GRADE: First

CONTENT STANDARD: Life Science

CONTENT TOPIC: Plants

CONCEPT: Plants are living things with specific needs, characteristics and uses.

CONTENT OBJECTIVE: 1F2.00 To understand the uses of various plants and plant parts

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: The learner will:

2.01 illustrate the major parts of a plant.
2.02 classify some plant foods we eat as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.
2.03 name some animals that use seeds for food.
2.04 name some animals that use leaves for food.
2.05 name some animals that use fruit for food.

I. Roots
II. Stems
III. Leaves
IV. Flowers
V. Fruits
VI. Seeds
VII. Discuss some plant foods we eat
VIII. Plant Parts we eat
A. Roots
B. Stems
C. Leaves
D. Flowers
E. Fruits
F. Seeds
IX. Animals that eat seeds
A. Birds
B. Squirrels
X. Animals that eat leaves
A. Worms and caterpillars
B. Cows and deer
XI. Animals that eat fruit
A. Monkeys
B. Insects

TN COMPONENT OF SCIENCE: Unifying Concepts of Science

TN GOAL:

To enable students to acquire scientific knowledge by applying concepts, theories, principles and laws from life/environmental, physical, and earth/space science.

2.5 CHANGE - Interactions within and among systems may result in changes in the properties, position, movement, form, or function of systems.

2.5a Everything is constantly changing; rates of change vary over a wide scale with a great variety in patterns of change.

BENCHMARK Some things may stay constant while others change.

2.5b Cycles of change can be extended in scales of time, space, and material.

BENCHMARK Changes occur in various ways and may be altered by controlling some variables.

TIME REQUIRED:

Lesson One - two 45-minute sessions; Lesson Two - 30 minutes

MATERIALS:

Pictures of different types of plants, trees, flowers; picture of a plant with each part labeled; lettuce leaf; toothpicks; untreated sweet potato; glass; food coloring; stalk of celery; small plant that has been growing several days; variety of fruits, such as orange, apple, peach and plum

Today we are going to learn the six parts of a plant and the uses of these parts. Did you know that when you eat peas or beans you are actually eating seeds? Those seeds have other uses. Let's see what these are.

Who can tell me what you see in these pictures. (Show pictures of different types of plants, trees and flowers.) Can you name some plant parts? (These responses can be listed on the board.) Plants are grown, not only for beauty, but also for many other purposes. Some of the foods we eat come from plants. Can you name some foods that come from plants? (Again - list the student responses on the board. Hold up a lettuce leaf.) What part of the plant is this? Yes, it is a leaf. Can you think of other leaves we eat? (Spinach, cabbage) We are going to talk about plants and find out how we use each part of the plant.

Where do the plant's roots grow? (pause) On top of or under the soil? (Have a picture of a plant with each part labeled.) Who can show me where the roots are? (Have children point tot he roots.) What do roots do? Yes, roots help to hold plants in place. What do you think would happen if plants did not have roots? (Have children discuss the roots of plants and what they do for the plant.) Roots also take food and water from the soil to feed the plants. We are going to watch some plants grow. Then you will know what they do.

(Stick three toothpicks into the middle of a sweet potato. Balance the toothpicks on top of a glass jar filled with water so that one-half of the sweet potato is below water. Place it in an area where all the children can observe the changes.) Wait a few days and ask the children what changes they observed. (Sweet potato grew small roots)

What do roots do for the plant? (Take in food and water and holds plant firmly in place)

Stems are also parts of plants. Someone come and show the class where the stem is on this plant. (Hold up picture of the plant with the parts labeled.) What does the stem do for the plant? (Hold up the plant.) The trunk of a tree is a stem. What do people use tree stems for? (Lumber that can be used to make furniture, build houses, many other things) Can you name some stems that we eat? (Celery, potatoes, broccoli, asparagus) Flowers have soft, thin stems. The trunk of a tree is a stem. (Have pictures of flowers and trees that show the stems of flowers and the trunks of trees.) How are the stems of these plants different? (response) How are they the same? (response) How do stems help plants? (response) Let's find out.

(While the students watch, fill a glass with water. Add a few drops of food coloring. Place a stalk of celery in the colored water.) What do you think will happen to the stem and the water? (response) We are going to check the stalk of celery in about two hours. (The colored water will travel up the stem to the leaves.) What do you think would happen if the water did not travel up to the leaves and flowers of a plant that was still growing? (The parts would wither, dry up, and die)

Turn to your neighbor and tell him/her where the roots and stems are on a plant and what each does for the plant.

A leaf is also a part of a plant. The leaf grows on the stem. A while ago, we talked about leaves that we eat. Can you remember what we saw? (Lettuce leaf) Can you name some other leaves that we eat? (Cabbage, collards, mustard, kale, spinach) What do leaves do for the plant? (response) Yes, the leaves make food for the plant. Leaves use air, water and sunlight.

We are going to watch the leaves on this plant. (Hold up a small plant.) We are going to place the plant near a window or door. What do you think is going to happen? (Write down the predictions to use later.) We are going to watch the plant for several days.

What is the prettiest part of a plant? (response) Yes, the flower. How do you think the flowers help the plant? (response) Yes, they produce the seeds that will grow into new plants. Someone point to the flower on this plant. (Hold up picture of plant with parts labeled.) Can you name some flowers that we eat? (Broccoli, cauliflower) Some plants make a cover for their seeds. The cover is called a fruit. Some fruits have many seeds inside, and some have only one seed. What fruits do you like to eat? (Have children name the fruits they eat.) What happens if you plant a seed? (New plant grows) What kind of fruit will grow if we plant an apple seed? (response) What about a plum seed? (response) Yes, a seed can only grow into a new plant that is the same kind as the plant in which it grew.

We are going to find the seeds in this orange, apple, peach and plum. (Have children help to find the seeds.)

Who can tell me what we have learned today? (pause) As I point to each part of the plant, please say that part with me. The parts of the plant are - starting from the bottom - roots, stems, leaves, flowers. Some flowers make covers called fruits. Inside the fruits are seeds.

This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objectives 2.02, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05

TIME REQUIRED:

30 minutes

Any root, stem, leaf, seed, or fruit that is edible, pictures of animals which show plant parts being eaten, pictures of food prepared from plant parts

Plants help us in many ways. Raise your hand if you had cereal for breakfast. (response) Who had Rice Krispies? (response) Oatmeal? (response) Corn Flakes? (response) Then you had a part of a plant. Did you know that animals also eat parts of plants? (response) Today we will find out what parts of plants people and animals eat.

Did you know that humans can eat roots of some plants? (response) Raise you hand if you have ever eaten carrots or turnips. (response) Then you have eaten roots! Did you ever eat spinach or lettuce? (response) Then you have eaten leaves. If you have celery or asparagus, what part of the plant have you eaten? (Stem) Name some fruits we eat from plants. (Apples, oranges) The seeds we eat are oats, barley, rice, wheat, nuts.

(Section off a bulletin board with a section for each plant part. Give a magazine to each pair of students.) Now that we've learned the plant parts we can eat, I want you to look through these magazines and, when you find a picture that will go on one of our bulletin board sections, cut it out and put it on the bulletin board.

Some animals eat seeds. Can you name some animals that eat seeds? (Birds, squirrels, cows, etc.) Some animals even eat leaves. Can you name some animals that eat leaves? (Worms and caterpillars, cows, deer, rabbits, chickens, etc.) We like to eat different kinds of fruit and so do some of the animals. Name some animals for me that eat fruit. (Monkeys, insects, birds, etc.)

Plants give us some of the food we need. We get food from stems, roots, leaves, roots and seeds of some plants. Tell your neighbor something you eat that comes from a plant and what part of the plant it is. Then name an animal for your neighbor that eats the same plant part that you eat. (Pause, then summarize.)

This is the time this file has been accessed since 04/10/97.

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