Students can use their prior knowledge of gardening to succeed in growing plants at this level. Raising plants can be made more or less difficult by changing various simulation options such as automatic fertilizing or ignoring plant water stress . When growing plants becomes more difficult, students must take into account factors across multiple areas of science. The challenge of growing plants under non- optimal conditions intrinsically motivates students to work with the second level of the simulation, shown in the browser . Using the browser, students can see the relation between numbers on the numbers side and pictorial representations of data on the pictures side .
Students gain a more precise understanding of what is going on in the simulation.
At the second level, students begin to understand the notion of measurement, including the use of units and normal ranges . Soil, plants, and weather have many measurable quantities which vary over time. Students can use measurements of these quantities to make decisions. Students can make measurements and changes that would be impractical, too expensive, or even impossible in a real garden. Once students understand the concept of measurement and change over time, they are ready to move to the third level of the simulation, graphing measurements over time.