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Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

Growing lettuce and radish from seed to plate

Living World, plants used for food (NSW 2017); Science understanding, Biological sciences and Design and Technologies, Food and fibre production (ACARA v9)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

Food plants are grown by giving them soil, water and light, and the time from seed to harvest can be counted in days.

Safety card

Low riskAn adult supervises

Hazards

  • Potting mix and soil can carry Legionella bacteria (NSW Health); lettuce can carry snail or slug slime (rat lungworm, NSW Health); food hygiene at harvest

Controls

  • The adult opens the potting mix bag away from faces, wets the mix down and wears gloves and a P2 mask while doing so; learners plant in the wetted mix with gloves; hands washed; the harvest washed well before eating; allergy register checked

Note

Food handling: check the class allergy register, wash hands, use clean boards and disposable gloves; nothing prepared in a science area is eaten. Record the activity on Primary School RiskAssess (riskassess.com.au).

What you need

  • A 30 cm pot or a garden bed square per group; potting mix; a watering can marked at 500 mL
  • Lettuce seed and seed of a red radish variety (one packet each; the packet states the sowing depth and expected days to harvest for the variety)
  • A ruler; plant labels; a calendar chart

How to do it

  1. Read the packet with the teacher: sowing depth and the days to harvest it states. Write both on the chart.
  2. Sow a row of each seed at the stated depth. Water with 500 mL. Label the rows with the date.
  3. Water 500 mL every second school day unless it has rained. Record the day the first seedlings appear.
  4. Each Friday measure the tallest leaf of each crop and draw the plants.
  5. Harvest when the radish root shows red at the soil surface and the lettuce leaves are hand-sized; count the days from sowing and compare with the packet.

What you should see

Each crop's counted days from sowing to first seedlings and to harvest are compared with its packet's stated days for that variety rather than a figure quoted here. Both crops need the watering to continue; a missed week in warm weather shows as wilting. The learner knows it worked when the radish root is red and firm at harvest and both day counts are on the chart.

What changes

This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • Vegetables come from the shop, not from seeds.
  • Plants only need watering once.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. Current syllabus; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare, 2027 start teaching the 2024 syllabus. Code read from the official syllabus document on 2026-09-22.ST1-5LW-TST1-4LW-S
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.ST1-SCI-01ST1-DDT-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9S1U01AC9TDE2K03AC9S1I03AC9S1I06

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9TDE2K03
  2. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  3. primaryconnections.org.au/teaching-sequences/year-1/survive-thrive
  4. fieldofmar-e.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-resources/primary-learning-resources/watch-it-grow
  5. www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/legionnaires_disease.aspx
  6. www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/rat-lung-worm.aspx

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