FROM SUN TO FOOD: . STORYLINEIn this unit, From Sun to Food, First, students will plan and conduct investigations about the needs and growth of plants and discover what happens to plants after they die. The observations and conclusions from these experiments will inform students’ thinking throughout the remainder of the unit. Then, students will engage in readings and hands-on modeling activities that build understanding of various plant structures and their functions, including the process of photosynthesis.Finally, students will apply their learning to problems on both a local and global scale. They will consider how to protect resources and the environment of their own school. In the design challenge for this unit, students will design a farm, where their choices about what to grow and eat have different environmental impacts. Intro: What happens to plants after they die? LESSON 5: What does each part of the plant do?
Learning Targets: Describe the different parts of plants and how each part of a plant helps a plant obtain the matter it needs for growth and survival. Summary: In this lesson, students will examine the bean sprouts, and use visual media resources to explore uses and adaptations of plants.Students figure out that different parts of a plant each have their own structure and function, which allows plants to get the air, water, and light they need to live and grow.
Activity: Dissect a bean plant. Using a hand lens, draw and label name and function of each part of the plant. Explore: Review: What were the results of our bean experiment? What did it tell us about what plants need to grow. How do you think plants get those materials they need? Are there any clues from our experiment? Activity: Celery Stalk. Set out 3-4 beakers, test tubes or graduated cylinders. Place celery stalk into water with colored dye. Set aside for one day. Have one piece of celery per student. View: Celery Stalk ACTIVITY: Take a piece of celery out of the colored water. Find the xylem in the stem tubes and look at them with a hand lens. Plants that have this tubing system are called "vascular plants". Not all plants have this system. This type of system is a helpful adaptation for taller plants that don'e grow very close to the ground, because it helps them get water to their leaves. Activity: Plant Structure video Plant Adaptations video Question: Do plants have body systems like we do? How so?
In previous lessons, students have figured out that plants need air and water to build their matter, and light energy to look healthy and green. They figured out that different parts of the plant help the plant get those materials.In this lesson, students will use a hands-on model to describe how plants use sunlight, water, and air to produce their own food so that they can grow. You will figure out that the process of photosynthesis involves energy (sunlight) and small particles (water and carbon dioxide) that move into the plant, and that plants use energy to change air and water into their own plant matter. Explain: Watch the following video with students.Use this video to review with students what the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis are (carbon dioxide, sunlight and water go in; sugar is created and oxygen goes out). Read: Photosynthesis: Changing Sunlight into food
ACTIVITY: Watch this movie about plant structures After watching that video, can you draw a conclusion about the following question? Do plants have body systems like we do? How so? Write your answer in your ISN. Then pair share your response with your table mates. Activity: Explore Supermarket Botany Plant parts are used for many different things. Explore Supermarket Botany to find out some of the food uses we have for plant stems, roots, and leaves. You may want to bring some of these foods in for students to examine. Make sure you have Adobe Flash enabled on your browser to run this simulation. Activity: Plant Adaptations-Plants have many different adaptations of plant roots, stems, and leaves. Watch the video. After watching the video answer this question: Plants have many different shapes (structures) of roots, stems, and leaves. How do these adaptations help the plant get what it needs to live and grow? Write your answer in your ISN and then pair share.