Plant Parts

Subject:  Science and Language Arts             Grade Level:  Elementary

Lesson Summary:  Students will learn about the parts of a plant, including the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit. They will complete a concept map as they read an online text. New vocabulary words are hyper-linked to an online plant dictionary to further explain their meanings. Students will then draw and label a plant and its parts.

Objectives: Through this activity, students will:

·        read for information

·        identify the parts of a plant

·        describe the function of each part of a plant

·        understand the structure and function of each plant part

·        create a concept map

·        illustrate the parts of a plant

·        collaborate with a partner

Materials:

Inspiration How-To sheets

Pencil

Internet

Inspiration

Microsoft Paint

Microsoft Word

Activity: 

1.      Go to The Great Plant Escape - http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/case1/c1facts2a.html and read The Facts of the Case.

2.    Open Inspiration.  Create a concept map about the parts of a plant.

3.    Print to the color printer.

4.    Open Microsoft Paint.  Draw a diagram of a plant and color in the parts.

5.    Copy and paste your diagram into Microsoft Word.  Add text boxes to label the parts of the plant.

6.    Print to the color printer.

7.    Build a salad with plant parts. http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/vegquiz/plantparts.html

Additional Activities:

·        Students could find pictures of different plants and sort them into vegetable, fruits, and non-edible groups. Students could then create a collage of the groups.

·        Sunflowers need so much sunlight they turn their heads during the day to face the sun. Imagine that you are a sunflower. Someone has built a big building blocking out your sunlight. What are you going to do next? What will you do to reach sunlight? How do you feel?

·        You find an odd-looking seed and plant it. The seed grows into_______________. Write an ending to the story.

·        List these seeds from different plants. Have the students put them in order from the smallest to largest. Consider corn, lettuce, poppies, walnuts, marigolds, carrots, coconuts, acorns, apples, etc.

·        Assign a Seed Collection as part of a homework project. Show the children an egg carton. Tell them to collect one kind of seed for each chamber. Labeling can be as complex as the children's skill level.

·        Go on a walking field trip to collect seeds and grasses from an empty field. Return to school and create a class display

·        Poetry (illustrate and make into a class book).

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

·        Standard 2:
All Students Will Use Information, Technology, And Other Tools

·        Standard 5.6: All Students Will Gain An Understanding of the structure, characteristics and basic needs of organisms.

·        Standard 5.2: All Students will develop Problem-Solving, Decision-making And inquiry Skills, Reflected By Formulating- Usable Questions And Hypotheses, Planning- Experiments, Conducting, Systematic Observations, Interpreting And analyzing Data, Drawing Conclusions. And Communicating Results.

Nancy Gridley and Laura Oakes

Elementary Technology Facilitators

West Milford Township Public Schools