Science Standards: - PictureSTEMpicturestem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nature_Insp… · Web viewStd 1. Living things are ... “For this lesson, ... (A large region or area

PictureSTEM: Nature- Inspired Design

Lesson 5 Literacy: How Plants Survive

Lesson Summary: Like humans, plants also depend on water for their survival and many of the adaptations that plants have developed can be great sources of inspiration for students’ designs. After building some background knowledge about animal adaptation in the previous lessons, students will get a chance to learn about plants adaptations as they research different plants. In this activity students will research a specific biome as they learn about the adaptations that plants have developed in order to survive in that biome. As they learn more about the plant adaptations in these regions, they will be using their reading and research skills to pull out ideas about nature and plants that will be helpful during the design challenge when thinking about how to collect water.

Lesson Objectives: Use research skills to draw on information from multiple sources to demonstrate an

understanding of a topic Interpret and present information about a specific biome Describe the features of a specific biome or natural system on the Earth.

Time Required: 45-60 minutes

Standards Addressed: National Minnesota

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):Life Science: 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

Science Standards:1. Structure and Function in Living SystemsStd 1. Living things are diverse with many different characteristics that enable them to grow, reproduce and survive.

Benchmark - 5.4.1.1.1Describe how plant and animal structures and their functions provide an advantage for survival in a given natural system.For example: Compare the physical characteristics of plants or animals from widely different environments, such as desert versus tropical, and explore how each has adapted to its environment.

Mathematics Standards:

PictureSTEM© 2013 University of Minnesota-STEM Education Center

Materials: Copies of Graphic Organizer

(per student) Biome Readings (or access to

online encyclopedia) Biome World Map &

Individual Maps Biome Cards Chart Paper (one per group)

Optional: Plant Adaptations copies (or access to website)


Vocabulary: Word Definition

planta living organism, typically growing in a permanent site, absorbing water and nutrients through its roots, and creating the food that it needs in its leaves through photosynthesis

biomeA large region or area consisting of/characterized by the types of plants and animals living there and by the climate of that area.

Background:Student Background:Students should have knowledge of plants and plant characteristics prior to starting this lesson, so that the focus is on the biomes and plant adaptations

Teacher Background:Biomes are regions of the world with similar climate (weather, temperature) animals and plants. There are terrestrial biomes (land) and aquatic biomes, both freshwater and marine.

How many biomes are there?There is really no completely right answer to this question. Some people say there are only 5 major types of biomes: aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, and tundra. Others split biomes further. Forests are separated into rainforest, temperate forest, chaparral, and taiga; grasslands are divided into savanna and temperate grasslands; and the aquatic biome is split into freshwater and marine.

For this unit, we will explore 8 different types of biomes, with a focus on the terrestrial biomes due to the fact that this lesson is focused on plants and their adaptations, which is often a result of the biome in which they live. The 8 biomes that will be covered in this lesson are: desert, grassland, tropical rain forest, temperate rain forest, temperate deciduous forest, taiga, tundra, and ocean. ** For more information on these specific biomes, Marietta College Department of Biology has put together a great resource, http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/biomes.htm

Before the Activity: Prepare a model poster that students can use as a reference throughout this lesson Plan to divide the students into 8 groups with 4 students (2 partnerships) in each group Depending on how you choose to assign groups, prepare biome cards for students Prepare to have students research in the computer lab or gather/print out resource

packets that students can use to research their given biome. Prepare to give each group of 4 students, one piece of chart paper. Print the 8 biomes maps to give to students when they are working on their biome

posters. Make copies of the biome graphic organizer for each student

Introduction (5-10 min): Comments:


http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/biomes.htm


1. To start the lesson, hold up several of the plant adaptation cards, and ask: “What do these pictures all have in common?” (They are all plants).

2. “Ok, so how do you know that they are all plants? (Take a few students ideas before asking the next question.). So what is a plant? (Living thing, usually stationary, makes its own food through photosynthesis, need sunshine, air, water to grow, they have stiff/rigid walls).

3. “So, we have been learning about adaptations. Who can remember what an adaptation is? (Characteristics that help an organism to survive in its environment). So far we have looked at animal adaptations, but do you think that plants have adaptations too? Give me a thumbs up if you think that they do and a thumbs down if you think that they don’t. (Call on a few students to give reasons about why they think that plants do/don’t have adaptations).

4. “Yes, plants and animals have adaptations that they have developed in order to survive. Today we will be using our research skills to learn about plants and some of the adaptations that they have which allows them to live in their climate/environment. Also in order to better understand these adaptations, we are also going to learn a little bit about the biomes, or regions, in which these plants live.”

5. “Before I explain what we are going to do today, who can remind me of our design challenge? (To build a water collection and storage device that is inspired by nature). Good, so why might it be important for us to study plants before we start designing? (Take some student guesses). Plants need water to survive and since they don’t/can’t move they have developed creative ways to get water and since we are also thinking about collecting and storing water then there is a lot that we can learn from plants that can be useful in our designs. I want you to think about how you might be able to use what you learn about plants in your final design.”

* This lesson is best done if students have electronic access to the encyclopedia and plant adaptations website, but the materials can also easily be downloaded and printed if electronic access is not available

Activity (40 – 50 min)

6. “As I said before, we are going to be using our research skills in this lesson and continue into the next lesson to develop a poster that looks like this (show model).

Comments:

* Reading – 15-20 min* Poster - 15 – 20 min* Plant Adaptations - 10 min (if time)



Biome Name (ex: Desert)

Location:

Features:

Plants/Animals:

Plant Adaptations

Plant Example #1 Plant Example #2

This will not only help us to learn more about the different plants and how they can survive in different parts of the world, but it will help us as a reference that we can use when brainstorming ideas for our final design.

7. “For this lesson, we are going to focus on the top left section of the poster – researching the different biomes and start to get into the plant adaptations for your biome. Who wants to take a guess about what a biome is? (A large region or area consisting of/characterized by the types of plants and animals living there and by the climate of that area). So your group will be learning about a specific

* To keep the focus on the biome and plant adaptations, make the chart paper/poster: Divide in half by width,

but allow for Biome and Plant Adapt. to take 2/3 of space and plant examples the bottom 1/3 (about the size of

* The use of a graphic organizer is a great way to help students identify, organize, and record important facts or information from the text.


Plant Name

Description

Adaptations:

Plant Name

Description

Adaptations:


biome, or region, of Earth”.

8. (Introduce the reading skill for this lesson – identifying and summarizing ideas from informational text). “We will be working on identifying details and summarizing from informational text and you will have a graphic organizer that looks like this to help you (show the graphic organizer)”

9. “I will put you into groups of 4 and the first person that I call from your group will come up and take a biome card (and/or the biome reading packets) for you group. You will have about 30 min to read with your partner and fill in the graphic organizer about your biome before meeting back with your other two groups members to work on your poster.”

10. Students work in pairs to read about their biome and complete the top left section of the graphic organizer about their selected biome.

11.After completing the reading task, give students time to meet with their other two partners and decide on which information from their graphic organizers they want to include in their poster. This is also a great time to pass out the Biome World Map for students to glue on their poster.

12.If there is remaining class time or if groups finish early, then direct groups to the plant adaptation website (http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html) or pass out the plant adaptations sheet for their biome and have

* If there are more biomes than groups of 4, skip the Temperate Rain Forest

* Depending on the levels/groupings of students the biomes can also be pre-assigned.

* A great way to differentiate is to use the elementary and middle school encyclopedia entries depending on the level of each student/pair.


http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html


them start identifying plant adaptations for their biome that they want to include on their poster.

Closure (5 – 10 min):

13. Since this lesson will continue into the next lesson, the closure is more focused on sharing what the students learned. Show the class the world Biome map and have a few students share some of the things that learned about their specific biome while researching.

Comments:

Assessment:

Pre-Activity Assessment

Activity Embedded Assessment

Post-Activity Assessment


Desert Grassland

Tropical Rain Forest Temperate Rain Forest

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Taiga

Tundra Ocean









Biome:

Location:

Plants & Animals: Other Facts:

Features:

Documents

Science Standards: - PictureSTEMpicturestem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nature_Insp… · Web viewStd 1. Living things are ... “For this lesson, ... (A large region or area