What Makes a Plant a Plant?

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Grades Kindergarten to 4

What Makes a Plant a Plant?

Growing Plants Series

Subject Areas: Life Science, Environmental Studies

Synopsis: Mr. Rotovator shows children how plants are like us since they need water, air, and must grow and reproduce, but different in that they make their own food. Animated graphics, live-action, and schoolchildren clearly reveal parts similar in all plants, and their worldwide diversity.

Learning Objectives:

Objective 1) Students will identify what it means for a thing to be “alive”.

Objective 2) Students will be able to name the parts of green flowering plants: leaf, flower, stem, and root.

Pre-Viewing Activities:

1) Show the children both a cut flower –with some leaves – and a good-quality artificial flower of similar type. Ask them if they can tell which is the real flower. They may be at a loss and you may need to suggest touching and smelling. Ask them which is alive, and how they know. Children commonly point out similarities rather than differences, so draw their attention to the points that are not obvious. A flower will grow, produce seeds, wilt, and die. A flower has certain visible and invisible needs; water, light, and gases from the air.

2) Replace the cut flower with a plant in a pot. What are the differences now? The plant grows in soil – for which it needs roots. It needs watering. It may have dead leaves and possibly a seed head.

Post-Viewing Activities:

1) Go on a plant hunt. For the purposes of the hunt, you can count mosses, ferns and even fungi as plants. Who can spot the smallest, the largest (some may not know that a tree is a plant) – or the strangest? Who can spot the longest leaf, the broadest leaf, a flower of a given color, a plant that is taller than them? Who can find a plant growing in an unusual place: a wall, an old bucket, a chimney? Look for strong plants making cracks in the playground, the asphalt, and the paths.

2) Ask the children to sort plants by observation. Any sorting criterion is acceptable, such as color, size or edibility. Use some easily obtainable plants or plant parts – fruit and vegetables, for example – to devise some sorting rules.

Scientific Inquiry:

1) How many different plants grow on the school grounds? If you have an area of grass, use a hoop to circle parts of it, and ask the children to count the different plants in the hoop – not forgetting the grass itself. The results could be recorded in different ways. If children count the numbers of each type, you could produce a bar chart.

2) Ask the children to draw a complete plant, including the roots. You could pull a few weeds and have the students label the stem, root and leaves.

Related New Dimension Media, A Questar Company Video Titles:

· Growing Plants Series

o How Do Plants Grow and Change?

o Where Do New Plants Come From?

· Life Cycles Series

o Life Cycles

How Do Plants Grow and Change?

Growing Plants Series

Subject Areas: Life Science, Physical Science, Environmental Studies

Synopsis: Since Mr. Rotovator can’t see plants growing, he shows us how still pictures can create a time-lapse sequence of plants maturing. Animation, live-action and schoolchildren demonstrate clearly (without advanced terminology) how photosynthesis works.

Learning Objectives:

Objective 1) Students will develop their understanding that plants grow by adding to themselves.

Objective 2) Students will develop their understanding that plants make the food that they need to grow and live.

Objective 3) Students will develop their knowledge of the importance of light and water to growth.

Pre-Viewing Activities:

1) Ask the students what plants eat. If you like you could bring some food into class and try to “feed” a plant with a spoon. Plants don’t eat food the way we do – so where do they get it from? Many mineral supplements and fertilizers are called “plant foods”. But if you show a bottle of fertilizer, the students will see that the whole plant couldn’t possibly have grown from such tiny supplies. Similarly, the plant material couldn’t have come from the pot, or there would be no soil left. Where has it come from?

2) Ask the students what plants need to grow. Apart from water and sunlight, the are also invisible gasses. This is a difficult area to get into. Plants make their own food – fortunately, since plants are essential to life on Earth. Ask the children to name some foods that come from plants, and as each one is listed - whether aloud or on the board – say “and the plant made that using energy from the sun”. You could end the session by sharing a food product with the children (apple , raisins, banana chips) reminding them that “the plant made that using energy from the sun.

Post-Viewing Activities:

1) Discuss what Mr. Rotavator found as he explored the plant. What was each part of the plant called? What did each part do?

2) Look around you for unusual leaves. You may find some on potted plants at school or at home. The “Swiss Cheese” plant has a leaf with holes; the “jade” plant has round fleshy leaves; the “prayer” plant has leaves ant curl and close. Describe, discuss and name each one. Every leaf is a factory making food for the plant.

Additional Activity:

1) Demonstrate a green plant’s need for light. Germinate some seeds on the windowsill. Notice how the shoots bend towards the window. Show the students how they are seeking the light. You can correct the bend by putting a mirror behind the seeds to equalize the light – a sheet of kitchen foil will do.