how do animals help plants...

How Do Animals Help Plants Reproduce? Kaitlyn Meadors

Part 1 Plants have an inherent problem when it comes to their reproduction, they cant move. Which means that without help, seedlings would end up right next to their parents when they began growing. But unlike in animals who need their parents, this is bad for plants. Their parents could block their sunlight they need to grow or there might not be enough soil nutrients for them. This is why many plants rely on animals to move their plants around the environment. One of the most common ways that plants take advantage of animals is through feces. Fruits are many animals primary source of food, and inside those fruits are seeds. When these animals excrete the undigested seeds begin to grow where ever they lay. This is demonstrated when the cardinal eats from the mulberry bush and also when the elephant eats from the marula tree. Those plants use the animal to spread around their current environment or to travel hundreds of miles to extend into new environments. Now, before seeds even come into the picture, pollination needs to occur. There are a few ways plants try and pollinate each other. They can try and use the elements such as the wind, but the most efficient way is by using insects and a few other animals as carriers. The classic example is the bumblebee. They fly from flower to flower, collecting pollen and dropping it off at the next. They do this to many plants many times a day. Another pollinator is the bat. Bats feed off of a flowers nectar and carry pollen as they travel too. These methods of animal aid are the most abundant in the plant kingdom. But there's another less common one that some plants use, which is the burr. A burr is a seedpod that has little hooks all around it to latch onto an animal's fur or a humans clothing. Then we, or the animal, walk through the environment and the burrs get knocked, brushed or picked off to be deposited elsewhere. All of the above ways of animals helping plants show how the animals are unwittingly helping out. But there are some creatures that specifically hunt down seeds and move them around. One such animal is the squirrel. The squirrel looks for acorns to eat. But when it finds them and isn't interested in eating at the time, it will hide them for later. The acorns that aren't recovered grow into trees. Some ants are seed seeking as well. They gather them for the colony to eat and the ones that do not get picked sprout and grow. Humans play a role in very few of these methods, the burrs being a common one, but we contribute in other ways. Farming and gardening are some of the most prolific ways we help plants reproduce. We also love fruits. So when we just throw out apple core out the window on the way to work or leave them behind at a picnic, we have helped an apple tree spread its seeds around too. Plants have trouble making new plants on their own, so they use animals and insects to help them out. Animals eat then poop the seeds in new places, they move seeds around on their fur and gather them and carry them other places. Insects help plants by rubbing their bodies in pollen. The pollen falls off on other flower and helps those flowers make new seeds.


Part 2

Inquiry (5E) Lesson Plan

Teacher: Kaitlyn Meadors Subject: Science

Grade: 2

Lesson Title: The Buzz About Seeds

State Standard(s): grouped by subject and must be observable and measureable

2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.

Develop a simple model based on evidence to represent a proposed object or tool.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around. Crosscutting Concepts

Structure and Function

The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).

MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

RI.2.8 Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects.

Learning Objective(s): kid friendly “I can” statement

I can describe how insects help plants reproduce.

I can describe how animals help plants reproduce.

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/2



http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/2

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/2


I can explain the effects of seed dispersal.

I can explain the effects of pollination.

I can use the tools I'm given correctly.

I can explain the ideas of a book after reading it.

I can write about my science experiences.

Academic Vocabulary: with definitions

Pollination: when pollen from one plant sticks to another plant and a new seed is formed.

Flower: the part of most plants where pollen is formed.

Reproduction: when plants make more plants just like it.

Seed: the part of the plant that can grow into a new plant.

Pollen: tiny grains that are made by the flower.

Seed Dispersal: the way seeds move from the parent plant to a new place.

Materials/Technology:

"How do plants depend on animals for survival?" worksheets (animal and bee), sunflower seeds, cheese puffs, Starbursts, large bowl/bag, brown paper bags, writing paper, crayons, scissors, pencil and computer.

Resources: cite lesson references

Cheese-Puff Pollination Experiment

Next Generation Science Website

Safety Concerns:

Roaming outside of the designated area outside

Cutting themselves with scissors

Choking on candy

What’s the BIG IDEA?

How do animals help plants reproduce?

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cassie-Carr


Engage

Description: Introductory lessons should stimulate curiosity and activate prior student knowledge. The activity should be a problem or an event that raises questions and motivates students to discover more about the concept. Link to cognition: Students bring knowledge about how the world works but it is sometimes based on limited experiences and sometimes on misconceptions. What teacher does:

Create interest

Generate curiosity

Raise questions

Elicit responses that uncover what students know or think about the concept/subject

Purpose: to activate prior knowledge to capture students’ interest to pose questions based on the objectives that the students will try and answer during the explore phase. 1pt

Activities: to accomplish the purpose above (reading, demonstration, video, crazy statistics, interesting pictures)

Class discussion: How do you think we gets flowers? How do flowers make new flowers?

As a class watch the "The Pollination Song" video.

Allow students time to read From Bird Poop to Wind or How Do Animals Help Plants Reproduce? independently or with a partner.

Guiding Questions

Have you ever planted a seed before?

What happened after the seed was planted?

What do seeds need to grow

What kinds of animals eat seeds?'

What words do you think of when I talk about plants?

What animals do you think help plants reproduce?

Assessment: teacher observation, small group discussion, class discussion, drawing/chart/table/diagram,

notebook/journal, lab write-up, oral presentation, poster, quiz/test

Have a class discussion about what information the students learned from the video and books.

http://youtu.be/f5_1wXufUXw


Explore

Description: Students need the opportunity to actively explore the concept in a hands-on activity. This establishes a commonly shared classroom experience and allows students to share ideas about the concept. Link to cognition: Experiences occur before the explanations! Students are actively exploring with little explanation from the teachers. Students acquire a common set of concrete experiences allowing them to help each other understand the concept through social interaction. What teacher does:

Encourage students to work together without direct instruction

Observe and listen to students as they interact

Ask probing questions to redirect students' investigations when necessary

Provide time for students to puzzle through problems

Act as a consultant for students

Purpose: to decipher what hands-on/minds-on activities the students will be doing to decide how students will use the materials for discovery to ask the “big idea” conceptual questions to encourage and/or focus students’ exploration to gage responses to questions asked about the exploration 1pt

Activities: to accomplish the purpose above (build models, collect data, make and test predictions)

As a class do seed hide outside.

In groups do cheese-puff pollination activity.

Return to seed hide outside.

*Play "Do the Honey Bee!" song while students are doing cheese-puff activity for fun!

Guiding Questions:

What happened to your hand when you reached in the big flower bowl?

What happened to your hand when you reached into the small flower bags?

What happened to the "pollen" from the first flower when you reached into the second flower bag?

What do you think happens when the pollen from a flower rubs off on another flower?

Were you able to find your seed?

What trick did you use to find your seed?



Small group discussion about how insects and animals help plants reproduce.

http://youtu.be/DpyY9_9y9Qw


One person from each group says one thing they talked about to the whole class.

Explain

Description: Teachers use questioning strategies to lead students’ discussion of information discovered during the Explore stage (may or may not be a hands-on activity). Teachers introduce new scientific terms (vocabulary) and explanations at appropriate times during the discussion. Link to cognition: When students engage in meaningful discussions with other students and the teacher, they can pool their explanations based on observations, construct new understandings, and have a clear focus for additional learning. What teacher does:

Encourage students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words

Ask for justification (evidence) and clarification from students

Formally provide definitions, explanations, and new labels

Use students' previous experiences as the basis for explaining concepts

Purpose: To allow students to share what they have discovered to create questions or techniques that will help students connect their discovery to the concept to ask higher order level questions to solicit student explanations and help them to justify their explanations to gage responses to questions asked about the explanation 1pt

Activities: to accomplish the purpose above (class discussion, taking minimal notes, creating diagrams)

Activities: to accomplish the purpose above (class discussion, taking minimal notes, creating diagrams)

Clean up the materials.

Whole class fill out animals flow chart

Individually draw pictures corresponding with flow chart

Whole class fill out bee flow chart

Individually draw pictures corresponding with flow chart.

Vocabulary introduction o Pollination: when pollen from one plant sticks to another plant and a new seed is formed. o Flower: the part of most plants where pollen is formed. o Reproduction: when plants make more plants just like it. o Seed: the part of the plant that can grow into a new plant. o Pollen: tiny grains that are made by the flower.


o Seed Dispersal: the way seeds move from the parent plant to a new place.

Guiding Questions:

What happens when an animal forgets where they put their seeds/nuts

What word would you used to tell what you are going to do after the "first" event?

What words would you use to represent the "last" event?

Class (after definitions)

What were the two ways that animals help plants reproduce? What did the powder from the cheese-puffs represent?

What do the Starbursts represent?



Students should write the vocabulary words and definitions on the writing paper.

Elaborate

Description: Students are encouraged to apply, extend, and enhance the new concept and related terms during interaction with the teacher and other students (in science, a hands-on activity). Link to cognition: Providing additional active learning opportunities for students to incorporate into their mental construct of the concept allows them to confirm and expand their understanding. What teacher does:

Expect students to use formal labels, definitions and explanations provided previously

Encourage students to apply or extend concepts and skills in new situations

Remind students of alternate explanations

Refer students to existing data and evidence and ask "What do you already know?" "Why do you think.....?"

Purpose: to achieve a deeper understanding of the concept to apply the new knowledge in their daily lives or a new situation to identify and correct any remaining misconceptions to gage responses to questions asked about the elaboration 1pt


Activities: to accomplish the purpose above (build models, collect data, make and test predictions-could be on a

smaller scale, or even using technology)

Students will write about the activity using the guiding question and vocabulary words on the writing paper.

Guiding Questions:

What did you observe while doing the experiment?

What can you conclude?

What did you learn?

Why might it be important for a seed to disperse away from its parent plant?



Teacher walks around the class assisting students and observing writing.

Evaluate

Description: Students demonstrate their understanding of the concept. Link to cognition: In student-centered instruction, it is important for students to be aware of their own progress as an outcome of instruction. Students construct knowledge over time and may need additional experiences to refine their understanding of the concept. What teacher does:

Observe students as they apply new concepts and skills

Assess students' knowledge and/or skills

Allow students to assess their own learning and group process skills

Ask open-ended questions, such as "Why do you think...? "What evidence do you have?" "What do you know about x?" "How would you explain x?"

Assure assessment correlates to the learning objectives

Purpose: to allow students to demonstrate that they have achieved the lesson objective to allow students to summarize the big idea.



Use a rubric to grade student writing activity.


Seed Hide Activity:

how do animals help plants...

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