SC.3.L.15.2

Classify flowering and nonflowering plants into major groups such as those that produce seeds, or those like ferns and mosses that produce spores, according to their physical characteristics.
General Information
Subject Area: Science
Grade: 3
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Idea: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
Big Idea: Diversity and Evolution of Living Organisms -

A. Earth is home to a great diversity of living things, but changes in the environment can affect their survival.

B. Individuals of the same kind often differ in their characteristics and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.

Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved
Assessed: Yes

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
5020040: Science - Grade Three (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
7720040: Access Science Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))
5020100: STEM Lab Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2016 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
SC.3.L.15.In.2: Classify parts of plants into groups based on physical characteristics, such as classifying leaves by shape.
SC.3.L.15.Su.2: Sort common plants by observable characteristics.
SC.3.L.15.Pa.2: Match plants that are the same.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Educational Software / Tool

What Is It Like Where You Live?:

This site offers an abundance of information on Earth's biomes (rainforest, tundra, taiga, desert, temperate, and grasslands), as well as marine and freshwater ecosystems. The site features relevant facts, pictures, maps, indigenous plants and animals, additional links, and much more.

This resource is a wonderful reference, not a lesson plan. Teachers will need to provide an objective and structure for student interaction with the website.

Type: Educational Software / Tool

Lesson Plans

Gr. 3 Lesson 2-Everglades Habitats Plants of the Everglades:

Students will learn about and become familiar with the different habitats of the Everglades and the plants that live there.

This is lesson 2 in a series of 3 lessons. Students will be able to identify plants of the Everglades using a dichotomous key and identify what causes Everglades habitats to be different.

Type: Lesson Plan

Classifying Plants:

In this lesson students watch an introductory video, read an essay and identify appropriate vocabulary words" meaning within context, and complete an activity on plant classification. During the activity, students will cut out pictures of plants from magazines, classify them, and identify similarities and differences between them.

Type: Lesson Plan

A-maze-ing Plants:

This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help students apply the concepts of flowering plants, plant structures, and plant responses to stimuli as they build mazes to demonstrate a plant"s response to light. It is not intended as an initial introduction to this benchmark.

Type: Lesson Plan

Original Student Tutorials

Let's Classify Plants Part 3: Flowering or Non-flowering Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants by identifying examples and traits of flowering and non-flowering plants.  Since this interactive tutorial is part 3 of a 3-part series, we will also summarize the information from the series.

Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Let's Classify Plants, Part 2: Seeds and Spores:

Enter the fascinating world of plant reproduction as we discover more about seed-producing and spore-producing plants.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Let's Classify Plants, Part 1: Vascular and Non-vascular Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants as we learn about vascular tissue and how to classify plants based on whether or not they have this tissue.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series on plant classification. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades K-8

Let's Classify Plants Part 3: Flowering or Non-flowering Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants by identifying examples and traits of flowering and non-flowering plants.  Since this interactive tutorial is part 3 of a 3-part series, we will also summarize the information from the series.

Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Let's Classify Plants, Part 1: Vascular and Non-vascular Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants as we learn about vascular tissue and how to classify plants based on whether or not they have this tissue.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series on plant classification. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Let's Classify Plants, Part 2: Seeds and Spores:

Enter the fascinating world of plant reproduction as we discover more about seed-producing and spore-producing plants.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Original Student Tutorials

Let's Classify Plants Part 3: Flowering or Non-flowering Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants by identifying examples and traits of flowering and non-flowering plants.  Since this interactive tutorial is part 3 of a 3-part series, we will also summarize the information from the series.

Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Let's Classify Plants, Part 2: Seeds and Spores:

Enter the fascinating world of plant reproduction as we discover more about seed-producing and spore-producing plants.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Let's Classify Plants, Part 1: Vascular and Non-vascular Plants:

Enter the fascinating world of plants as we learn about vascular tissue and how to classify plants based on whether or not they have this tissue.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series on plant classification. Click below to open other tutorials in this series.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.