32 Standards Met with Wisconsin Fast Plants®
Hedi Baxter Lauffer, PhD
Director of the Wisconsin Fast Plants® Program
University of Wisconsin-Madison
August 2016
Background
More than ever, global citizens need a solid foundational understanding of plants to grasp their significance in carbon cycling, ecosystem resilience, food, and sustainability. This importance is reflected in the prominence of plants in the NGSS Performance Expectations. Wisconsin Fast Plants® are a classroom-tested, tried-and-true way to bring plants into any science curriculum at all grade levels. Their superfast life cycle—seedlings observable after only 3 days, flowers in just 14 days, and viable seed produced in just over a month—holds students' interest and aligns with teachers' busy schedules.
Seeds of genetics
The family of Wisconsin Fast Plants® includes a number of specialized seed stocks that were developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to teach about variation and inheritance. These select genetic seed stocks (produced through selective breeding, not molecular genetic modification) have easily observable and quantifiable traits, like stem and leaf color, that are regulated by the straightforward inheritance of dominant or recessive alleles. Using Wisconsin Fast Plants® genetic stocks, students can see results from artificial selection or observe and figure out for themselves the genetics that are typically taught with a Punnett square. Carolina Biological Supply Company and Wisconsin Fast Plants® can even help you with lessons to explore variation and genetics in just 72 hours, depending on your teaching goals.
Addressing NGSS at all grade levels
The following grade-level tables (elementary, middle school, and high school) relate ways that Wisconsin Fast Plants® are used in investigations to teach the Performance Expectations in NGSS that directly involve plants. Many teachers design lessons so that classes grow a crop of Fast Plants® through an entire life cycle (or more), and students conduct multiple investigations (aligned with multiple performance expectations) as plants grow through the developmental stages of their life cycle. Hands-on investigations with Fast Plants® that are supported with additional resources (readings, textbooks, research, simulations, etc.) naturally integrate literacy and mathematics learning into science.
Also included in the tables are recommended Wisconsin Fast Plants® kits that include all the materials for teaching these investigations. If you're just getting started with Fast Plants®, these are great first steps for your grade level. There are many more outstanding kits available from Carolina.
Elementary (K–5)
| Standards | Wisconsin Fast Plants® Investigations | Recommended Carolina Kits |
| K-LS1-1 K-ESS2-2 K-ESS3-1 1-LS1-1 1-LS1-2 1-LS3-1 2-LS2-1 2-LS2-2 3-LS3-1 3-LS3-2 3-LS4-2 4-LS1-1 |
Grow Standard Wisconsin Fast Plants® from seed, through their life cycle, making and recording observations as follows:
|
Wisconsin Fast Plants® Elementary Exploration of Plant Life Cycles Kit (item #158973) Reading Green™ Stories, Pack of 5 (item #158698) |
| 3-LS3-1 5-PS3-1 5-LS1-1 5-LS2-1 |
Germinate Standard Wisconsin Fast Plants® or grow them in soil as part of controlled experiments to learn about plants' needs, investigating environmental factors such as:
|
Middle School (6–8)
| Standards | Wisconsin Fast Plants® Investigations | Recommended Carolina Kits |
| MS-LS1-4 MS-LS3-2 |
Grow Standard Wisconsin Fast Plants® or specialized seed stocks (Fast Plants® bred for a heritable, observable phenotypic trait). Grow plants to flowering or through their full life cycle. Observe and record quantitative and qualitative data. Investigations may include:
|
Wisconsin Fast Plants® Growth, Development, and Reproduction Advanced Classroom Kit (item #158702) Wisconsin Fast Plants® Who’s the Father? Investigating Genetics Monohybrid Kit (item #158963) |
| MS-LS1-6 MS-LS1-7 MS-LS2-1 MS-LS2-3 MS-LS2-4 |
Grow Standard Wisconsin Fast Plants® as part of controlled experiments to learn about the role that plants play in the cycling of matter, flow of energy, and interdependence in ecosystems:
|
High School (9–12)
| Standards | Wisconsin Fast Plants® Investigations | Recommended Carolina Kits |
| HS-LS1-5 HS-LS2-4 HS-LS3-1 HS-LS3-2 HS-LS3-3 |
Grow specialized Wisconsin Fast Plants® seed stocks that were bred for 1 or 2 heritable, observable phenotypic traits. Germinate seedlings and observe variation and heritable traits in just 72 hours, or grow plants to flowering or through their full life cycle. Observe and record quantitative and qualitative data. Investigations may include:
|
Wisconsin Fast Plants® Who’s the Father? Investigating Genetics Wisconsin Fast Plants® 72-Hour Monohybrid Genetics Kit (item #158940) |
| HS-LS2-1 | Grow Standard Wisconsin Fast Plants® as part of controlled experiments to learn about cycling of matter, flow of energy, interdependence, and carrying capacity in ecosystems. Investigations may include:
|
Wisconsin Fast Plants® Growth, Development, and Reproduction Advanced Classroom Kit (item #158702) This is a complete classroom kit for getting started with Wisconsin Fast Plants® written for the middle/high school level teacher. Includes step-by-step instructions for planting, tending, pollinating, and producing seed for an offspring generation. All you will need is a light source. |
| HS-LS4-2 HS-LS4-3 AP® Biology Inquiry #1 |
Grow a class population of Standard Fast Plants®, and then develop selection criteria for a particular phenotype that students can breed to increase. Select and inter-pollinate only a few parent plants to try to increase the trait's frequency in the offspring population. Use statistics to determine the impact. | Wisconsin Fast Plants® Growth, Development, and Reproduction Advanced Classroom Kit (item #158702) See description above. |
AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board®, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these products.
