Exploring How Plants Power Life on Earth with Hands-on AR

Every bite of food we eat, every ecosystem we depend on, traces back to this incredible process. Yet for many students, plant biology can feel invisible or abstract, happening at a microscopic level they can’t see.

That’s where the Merge Explorer app comes in. Through hands-on augmented reality, students will explore how plants grow, function, and support life on Earth.

About Plants

Without plants, animals on Earth would not exist. Plants do what we can’t – they capture energy from the sun, and by eating plants, animals can get some of the sun’s energy, too. In other words, plants are a key part of the food web and make human life possible. Find out what makes plants tick in the experiences below!

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Seeing Inside a Plant Cell

In Meet the Plant Cell, students can hold a plant cell in the palm of their hand and investigate its parts up close. Chloroplasts, cell walls, vacuoles, and other structures become visible, interactive, and understandable.

Using the activity plan and the interactive simulations, students:

• Explore how each part contributes to plant survival
• Understand how plants capture and store energy
• Make connections between structure and function

This hands-on experience helps students grasp concepts that are often difficult to visualize using textbooks alone.

Meet the Plant Cell

Plants are photosynthetic, which means they get their energy from the sun. To capture the sun’s energy, the cells in green plants contain special organelles (tiny organs) called chloroplasts. The chloroplasts and other organelles in plant cells have membranes (walls), which is why we call plant cells “eukaryotic.” In this activity, explore inside a plant cell, then hide the labels and see if you can name all the organelles!

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Following the Plant Life Cycle from Start to Finish

With The Plant Life Cycle, students can observe and interact with each stage, from seed to mature plant. They see how environmental factors influence growth and how life cycles repeat to sustain ecosystems.

By manipulating the life cycle themselves, students gain a clearer understanding of:

• Growth and development
• Reproduction in plants
• How life cycles connect across living things

These interactive moments help reinforce life science standards in a way that feels natural and engaging.

The Plant Life Cycle

A plant’s life starts with a seed. With water and the right temperature, the seed germinates, meaning it sprouts a tiny plant. Just like a human goes through childhood, teenage years, and adulthood, a plant passes through different stages as it grows–tap below to see them all! Eventually, the plant will die, but it leaves behind more seeds to repeat the life cycle over again.

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Understanding Photosynthesis: It’s All About Give & Take

In It’s All About Give & Take, Merge Explorer makes photosynthesis visible. Students explore how plants take in sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water, then produce oxygen and energy-rich sugars.

Through hands-on interaction, students begin to see:

• How plants “give” oxygen to the environment
• How animals depend on plants for energy
• Why plants are the foundation of the food web

This experience helps students connect plant biology to their own lives and the world around them.

It’s All About Give and Take

Although plants get their energy from the sun, they also need water and nutrients from the soil to grow. But plants don’t just take what they need and give nothing back. They produce oxygen that allows animals, including us, to live on Earth! In this interactive model, take a look at the different things plants take from and give to their environment.

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Exploring Plant–Animal Relationships

Plants don’t exist in isolation. They rely on animals—and animals rely on them.

In The Plants and the Bees, students explore pollination and mutualism by observing how plants and animals work together. With the guidance of the activity plan, students will see how bees help plants reproduce and why these relationships are essential for healthy ecosystems and food production.

This experience reinforces key ideas about:

• Interdependence in ecosystems
• Cause-and-effect relationships in nature
• The importance of biodiversity

Students come away with a deeper appreciation for how living things depend on one another.

The Plants and the Bees

Bees are important for many reasons, one of which is that they help plants to have babies – in other words, to make new plants! When a bee lands on a flower, it picks up some pollen grains on its body. As the bee flies around, it drops the pollen off on another plant, where the pollen helps the second plant to produce seeds. Watch the bee work its magic in this animation!

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Activity Plans for Every Grade Level

These plant-focused experiences in Merge Explorer are designed for many grade levels, depending on the activity plan level you select. Each grade-banded activity plan aligns with life science standards for the selected grade level, taking the learning deeper with appropriate context and vocabulary for each age group. Plus, they are editable, so teachers can easily tailor them for their students.

Using devices already in the classroom—iPads, Chromebooks, and tablets—students can explore plant science in a way that feels hands-on, accessible, and memorable.

No complex setup. Just meaningful interaction with core life science concepts.

Helping Students Understand Why Plants Matter

By exploring plant cells, life cycles, photosynthesis, and plant–animal relationships with Merge Explorer, students gain a clearer understanding of why plants matter and how energy flows through ecosystems.

🐝 The Buzz About Bees: A Merge EDU Celebration of World Bee Day

In the classroom, it’s a golden opportunity to explore pollination, lifecycles, and environmental science through the lens of these fascinating insects.

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Discover how Merge Explorer brings life sciences to life by unlocking a free trial at trymerge.com.