Plant Parts and Their Jobs
Purpose:
To observe and understand the integral parts of the plant and how they each contribute to the survival of the plant.
Overview:
Students will learn about plant parts and will be able to identify them in magazines. They will cut and paste pictures of these parts from magazines onto a chart that they will be create in small groups.
Objectives:
As a result of this activity students will be able to:
- Identify parts of the plant.
- Understand the significance of each part.
- Work in small groups.
Materials:
- Enlarged copy of "Parts of the Plant" for display
- Small copies of "Parts of the Plant" (one per student)
- Old magazines such as Martha Stewart, interior design magazines, gardening catalogs, even supermarket circulars (enough for entire class)
- Large chart paper (one per group)
- Markers
- Pencils
- Scissors (one per child)
- Glue sticks (one per group)
Motivation:
- Ask students what are some parts of a plant and chart them down. Some may say leaf, stem, and flower.
- Introduce the enlarged "Parts of the Plant" sheet or, if you do not have access to an enlargement machine, distribute the small copies and read it together as a shared reading.
- Discuss what they learned about the parts of the plant, and also talk briefly about some vegetables that are roots, e.g., potatoes, ginger, and carrots.
Procedure:
- Discuss the activity that they will be doing: looking for pictures of parts of plants in magazines to cut and paste onto chart paper. Make sure to separate each category.
- Hand out magazines, scissors, and chart paper to students or, if you prefer, have the materials set up prior to the lesson.
- Allow students 20-30 minutes to complete this activity.
Conclusion:
Give students a few minutes to clean up their area and put away materials. Then come together as a group and discuss their findings. Allow them to share their charts with each other and look for similarities or differences. (Some students may have placed pictures in the wrong category. They could use this time to check each other's work.) Hang these around the room.
Follow-up:
Students can continue their search at home and cut and paste any more parts that they've found.
Extension:
Students can make a collage mural of their dream garden with additional pictures they find.
Assessment:
The large charts the students made, as well as the homework assignment in the activity, will give you an idea of what they understand or need more work on.
Background:
There are five parts of the plant: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. The root absorbs water from the soil. The stem pulls the water to the rest of the plant like a straw. The leaves absorb sunlight needed to produce food. Flowers are important for reproduction, and the fruit contains the seeds after the flowers have been pollinated. |
Lessons:
Inside a Flower
Soil Investigation
Flower Investigation
Fruit or Vegetable?
Where Am I?
Seed Dissection
Flowers Galore
Pollination & Fertilization
Flowers & Their Families
Plant Parts & Their Jobs
Identifying Flower Families through Flower Shapes
Brooklyn Botanical Garden Scavenger Hunt
Bibliography
This lesson is part of Flower Power by Rosemarie Young.
Grade Levels:
3-5
Subjects: Science, math, arts
Beginning Grade
Level:
3
Ending Grade Level:
5
e-mail Rosemarie
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