The Structure of a Plant

 Students read the article The Structure of a Corn Plant from the Benchmark reading series to investigate the structure and function of a plant's parts. Students were familiar with the stem, roots, and leaves, but many did not recognize some of the other parts of the plant. After reading the article, we headed outside to our garden plot where we looked at a variety of plants that were approaching the end of their life cycle. 

Students uprooted the Bibb lettuce and brought it back to the classroom to compare and contrast how the lettuce plant was similar and different from the corn plant. Many students connected the lettuce seeds to dandelion seeds and imagined how a lettuce seed could easily travel with a gust of wind, thanks to its cotton-like top!

                    

Students annotated the parts of the plant and used their Benchmarks text to help with labeling.

Students harvested the seeds and compared these seeds to the ones that I used from the seed packet. They were exactly the same!! Students collected some seeds to take home and were encouraged to plant them and watch the cycle continue!

And as we were looking at the various garden plots, we saw this pest! We observed signs of its wrath before actually finding it!

The Tomato Hornworm!!!!!! Truth be told, we did not kill it. Rather, we broke off the stem of the tomato plant and brought it inside to observe it for a few days! Eventually, they turn into a Sphynx moth.

Invasive Species!

 Students have completed our Life Science unit by investigating various invasive species. Using one of our Benchmarks reading series texts, students selected an invasive species and identified the problem and solution to reduce the spread of some challenges that are facing our environment.

Ecosystems and the Transfer of Energy

Students have been finishing up our unit on the transfer of matter and energy within ecosystems. Showing the food web and the transfer of energy is a tough thing to represent!

Eat or Be Eaten

Students are playing a game from the resource www.mysteryscience.com where students are trying to create the longest energy transfer chain between plants and animals. 

We have been talking about how the arrows should be showing how the cricket provides energy for the pigeon rather than focusing on the "food chain".

In any case, students had fun playing and they were able to reference details from the cards when progressing further in the unit with decomposers.