that you need. You need water, food and air to survive, and so do plants. So when you moved one plant into the dark in the cupboard, the plant couldn't get the light it needed, and so it wilted. A plant uses light to make food for itself. When another plant couldn't get water…
Ivy: That was Geoff.
Posey: Ok, when Geoff couldn't get the water he needed, he couldn't survive either. And the other plant in the sand couldn't get the nutrients it needed from the soil, so that one wilted, too.
Ivy: I know what happened to Josephine, she couldn't get any air.
Posey: Exactly. Most living plants and animals need air to survive
Ivy: I can't believe I hurt all my lovely plants.
Posey: So what are you gonna do next time?
Ivy: They'll have lots of light, and plenty of air, I'll give them water, and soil with good nutrients.
Posey: And space; plants need lots and lots of space.
Ivy: Space… You never said anything about space, ohhh.
Posey: Plants need space to grow, I thought that one would be obvious.
Ivy: Oh no. Sighs
Video summary
In this film we discover what causes various ailments in plants, and under what conditions they can thrive.
Through systematic and funny observations of plants being kept under poor conditions by plant shop owner, Ivy, the fundamental needs of plants are introduced, e.g. light, air, water, nutrients and space.
This is from the series: Ivy's plant shop.
Teacher Notes
After viewing, pupils could plant seeds in pots.
When the seedlings grow, they could place the pots in different locations around the school.
For example, they could put pots in sunnier and shadier positions. When watering the pots, they should give the same amount to each plant.
The children could measure the height of each plant at regular intervals and plot the results on a line graph.
You could ask the children to suggest reasons for any differences in growth between plants in different locations.
This film will be relevant for teaching Science/Biology at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in England, Wales and Early and 1st and 2nd Level in Scotland.
Also at Foundation, KS1 and KS2 in Northern Ireland.
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