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ScienceMusicStorytelling

Song of Photosynthesis Music Video

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Grades 6-890 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Write and record an original song that explains photosynthesis, then illustrate it as a lyric video.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • clear cupsBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

About $38.35 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups). Exceeds $25 per class.

Classroom cardboard or boxes can lower the cost.

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • Spinach leavesRequired1 x 9 oz bag9 oz bagprice not confirmedAmazon
  • straw or hole punchRequired1 x 100 straws100 straws$1.84Amazon
  • baking sodaRequired1 x 1 lb box1 lb box$5.99Amazon
  • dish soapRequired1 x 18 fl oz18 fl ozprice not confirmedAmazon
  • plastic syringeRequired1 x 20 syringes20 syringesprice not confirmedAmazon
  • lampRequired1 x 1 light1 light$18.99Amazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

About $38.35 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 40 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 15 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Song of Photosynthesis Music Video, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Define the central success test in Song of Photosynthesis Music Video and make a paper planning sheet for the inputs, actions, and expected result.
  2. Represent the system without electronics by using labeled cards, paper controls, tokens, a ruler, or a student acting as the device; follow the same cause-and-effect rules described in the project.
  3. Run at least three cases, including one difficult or unexpected case, and record positions, cue times, sound readings, and listening observations.
  4. Revise one rule, layout, mechanism, or decision after the failed case, repeat it, and explain with the recorded evidence whether the change worked.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Song of Photosynthesis Music Video when it can illustrate lyric cards for each line and combine them into a lyric video and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

A school device or laptop with recording software, poster board, markers; Spinach leaves; straw or hole punch; baking soda; dish soap; plastic syringe; clear cups; lamp

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. List the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis (sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, glucose, oxygen) and where each enters or leaves the plant.
  2. Run a floating leaf disk test: punch spinach leaf disks, sink them in baking soda water, and place one cup in bright light and one in the dark. Count floating disks every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.
  3. Graph the results and explain what made the disks float (oxygen produced by photosynthesis) and why the dark cup did not.
  4. Write a short scientific explanation: claim, evidence from the test, and reasoning about how atoms from carbon dioxide and water are rearranged into sugar and how light energy is stored in that sugar for the plant and the animals that eat it.
  5. Turn the explanation into song lyrics, with a verse on matter and a verse on energy, and a chorus that names the evidence from your test.
  6. Record vocals over a simple beat or a cappella, and make lyric cards that include your graph.
  7. Combine into a lyric video and present it with your written explanation.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-LS1-6

    Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

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