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Plants and Seeds Word Search (free printable)

A free plants and seeds word search with twenty-two words (sprout, petal, root, photosynthesis, germinate), a word bank and an answer key for a plant unit.

22 words. “Polar bear” becomes POLARBEAR. Add a clue after a colon (“snow: white flakes”) to put clues in the bank.
Grid size
Difficulty
Up to 40 letters. They fill the first leftover squares, so the letters nobody circles spell it. On the board it flies into place when the last word is found.
Sort and find: the look-alikes hide in the grid and the word bank too, so children decide which to circle.

Use this list in: bingo cards

Plants and Seeds Word SearchPlants and Seeds Word SearchNameDateLIAYITFJFBPEFSZEWNEALDGASHAWUEUUBARKNWOPOXTNYEEKLTIEWVRTEBLYSUNFLOWEROOHRIOOEEDLEAFMUSTAGFIIEGAOROOTYRNHBLEBECOWBDNNUCTNSGARDENEEMTNHHDPEHMIAELRSHKDSTTEFIHSLSUUEOGTRMMTNEOFTOTSUBEOETLAPOCXNRIIAMWNLQTLAWEGSSRNOEEABECFRUITBEANLFIND THESE WORDSSEEDSPROUTSEEDLINGROOTSTEMLEAFFLOWERPETALFRUITSOILSUNLIGHTPOLLENGARDENTROWELBEANSUNFLOWERBARKTRUNKBRANCHGERMINATECACTUSPHOTOSYNTHESISPuzzle 89012Free at teach.peabody.kids
Puzzle ·
Plants and Seeds Word Search: answer keyPlants and Seeds Word Search: answer keyEvery word to find is circled.LIAYITFJFBPEFSZEWNEALDGASHAWUEUUBARKNWOPOXTNYEEKLTIEWVRTEBLYSUNFLOWEROOHRIOOEEDLEAFMUSTAGFIIEGAOROOTYRNHBLEBECOWBDNNUCTNSGARDENEEMTNHHDPEHMIAELRSHKDSTTEFIHSLSUUEOGTRMMTNEOFTOTSUBEOETLAPOCXNRIIAMWNLQTLAWEGSSRNOEEABECFRUITBEANLPuzzle 89012Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key ·

To save a PDF, choose Print, then “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheets print.

All 22 words are in the grid, and each one appears once.

About this set

Twenty-two plant words in a 15 by 15 grid, following the life of a plant from seed to fruit. The grid hides the parts (root, stem, leaf, petal, bark, trunk, branch), the stages (seed, sprout, seedling, germinate, fruit), what a plant needs (soil, sunlight) and the garden words that go with them (trowel, garden), along with kinds of plants (bean, cactus, sunflower) and the long science word photosynthesis, fourteen letters. Younger students can use the word bank and find sprout, root and seed first, and fifth graders can try Hard, where words may read backwards.

Grades: 1st to 5th grade. Best in: March, April, May.

The words to find

Seed · Sprout · Seedling · Root · Stem · Leaf · Flower · Petal · Fruit · Soil · Sunlight · Pollen · Garden · Trowel · Bean · Sunflower · Bark · Trunk · Branch · Germinate · Cactus · Photosynthesis

How to use it: five ideas

  1. Label a plant: students use the part words they found to label a diagram of a flowering plant.
  2. Life cycle strip: students put seed, germinate, sprout, seedling and fruit in order on a four-panel drawing.
  3. Tool talk: students look up what a trowel is for and write one sentence about it on the back of the puzzle.
  4. Greenhouse corner: leave the puzzle on a table beside the real plants or seeds your class is growing, and let students compare.
  5. Vocabulary cards: students pick pollen or photosynthesis and write a definition in their own words on an index card.

Related

Questions

What does photosynthesis mean?

It is how green plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air to make their own food. The word is the longest on the puzzle, so younger students may need a hint on how to find it.

Can I change the list to match our garden?

Yes. Add the plants you are growing, such as marigold or radish, to the box and delete any word you do not need. The puzzle rebuilds at once.

Can I change the words or the difficulty?

Yes. Edit the 22 words in the box, choose Easy, Medium or Hard, pick a grid size from 8 to 25 and a shape, and add a secret message if you like. The puzzle rebuilds as you change it, and any word that cannot fit is listed.

Can we play it on the board?

Yes. Press “Play on the board”: the class finds words by dragging across them or tapping the first and last letters, each find plays a note, and H gives a hint. Press F to fill the projector.

How do I save it as a PDF?

Press Print and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. The puzzle is page one and the answer key is page two.

How do I get a different layout?

Press “Make another”. The same words are placed in a new arrangement, which is handy when neighbors should not have the same puzzle.

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