This document outlines a CLIL didactic unit on plant nutrition for a 2nd year secondary education course. The unit will take place over two weeks and six sessions. It will cover topics like photosynthesis, transport in plants, and plant respiration. Students will develop their understanding of how plants obtain nutrients and produce organic substances. A variety of activities are proposed, including analyzing articles, creating concept maps, extracting information from videos, and conducting experiments. Students will be evaluated based on criteria like identifying inorganic plant nutrients and explaining how plants produce organic substances in their leaves.

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Isabel Pérez Torres
Template to design a CLIL didactic unit
Subject:
Natural Sicences
Title of the Unit
Plant nutrition
Teacher: Gustavo Carracedo
Course / Level 2ºESO
1. Learning
outcomes
/ Evaluation criteria
•
2. Subject Content
Plant nutrients, Photosynthesis, Transport in plants, Plant
respiration, breathing, Plant organs in nutrition, Types of
nutrition
To reflect that all substances that plants take in from the
environment are inorganic
• To understand that plants make their own organic
substances primarily in their leaves
• To understand the transport system in plants
• To understand that there is gas exchange in plants through
respiration and photosynthesis
• To understand that all living things need organic substances
and oxygen to survive
• To understand that all vegetative plant organs (roots, stems
and leaves) participate in plant nutrition
• To understand that autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms
carry out different processes to obtain the organic molecules
they use to build their own matter
• To understand scientific research.
3. Language Content / Communication
Vocabulary
leaf (leaves), mineral salts, nitrogen, phosphorous, pores,
potassium, roots, root hairs, stem, stoma (stomata)
carbohydrates, chlorophyll, chloroplasts, organelles, pigment,
raw materials, starch, variegated, absorb, flow, perform,
phloem vessels, release, stem tuber, transport, xylem vessels,
assembly, cell, dark, exceed, exchange, gases, light, lime
water, respiration, centigrade, degree, energy, gram, growing,
heat, inorganic matter, kilojoules,
mitochondria, moving, organic matter, reproducing, respiration,
aquatic plants, food storage, leaves, root, sap, soil, stem,
terrestrial plants, transpiration, tubers
algae, bacteria, damaged structures, fungi, inorganic nutrients,
mitochondria, organic nutrients, protozoa, vital processes,
confirm, experiment, investigation, observe, prove, reject,
scientific research, solve.

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Structures
Isabel Pérez Torres
Questions:
What happens if plants lack air?
What happens if plants lack water?
What do plants live off?
What happens if plants don’t take in mineral salts from the
soil?
What happens if plants take water and mineral salts from their
environment?
Do plants feed on other organisms?
What do they take in from their environment?
What are the main mineral salts that plants need?
What would happen if a plant was kept in the dark?
What is absorbed through the roots?
What is transported through the stem?
How does C02 enter the plant?
Why do plants need organic substances?
Statements to discuss:
Water is lost from leaf surface by transpiration.
Water travels through the plant.
Water is absorbed by root hairs
It’s dangerous to sleep surrounded by plants
Discourse type
Description, argument, discussion and research
Language skills
Reading, listening and speaking
4.
Contextual Importance of plants to the health of ecosystems and the
planet
(cultural) element
5. Cognitive
- Extract information from a video, document, article, etc.
(thinking) processes - Elaborate a conceptual maps with the contents.
- Critically analyze some statements about the world of plants.
6. (a) Task(s)
- Analyze an article about plants and relate with the contents in
the unit.
- Create their own conceptual map with Popplet.com.
- Extract and comment on information from a video.
6. (b) Activities
1- Warm out activities.
2- Listening/Reading task.
3- Book activities.
4- Wrap up activities.
5- Investigation activities.

3. Coordinación bilingüe
Isabel Pérez Torres
6- Experiment reports.
Nº1 Identify the plants (Listening)
Listen and identify the plants which are described in this audio.
Fill in this table while you are listening the audio and match
them with the type of plant and their characteristics
Nº2 Speaking
STUDENT A/B (discuss in pairs)
Ask your partner questions to complete the table below.
Useful language: Which part of the plants makes this function
…………………………?
Nº 3 Lab report, includes:
1. Title, author, date.
2. Aim. What are we trying to do?
3. Equipment and materials. What did you use?
4. Method or procedure. What did you do? What were the
steps in your method? How did you use the science
equipment? Report what was done: past tense.
5. Results. What happened?
6. Conclusion. What have you learned from the
experiment? What have you found out?
Nº 4 Plant nutrition Power Points
- Plant nutrition processes
- Autotrophic and heterotrophic plant cells
Nº 5 Plant nutrition web test:
http://kent.skoool.co.uk/content/keystage3/biology/pc/learnings
teps/DPRLC/launch.html
7. Methodology
Organization
and The development of the entire unit will take two weeks, six
class distribution / sessions in total.
In each session we will read, discuss, correct and write.
timing

4. Coordinación bilingüe
Isabel Pérez Torres
We will work individually, in pairs and groups.
Resources / Materials
-
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/ edu/
http://kent.skoool.co.uk/content/keystage3/biology/pc/le
arningsteps/DPRLC/launch.html
-
http://popplet.com/app/#/1325811
http://www.edistribucion.es/anayaeducacion/8430042/UNIT_
2/unit_02_video_04.html
www.edistribucion.es/anayaeducacion/8430042/UNIT_2/2SC
_22_4P_authetplantcells.ppt
www.edistribucion.es/anayaeducacion/8430042/UNIT_2/2SC
_22_3P_plantnutrprocess.ppt
-
Key Competences
textbook.
Notebook (summaries, glossary, experiment reports…)
Videos.
• Knowledge of and interaction with the physical world.
• Mathematical competence.
• Data processing and digital competence.
• Social and civic competence.
8. Evaluation (criteria CRITERIA:
and instruments)
• Identify inorganic matter such as plant food.
• Knowing the mechanism of transformation of inorganic
matter into organic used by plants and bodies involved in the
process.
• Clearly distinguishing autotrophic heterotrophic nutrition.
• Recognize breathing as a process common to all living
beings.
• Understand the true meaning and use of the breath.
• Recognize that all substances that plants take in the
environment are inorganic.
• Explain how plants make their own organic substances,
mainly in its leaves.

5. Coordinación bilingüe
Isabel Pérez Torres
• Draw the transport system in plants.
INSTRUMENTS:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Diagnostic session prior to starting the unit knowledge.
Rating the various activities.
Self-Assessment
Test at the end of each unit.
Assessment for each unit of Basic Skills
Custom log
Puedes usar este modelo de plantilla con total libertad. Gracias por citar la
fuente.
Un primer modelo de esta plantilla ha sido publicado en:
Pérez Torres, I. 2009. "Apuntes sobre los principios y características de la metodología
AICLE" en V. Pavón, J. Ávila (eds.), Aplicaciones didácticas para la enseñanza
integrada de lengua y contenidos. Sevilla: Consejería de Educación de la Junta de
Andalucía-Universidad de Córdoba.171-180.
Está basada sobre todo en la experiencia práctica a la hora de diseñar unidades y
conversaciones con expertos y compañeros. También he tenido en cuenta la teoría de
las 4 Cs de Do Coyle, expuesto en numerosas publicaciones como por ejemplo: Coyle,
D., Hood, P. and Marsh, D., 2010. Content and Language Integrated Learning.
Cambridge University Press.

6. Coordinación bilingüe
Isabel Pérez Torres
• Draw the transport system in plants.
INSTRUMENTS:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Diagnostic session prior to starting the unit knowledge.
Rating the various activities.
Self-Assessment
Test at the end of each unit.
Assessment for each unit of Basic Skills
Custom log
Puedes usar este modelo de plantilla con total libertad. Gracias por citar la
fuente.
Un primer modelo de esta plantilla ha sido publicado en:
Pérez Torres, I. 2009. "Apuntes sobre los principios y características de la metodología
AICLE" en V. Pavón, J. Ávila (eds.), Aplicaciones didácticas para la enseñanza
integrada de lengua y contenidos. Sevilla: Consejería de Educación de la Junta de
Andalucía-Universidad de Córdoba.171-180.
Está basada sobre todo en la experiencia práctica a la hora de diseñar unidades y
conversaciones con expertos y compañeros. También he tenido en cuenta la teoría de
las 4 Cs de Do Coyle, expuesto en numerosas publicaciones como por ejemplo: Coyle,
D., Hood, P. and Marsh, D., 2010. Content and Language Integrated Learning.
Cambridge University Press.