The Life Starter
Sign up
Grade 2 · lesson 2 of 4

Measure the Recorded Change

Distinguish starting height, final height, and growth.

Download the grade pack

Supplied materials

  • Use the supplied fictional observations or model. Paper and pencil are optional; spoken answers are welcome. No equipment or real experiment is needed.

Learn the idea

Growth in height is a change, so compare a plant’s final height with its own starting height. A taller final plant did not necessarily grow more; it might have started taller. In this activity, subtract starting height from final height. The units are centimetres, written cm, and every number is supplied.

A fictional record gives seedling A: start 4 cm, finish 7 cm; B: start 6 cm, finish 8 cm. Both were observed for one week. A grew 3 cm and B grew 2 cm, even though B finished taller. These notes describe height growth only. They do not give leaf counts or prove why either plant changed.

  1. Write start and finish next to each seedling.
  2. Find A’s growth with 7 − 4.
  3. Find B’s growth with 8 − 6.
  4. Compare the growth amounts rather than just the final heights.
Worked example

See the method in action

A: 7 − 4 = 3 cm. B: 8 − 6 = 2 cm. A grew 1 cm more during this recorded week; B’s final height is still 1 cm greater.

Your turn

Check your reasoning

Your answer is temporary and is not saved to an account. Download your current answer before leaving or reloading. Written work on paper or in another app stays in your own file.

Which plant grew more in the supplied record?

Feedback appears here after you check. This is practice, not a graded school assessment.

See the answer and explanation

A, because 3 cm is more than 2 cm

Growth is final minus starting height. A’s change is 3 cm and B’s is 2 cm.

Take it further

Change B’s final height to 10 cm. B’s growth becomes 10 − 6 = 4 cm, which is 1 cm more than A’s 3 cm.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback.

Check the subject sources

These LifeStarter passages, scenarios and exercises are authored for this Academy with AI assistance and review. External resources keep their publishers’ terms. A grade label suggests a starting level; it does not establish alignment with your school’s complete requirements.