Lesson plan Grade 1 Science

Dry Pot or Damp Pot at Norbrook School: A Grade 1 Lesson

Students spoon water into a dry pot and a damp pot, counting spoons until the first drip, to find out why the garden club's daily watering runs to waste.

Grade: Grade 1
Subject: Science
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 40 min
Prep: Moderate prep
Materials: Two identical small plant pots with drain holes, one filled with dry potting soil and one filled the day before and watered, A saucer or clear cup under each pot to catch the first drip, A tablespoon and a pitcher of water, A group recording chart with two columns labeled Dry Pot and Damp Pot, For each group, one more pot of soil watered the day before, with a saucer and a tablespoon, Chart paper for the closing class sentence

Standards

K-2-ETS1-1 NGSS

Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

How this material aligns: Students observe the wet stripe the garden pots leave on the path and gather spoon-count evidence from a dry pot and a damp pot to define the wasted-water problem the garden club wants to change.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-1 →

1.OA.A.1 Common Core Math

Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

How this material aligns: Handout items 3 and 4 ask how many more spoons the dry pot took and how many spoons the two pots took altogether, which are compare and put-together word problems within twenty.

All materials for 1.OA.A.1 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-04.

Objectives

Students will count spoons of water added to each pot until the first drip appears.
Students will compare the two counts and tell how many more spoons the dry pot held.
Students will explain why watering soil that is already damp sends water straight through.

Vocabulary

Key words: soil, damp, drip, waste

Teacher overview

The garden club at the fictional Norbrook School waters every pot the same way every morning, and by the end of the week there is a wet stripe on the path where water has poured out of the drain holes. This lesson has first graders find out what is happening by spooning water into two pots, one filled with dry soil and one watered the day before, and counting the spoons that go in before the first drip appears underneath. The misconception this lesson addresses is the idea that soil takes in as much water as you give it, so more watering always means a healthier plant. Soil holds a limited amount, and once the spaces between the grains are full, every extra spoon runs straight out the bottom, which is why a pot watered yesterday drips so much sooner than a dry one.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Show the class a photograph or a quick sketch of the wet stripe on the garden path and ask where that water came from. Collect two or three ideas on the board, then hold up the two pots and ask which one students think will take more spoons of water before it starts to drip.

Direct instruction (8 min): Model the counting rule with the dry pot. Use garden soil, or potting soil that is dry to the touch but not powder-dry, pressed gently against the pot walls, since very dry potting mix can shed water down the sides. Pour one level tablespoon at a time onto the soil, pausing after each one, and have the whole class count aloud. Stop the count the instant the first drop appears in the saucer underneath, and write that number on the board under Dry Pot. Point out that a level spoon each time and a stop at the first drop are what keep the two tests fair.

Guided practice (12 min): Groups repeat the same procedure with their own damp pot while one student spoons, one watches the saucer, and one tallies. Circulate and watch for groups that keep spooning past the first drip, and ask them what the rule was before they continue. Groups write their damp pot number beside the dry pot number on the group chart.

Independent practice (10 min): Students work the numbered questions on the Student Handout, which carries the class record from the two demonstration pots. Watch for students who subtract in the wrong order on item 3 and ask them which pot took more spoons before they write anything down.

Closure and formative check (5 min): Ask the class what the garden club should do differently, and write the class sentence on chart paper. As the check for understanding, ask every student to hold up one finger if a damp pot needs more water than a dry pot and two fingers if it needs less. If more than a quarter of the class holds up one finger, pour four more spoons into each pot side by side and let students watch the saucers before ending the lesson.

Dry Pot or Damp Pot at Norbrook School: A Grade 1 Lesson — Grade 1 Science

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

The Norbrook garden club tested two pots. Pot A was full of dry soil. Pot B was watered the day before, so its soil was damp. The club put in one spoon of water at a time. They stopped counting at the first drip in the saucer.

Pot	Soil	Spoons before the first drip
Pot A	dry	12
Pot B	damp	5

How many spoons went into the dry pot before the first drip?
How many spoons went into the damp pot before the first drip?
How many more spoons did the dry pot take than the damp pot?
Add both pots. How many spoons went in altogether before the drips?
Which pot started dripping sooner, the dry pot or the damp pot?
The garden club gives every pot ten spoons each morning. Tell what happens to the extra water in the damp pot.
Write one sentence. Tell the garden club one thing to check before they water a pot.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: 12 spoons.
The chart lists Pot A, the dry pot, at 12 spoons before the first drip.
Answer: 5 spoons.
The chart lists Pot B, the damp pot, at 5 spoons before the first drip.
Answer: 7 spoons.
The dry pot took 12 spoons and the damp pot took 5 spoons, and 12 minus 5 is 7.
Answer: 17 spoons.
Adding the 12 spoons that went into Pot A and the 5 spoons that went into Pot B gives 17 spoons.
Answer: The damp pot.
It began dripping after only 5 spoons, while the dry pot took 12 spoons to reach its first drip.
Answer: Accept any answer saying the extra water runs out the bottom.
Sample response: the damp soil is already holding about as much water as it can, so the spoons after the fifth one run straight through the drain hole and onto the path.
Answer: Accept any reasonable check.
Sample response: poke a finger into the soil first, and skip the watering if the soil is already damp.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a ten-frame and a counter for every spoon poured so the count is built rather than remembered, and let them compare the two filled frames for item 3 instead of subtracting. Pair each supported student with a group member who calls out the spoon numbers aloud during the test.

Extension

Ask groups to run a third pot filled with soil mixed with shredded paper or coarse sand and predict, before testing, whether it will take more spoons or fewer than the plain dry pot. Have them write the prediction, the count, and one sentence saying whether the result matched.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "soil," "damp," "drip," and "waste" using the real pots, touching dry soil and damp soil in turn and letting students say which is which. Accept a labeled drawing of the two saucers, one with a few drops and one with many, in place of written sentences on items 6 and 7.

Extensions

Have the garden club keep a two-week chart marking each morning as watered or skipped and noting the days the path stayed dry. Comparing that record with the class's spoon counts gives students evidence that checking the soil first saves water without leaving the plants short, which is the same reasoning behind the soil-moisture sensors that some parks and schools use, and that some water utilities offer rebates for.