Download Life Science Section 1: TLW classify plants on the basis of

Third Grade Unit One
Life Science
Section 1:
TLW classify plants on the basis of observable physical characteristics and
describe the function of plant parts.
(Gist: Plants)
Enduring Understanding(s)


Plants can be classified on the basis of observable characteristics.
Plants have different structures that have specific functions in growth, survival, and
reproduction.
Essential Questions


How can plants be classified?
What are the functions of flowers, stems, roots, and leaves in plants?
New Vocabulary
function
minerals
organism
physical characteristic structure
plant root
support
stem
survival of organism
thermometer
Concepts & Information
Plants need air, water, warmth, and light in order to grow and survive.
Describe is to tell or depict in spoken or written words the function of the flower, stem, root, and
leaf.
Plant parts have specific functions that contribute to the life of a plant.
Flowers produce seeds inside fruits and some flowers attract pollinators such as bats, birds and
insects.
The stem carries water and minerals from the roots to the leaves and flowers. Stems also provide
support to the plant and allow the leaves to reach sunlight.
The roots provide support by anchoring the plant and absorbing water and nutrients needed for
growth. They also store sugars and carbohydrates.
Leaves create food in green plants. They are the site of photosynthesis, a process that uses carbon
dioxide, water and sunlight to create food (glucose) and oxygen for the plant and other forms of
life. Leaves also have openings that allow water and air to come and go.
Classification systems help us organize our knowledge of living things, group organisms based
on similar characteristics, raises awareness of the diversity of plant life, and allows a comparison
of similarities and differences of plants.
Plants can be classified based on observable physical characteristics such as roots, leaves, stems,
and flowers.
Seed plants can be classified into two categories: evergreens and broadleafed.
There are generally two types of root systems in green plants. A taproot is a single, prominent
root. Examples are carrots and radishes. The other type of root system is branching.
Plants leaves can be classified in many ways. Two common ways are by shape and pattern.
Green plants can have needle-like leaves or broad flat leaves. It is not important for third grade
students to identify the specific leaf structures used for classification. They should be able to
recognize that there are different leaf types and classify based on observable characteristics such
as leaf type, leaf shape, veins.
Plant stems vary considerably and are divided into two groups. Plants may have woody stems
such as in trees and shrubs. Plants may have green, non-woody stems such as in flowering plants
and grasses.
Plants may be classified based on the type of flower. Flowers can be classified by color, shape
and number of petals.
Common Misconceptions
Plants get food from the ground.
Plants make food for other organisms and not for themselves.
Plants and seeds are not living.
Lesson Ideas:
1. TLW collaboratively review what plants need for growth and survival. CCSS/CE(s):
This unit focuses on plants. The next unit will focus on animals. Following those two units, the
Life Science Academic Standard: Adaptations, will relate the characteristics and functions of
observable parts in plants and animals to their ability to live in different environments.
Plants need air, water, light, and food. Unlike animals that need to eat their food, plants use the
light to make their own food. Plants use the food as a source of energy and as a source of
building material to grow and for repair.
2. TLW classify plants on the basis of observable physical characteristics. CCSS/CE(s):
L.OL.03.41; S.IA.03.11; S.IA.03.13; S.IP.03.11; S.IP.03.12; S.IP.03.16; S.RS.03.11; S.RS.03.14;
(Resource: Plant Classification)
Using fast growing plants,grow plants from seeds through a full life cycle. Observe and measure
the different plant parts as they develop. Record the observations and measurements on a chart or
in science journals.
Display a variety of plants that show different parts. Students observe the different parts of the
plants and try to identify the flowers, stems, roots, and leaves. Note the place where the root
changes into the stem if possible. Have hand lenses available. Include some plants that might
have some confusing parts such as a cactus, evergreen, moss, etc.
Elaborate on how scientists classify organisms by observable physical characteristics. The leaves
can either be broad-leaf or needle-like. Roots can be a single taproot or fibrous and branching.
Stems can be woody or green. Flowers can be classified by color, shape, or number of petals. In
cooperative groups have students observe various plants, decide how scientists might classify
them, and record their ideas using charts. The groups could report out to the class telling their
rationale for their choices. Scientists use the structures to sort or classify plants.
Take a walk outdoors and look at a variety of plants. Use hand lenses or simple microscopes for
students to make observations about the plants they see. Classify plants on the basis of roots,
leaves, stems, and flowers. Consider color, size, leaf shape and flower type.
Do a Google image search for ferns, moss, plants, conifer, conifer cone, deciduous tree, and
shrub or see http://www.public-domain-image.com/ or http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ or
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=plants&form=QB&qs=AS&pq=plants# for searchable
web sites. Print, cut out, laminate and use images for students to sort and classify. (These images
will be used in Assessment B.)
Make a plant part salad. Assign each student a different edible plant part (let the student choose)
to bring in to put into a salad. As they add their plant part to the salad, they identify the following
parts: flower, stem, root and leaf. Then eat the salad! Possible ingredients include various kinds
of lettuce, spinach, parsley, cilantro (leaves), carrots, radishes, beets (roots), celery (stems),
broccoli, cauliflower (flower buds and stems), tomatoes, grapes or raisins or dried cherries,
apples, oranges (fruit), almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds (seeds).
3. TLW describe the function of parts of plants. CCSS/CE(s): L.OL.03.31; S.IA.03.12; S.IA.03.13;
S.IP.03.11; S.RS.03.11; S.RS.03.15; S.RS.03.18;
(Resources: Plant Parts; Plant Functions; Flower Power; Food in a Grocery Store)
Explain what is meant by the terms structures and functions. Every structure has a function or
multiple functions that allow the plant to survive in its environment. Take a walk outside where
plants live and don't live. Discuss reasons why plants might not be able to live in certain areas.
Discuss the plant parts salad experience, and have students identify the function of each of the
structures. In cooperative groups students decide what the function of each plant part is and
report out to the class. Record the structures and functions of the parts of the plants on charts or
in science journals.
Place a celery stalk or a white flower in a glass of colored water. Observe what happens to the
leaves or flower petals.
Use both Informational Text Resources: Flower Power; Food in a Grocery Store.
Contributions of scientists throughout history and across cultures have contributed significantly
to current scientific thought. The contributions of scientists such as Barbara McClintock and
George Washington Carver have used the parts of plants to advance the use of food plants.
Suggested Instructional Resources
Primarily Plants, AIMS, 1990 and 2005
Budding Botanist,
AIMS, 1993, page iii for a classification chart of seed plants
Section 2:
TLW classify animals on the basis of observable physical
characteristics and relate those characteristics to their functions.
(Gist: Animals)
Enduring Understanding(s)


Animals can be classified on the basis of observable characteristics.
Animals have different structures that have specific functions in growth, survival, and
reproduction.
Essential Questions


How can animals be classified?
What are the functions of the structures of animals?
New Vocabulary
animal features
limb
backbone/no backbone movement
food getting
organism
physical characteristic support
protection
survival of organism
structure
thermometer
Concepts & Information
Animals need air, water, food, and space in order to grow and survive.
Animals can be classified by their observable characteristics. Physical characteristics are
observable traits where the trait is related to the function and survival of the organism. Animals
are classified as vertebrates or invertebrates based on their type of skeletal system.
Animals have specific structures and body coverings that assist in controlling body temperature
such as fur, feathers, skin, and hair.
Animals have specific structures that provide support such as a skeleton (bones) or an
exoskeleton (no bones) in insects and crayfish.
Structures that provide movement for animals include limbs, wings, fins and muscles.
Structures used for food getting may include claws, jaws, teeth, beaks, legs, wings, and
camouflage.
Structures used for protection may include exoskeletons, shells, scales, claws, teeth, legs and
wings.
Invertebrates are those animals without a backbone. Worms, sponges, spiders, insects and crabs
are examples of invertebrates. Invertebrates have exoskeletons or no skeleton (soft bodies).
There are more invertebrates on Earth than vertebrates.
Vertebrates
are those animals with a backbone and internal skeletal system (endoskeleton). Vertebrates
include mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Characteristics that distinguish
vertebrates include body structures and their functions, body coverings, method of reproduction,
and method of movement.
Mammals
have skin with a fur or hair body covering that helps it to stay warm. Some mammals shed a
large quantity of their fur during the summer and grow a thicker coat during the winter. All
young drink milk, breathe with lungs, are warm-blooded, and most young are born alive.
Birds
have skin with a feather body covering. Birds can keep warm by fluffing up their feathers to trap
air like their own down coat. In summer, they compress the feathers because they don’t need the
extra warmth. They have wings, lay hard-shelled eggs, breathe with lungs, and are warmblooded.
Fish
have skin covered with slimy scales. They lay eggs without shells, breathe with gills, and are
cold-blooded.
Amphibians
(frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders) live part of their life on land and part in water. They are
cold-blooded, lay eggs without a shell in water, have smooth, moist skin with no scales, a bony
skeleton, and experience metamorphosis (a change in form or structure from young to adult life,
i.e., a tadpole lives in water and is fishlike with gills and fins while a frog lives on land and
forms lungs; young do not look like adult).
Reptiles
(snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles and alligators) are cold-blooded. They have dry, scaly skin or
a shell, lungs, a bony skeleton, and toes with claws. They lay eggs on land in a leathery shell and
do not experience metamorphosis. Reptile young look like the adult.
To be warm-blooded means that an animal maintains a temperature within a normal range for
that animal due to metabolic processes and body coverings that keep them warm. In contrast,
cold-blooded animals are dependent on their environment to regulate their body temperature. An
example is a turtle sunning itself on a log or an insect burrowing under the hot sand to find a
cooler temperature.
Common Misconceptions
Only large mammals are animals.
Humans are not animals.
Penguins and turtles are amphibians because they are both in and out of the water.
Whales, jellyfish, and starfish (or any animal that lives in the water) are all fish.
Behavior and habitat are used as criteria for classifying animals.
Animals with no backbone have no skeletal system.
Turtles have a shell, no backbone, and can pull out of their shells completely like a hermit crab
can.
Lesson Ideas:
1. TLW collaboratively review what animals need for growth and survival. CCSS/CE(s):
L.OL.03.32; S.IA.03.12; S.IA.03.13; S.IA.03.14; S.IA.03.15;
Note: This unit will be followed by a culminating Life Science Academic Standard: Adaptations,
in which students will relate the characteristics and functions of observable parts in plants and
animals to their ability to live in different environments. (An anticipatory set could be AIMS
Math + Science: A Solution, "Creature Features," pages 11-15 in 1987 edition. A 2007 updated
downloadable version is available for $2.00 link) When creating a dichotomous key, have
students share their results.
Animals need air, water, food, and space (habitat).
2. TLW identify and compare animal structures used for controlling body temperature,
support, movement, food-getting, and protection.CCSS/CE(s): L.OL.03.32;
(Resources: Teaching About Characteristics; Physical Characteristics of Animals with
Backbones)
Identify means to recognize the differences between structures in animals used for controlling
body temperature, support, movement, food getting, and protection. Compare means to recognize
how the structures are alike or similar among animals.
Support includes bones and muscles, Movement includes limbs, fins, wings, scales and muscles
(snakes), tails. Structures include fur, wings, teeth, claws. Also consider feathers, scales, skin,
shells, limbs, types of bones, backbone/no backbone (vertebrate/invertebrate), beaks, warmblooded/cold-blooded, etc.
Use the organizer and find pictures from books or the internet to find examples from a variety of
animals of the various classifications of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and
fish because they will be using these categories for classification in the following lessons.
Searches on Google images produce a wealth of applicable pictures.
http://pics.tech4learning.com or http://images.google.com/
Students use pictures and/or parts of animals (i.e. skulls, teeth, pelts, feathers, etc.) to identify the
structures that help the animals control body temperature, provide support, provide movement,
get food, and protect themselves. Discuss and record information on a chart or in science
journals.
Explain what is meant by the terms structures and functions. Structures (i.e. fur, wings, teeth,
claws, and scales) are used to allow the animal to control its body temperature, support its body,
move, get food, and protect itself. Many of the characteristics of the observable body parts
enable an animal to survive in its environment. Scientists use structures, not behaviors, to
classify animals into groups.
To show how body coverings help keep animals warm, students experiment with different ways
heat can be kept in cans of warm water by wrapping various materials (fake fur, fiberfill, wool,
aluminum foil, etc.) around them, taking their temperatures, and recording the data on a chart.
To show how body coverings protect animals from temperature differences, students make a
“blubber glove” out of two zip-top bags (one inside the other). Put vegetable shortening between
the two bags so a hand can be inserted into the inner part and remain clean. Put the “blubber
gloved” hand and a hand with no glove into both ice water and warm water and see if any
temperature differences can be detected.
3. TLW collaboratively describe, compare, and classify mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, and fish, based on their observable characteristics.CCSS/CE(s): S.IP.03.13;
S.IP.03.16; S.RS.03.15; L.OL.03.42; S.IA.03.11; S.IA.03.12; S.IA.03.13; S.IA.03.15; S.IP.03.12;
(Resources: Animal Characteristics; Animal Classification; Attributes of Vertebrates; Animal
Card Sort; Classifying Animals; Who Am I?; Animal Groups; Animal Identification;
Amphibians and Reptiles Chart; Amphibian and Reptile Eggs)
To show how scientists classify animals, students in cooperative groups cut out pictures to sort
animals into groups. First the students sort by skeletons on the outside of the body and skeletons
on the inside of the body. Once animals have been divided into these two groups, the animals are
grouped further based on observable physical characteristics, i.e., body coverings and limbs. Use
large chart paper to glue or record all the mammals together, fish, birds, etc. Students report out
to the class.
This lesson has many resources. Use them as appropriate to differentiate instruction based on the
needs of students in the classroom.
Students use pictures of animals and try to group animals using their own criteria.
Classify animals on the basis of backbone, outer coverings, limbs, scales or other physical
characteristics. Other physical characteristics provide more specific classification. These are
visible through observations.
Animals can be classified into two broad categories: backbone (internal skeleton or vertebrate)
which are mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians or no backbone (external skeleton or
exoskeleton or invertebrate) which include animals such as worms, insects and crustaceans.
Third grade students will be limited to the general classification of animals with a backbone or
no backbone. Animals with no backbone either have a skeletal system in the form of a shell or
hard outer covering (insects, crustaceans, mollusks) or no skeletal system (worms, jellyfish).
Third grade students should classify animals with a backbone into fish, amphibian, reptile, bird
and mammal or animals with no backbone.
Animals with backbones can be classified based on body covering and other observable physical
characteristics: fish (scales and gills), amphibians (smooth wet skin), reptiles (dry, rough skin),
birds (wings, two feet, feathers), and mammals (hair, feed their young milk).
http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/animalstwo.php
Animals Alive!: An Ecological Guide to Animal Activities
by Dennis Holley; Brian Payne (illustrator) ISBN 9781570981708 |Revised edition (Roberts
Rinehart Pub, October 1, 1997), cover price $24.95 Suggests activities for observing live
animals, and outlines a course of study looking at animals from lower invertebrates to mammals.
Teacher assistance may be necessary to classify animals into three groups. Most students will
already know from life experience if an animal is a mammal, bird, or fish. Subsequent lessons
will help them describe the specific observable characteristics upon which the classification is
based.
Focus on observable characteristics while recognizing that some animals have characteristics
common to another classification, (e.g., some mammals and some birds have claws). Given a
model or illustration of a bird, mammal, or fish skeleton, students can observe that each has a
backbone. Note: People are mammals and share most characteristics with other mammals.
Students should be able to feel their own backbones. See
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/courses/bio204/lab7_frameset.htm and scroll right frame (photos) to
see examples of vertebrate skeletons. Snake skeleton link
In a small group or whole class setting, each student should be given different pictures to
classify. Example of justification: "It’s a bird because it lays eggs and has feathers."
Guidelines for Classification of Vertebrates (animals with backbones)
1. body covering
2. birth form (egg vs. live birth)
3. warm vs. cold-blooded
4. birth location (water vs. land)
5. young vs. adults – similarities or differences
6. degree of parental nurturing
7. method of breathing (gills vs. lungs)
8. classes (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish)
4. TLW collaboratively classify vertebrates and invertebrates into groups by their
observable physical characteristics and make comparisons between common vertebrates
and common invertebrates. CCSS/CE(s): L.OL.03.42; S.IA.03.11; S.IA.03.12; S.IA.03.13; S.IA.03.15;
S.IP.03.11; S.IP.03.12; S.IP.03.13; S.IP.03.16; S.RS.03.15;
(Resources: Vertebrate and Invertebrate Animals; Attributes of Animal Groups)
Invertebrates (animals with no backbone) include:
insect • sponge
scorpion • lobster
centipede • slug
octopus • coral
starfish • shrimp
jellyfish • crab
millipede • snail
earthworm • clam • spider
(Note: There are more species of insects than any other animals.)
Students describe the physical characteristics and functions, of invertebrates, comparing and
contrasting with vertebrates. Invertebrates include insects, mollusks, worms, sponges, arachnids.
More classifications exist but will not be addressed at third grade.
Use Venn diagrams or double-bubble diagrams to compare and contrast vertebrate and
invertebrate animals. Possible comparisons could be between earthworm/snake, bird/mosquito,
goldfish/crayfish.)
Suggested Instructional Resources
.
http://www.nwf.org/kids/kzPage.cfm?siteid=3 for information about Ranger Rick Magazine
(many wildlife photos)
Michigan Snakes: A Field Guide and Pocket Reference
, MSU Extension. Inventory number E2000, http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/ (Click on
Publications, then click on Search and enter "snakes")
Michigan Frogs, Toads, & Salamanders: A Field Guide and Pocket Reference
, MSU Extension, 1999. ISBN 1565250028, Inventory number E2350,
http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal / (Click on Publications, then click on Search and so a keyword
search for "frogs".)
Animal pictures can be ordered from Wildlife Adventure Cards, Grolier Books, P.O. Box 1758,
Sherman Turnpike, Danbury, CT 06816-1758; Ranger Rick; National Wildlife or local stores for
teachers.
Animal pictures can also be found at http://www.public-domain-image.com/ or
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ or
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=animals&form=QB&qs=AS&pq=animals#. Print, cut
out, laminate and use images for students to sort and classify. (Images will be used in the
assessment.)
AIMS Critters, 2004, ISBN 1881431231