plants nea r us learning to observe the world around us

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Plants neaR US Learning to Observe the World Around Us

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Plants neaR USLearning to Observe the World

Around Us

Locate Your Home in One of the Regions (North, East, South or West)

Name:

Class period: Teacher[1] Identify in which of the directions shown your home is located. Circle that direction on the next page (on the side).

[2] On your way to or from home or on your block see how many of the plants [1-6] you can find. You must find at least one of these plants. Near the letter for the direction to your home, write in the blank space the number of each plant you found. [3] Be sure to complete the observations for each plant you identified. Light means whether the plant is located in direct sunlight (sun), in the shade (shade) or in a location with a mixture of sun and shade (partial). Health means your sense of whether the plant is doing well (good), is not doing well (poor) or is in the middle (medium). Estimated height can be your best guess of the height of the plant. The units for estimated height are meters (m).

[4] Notes can include anything you think is interesting or important that you noticed or know about the plant (e.g., soil, colors, insects found near the plant, whether you think it was probably planted or whether in might have grown naturally … it is up to you to decide what to write).

[5] For the plant numbers you recorded in step [2], circle the numbers for those plants you think are native plants. Leave un-circled the ones you think are non-native. If you are unsure make your best guess.

[6] In the space below, briefly explain how you decided whether the plant was native or non-native. Your explanation could include asking someone who knows about plants or it could be just a brief description of how you guessed based on certain features of the plants.

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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My Results

Dire

ction

from

Sch

ool [

Circ

le O

ne]

– N

orth

Sout

hEa

st

W

est

11 22 33

44 6655

*

* - Easy to confuse with St. Augustine grass

Name:

Class period:

Teacher:

[1] For EACH PLANT you observed you will be given a sticky note. On the back write your name, the plant number and the direction (N/S/E/W). Then on the front of each note use the following convention to represent your observations. Near the lower edge record your estimation of the height of the plant in meters. Place your note anywhere in the region for your direction. (For plants you did not find, you do not need to place a sticky note). While waiting for others to post their notes, make observations of the results. During the class discussion record observation related to what was discussed.

Light (Sun, Partial, & Shade) Health (Good, Medium, Poor) Height Example

[2] Class Results: For EACH PLANT discussed during class record results and observations(a) VITEX Total number in each direction

Light – Sun/Partial/Shadow Health – Good/Med/Poor

A Repre-sentative Height (m)

Total number for each in all directions

On the board or on poster paper visible to the whole class we have a square divided in to the directions (N/E/S/W) for posting our results for each plant.

Class results are posted for each plant separately.

Class Results

(b) PRICKLY PEAR

(c) LIVE OAK

SAGE(d) SAGE

Name

[3] Now that you’ve looked at the class results for multiple plants, list at least two patterns or features you observed or found interesting.

[4] Related to this activity, I would like to investigate further:

(e)

(f)

NameBERMUDA GRASS

CRAPE MYRTLE

Day

2 N

otes

: Cl

ass

Resu

lts [1] It is unlikely you will be able to go through the full sequence of displaying results and discussing each of the plants. You should try to get through the full sequence for at least two sets of results. It is worth mentioning this to the students. “We are going to display your results using sticky notes. Our goal is to notice patterns or tendencies in the data. You will record both your observations about the displayed results. Then we will discuss the results and you are to add observations that emerge from the conversation. Due to time limitations we may end up being able to go through the full sequence for only some of the data.”

[2] “To start, then, I’m going to ask you to raise your hands if you DID identify each of the following plants. On the back of the Handout please record how many people were able to identify the plants.” [write on board]

1 _____ 2 _____ 3 _____ 4 _____ 5 _____ 6 _____[3] Decide which two plants you can start with. This may be based on the two most frequently found plants, or which two the students are most interested in, or based on choosing, for example, “one bush” and “one with the most.” [4] Go through the full for these two cases (sticky notes, individual observations, class discussion, and record observations from class discussion. Depending on time, you may get more fully cycles in. [5] To prepare for homework, you’ll need to get the data the following data for the remaining plants. You can get the data by asking students to raise their hands in response to questions like, “If you identified plant [3] raise your hand and when I call on you tell me the Direction, Lighting, Health, and approximate height you recorded for this plant.” Ask the students to record the approximate heights (while you do so on the board) and then use tally marks to get values for the Lighting and Health of the plant.

Theme Question: “What do you notice?”Students are to take time to first make individual observations from the displayed results (even while they are waiting for others to place their sticky notes). For the discussion start with what they wrote individually and extend from there. Remind student they should now be adding observations (not necessarily all of them) to the “Observations from Class Discussion.” It is much more important to discuss a few sets of results thoroughly than it is to complete the full cycle for all the plants. The focus is more on learning to make systematic observations and conjectures than on rushing through all the plants.

[6] For HOMEWORK they are to: a) Find the median value (cross off the extremes “high then low” until you arrive at a value we will

consider “representative” [Use this for the full discussions above as well so they can see how this is done]). If there are two values left you may want them to record a value half way between the two. b) Be sure to have filled in the Direction counts, Light counts, Health counts and Representative Height for each plant. . c) Make observations based on this data (individual observations). Complete questions [3] and [4].

Place your sheet on doc camera

END