Download Coloring Carnations

Coloring Carnations
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Author: Hillary Payan
Date created: 03/10/2010 7:41 PM PDT ; Date modified: 03/10/2010 11:36 PM PDT
General Information
Grade/Level
Grade 3
Lesson Topic
Coloring/Dyeing Carnations
Time Frame
one 30 minute lesson
(24 hours for experiment)
Lab: 20 minutes
EL Level
any
Subject(s)
Science
Materials And/Or Technology
Materials
5 plastic cups
4 different food colorings
water
scissors
flip cameras (one per pair of students)
camera hook ups (cord to download pictures onto computer)
Technology
laptops/computer
flip cameras/digital cameras
Concept(S)
Big Idea
Students will observe the process of transpiration in plants.
Alignment With Standards
Standards
CA­ California K­12 Academic Content Standards
Subject: Science
Grade: Grade Three
Area: Life Sciences
Sub­Strand 3: Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival. As a
basis for understanding this concept:
Standard a: Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival,
and reproduction.
Area: Investigation and Experimentation
Sub­Strand 5: Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As
a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop
their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
Standard a: Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar scientific investigations
seldom turn out exactly the same because of differences in the things being investigated, methods being used, or
uncertainty in the observation.
Standard b: Differentiate evidence from opinion and know that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions
unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed.
Standard d: Predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the prediction.
Objectives
Objectives
Students will be able to develop hypotheses about transpiration in plants and compare conclusive results through
observing the process of dyeing carnations. Students will investigate the carnations through a hands on activity and be
able to record their results in their science journals.
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Modifications
Descriptions
EL Students will be partnered up with a trustworthy bilingual student and will be expected to verbally communicate
his/her predictions and observations for their partner to translate and record on paper.
Gate students will be responsible for adding information to the class blog; pictures, predictions, conclusive results.
Special Needs students will be placed closest to the carnations and will receive additional assistance from either the
teacher or a class aide.
Vocabulary/Literacy Skills
Identify Skills
Listening, Speaking, Writing
Vocabulary
transpiration, cohesion, carnation, stem, leaf, petal
Procedure
Classroom Management
Details
Students are to listen quietly and engage in discussion during direct instruction.
During the experiment, students are to not touch the carnations or the cups filled with water.
While small groups are observing the colored petals, the other students are to be quietly discussing results with their
partner and journaling their conclusions to their predictions.
Room Arrangement(s)
Carnations will be on the back table for small groups to take turns observing the colored petals. Students who are not at
the back table are to be in their seats quietly discussing their results and journaling their conclusions.
Student Groupings
students will work in groups of two (teacher assigned)
Specific Details Throughout
the Lesson
Direct Instruction Model <Fontsize=6>Based On K­12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer For New Professionals By Andrea M. Guillaume 2nd
Edition Copyright 2004
Focus/Motivation (Open)
Have a variety of plants sitting up at the front of the room for all students to see as you give your lesson. Refer to the
parts of the flower or plant as you discuss specific parts of a plant. Have a watering can or small cup of water with tray
underneath pot to catch the draining water from the plant.
Ask students:
Can somebody raise their hand and tell me what kind of flower this is? (hold up a carnation).
Does anybody know what plant this is? (hold up a fern).
What do plants need to survive? (sunlight, soil, water, nutrients, air).
How many of you have ever used a straw to drink?
Introduce the word "transpiration" and tell students: "Today we are going to get to see first hand how plants drink to
survive."
Development (Body)
As you probably noticed, most plants have a "drinking" problem. Okay, in this case it's a good problem. Most plants
"drink" water from the ground through their roots (point to where the roots are). The water travels up the stem of the
plant into the leaves and flowers where it makes food. When a flower is cut, it no longer has it's roots (show them a cut
carnation), but the stem of the flower still "drinks" up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.
Okay, now it's time to get technical. There are two things that combine to move water through plants ­­ TRANSPIRATION
and COHESION.
Ask: Who thinks they can give me a quick definition or example of transpiration? (drinking through a straw).
Water evaporating from the leaves, buds and petals (TRANSPIRATION) pulls water up the stem of the plant. This works in
the same way as sucking on a straw. Water that evaporates from the leaves "pulls" other water behind it up to fill the
space left by the evaporating water, but instead of your mouth providing the suction it is due to evaporating water.
Today we are going to do an experiment that will begin today and we will have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if it
worked. We are going to Dye or "color" the petals of carnations by putting different food coloring into a glass of water
and then placing the carnation into the water to hopefully "drink."
Coloring the water with food coloring does not harm the plant in any way but allows you to see the movement of water
through the roots to the shoots. Splitting the stem simply proves that the tiny tubes in the stem run all the way from the
stem to the petals of the flowers.
Pair students up with a partner. Send each group back to their seats to get their journals and start writing their
predictions down. They are to predict what will happen. Will the petals turn the color of the dye? Will the stem change its
color?
Closure (Close)
The carnation have been sitting for 24 hours and are ready to be observed and investigated!!
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Send 6 students back to the back table with their journals to look at the color changes and sketch (optional) and write
what they see. What happened that was different from what you predicted yesterday? Was there any color change?
Where on the carnation did its color change? Why do you think?
Have students work together to conclude the final product that they see. Rotate groups every 5 minutes.
As a class discuss what they investigated, what they predicted, and what they saw. Close by reinforcing vocabulary and
take any questions that students may have regarding the activity.
Assessment
Assessment/Rubrics
Assessment will be informal through teacher observation while students make predictions and will be formally assessed
by collecting the students journals and reading their predictions, ideas, hypotheses, any drawings, and so on to see that
students obtained a clear understanding of what the experiment demonstrated.
Lesson Reflection
Guidelines
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