Activity 6.1: Explaining Other Examples of Plants Growing, Moving, and Functioning (50 min)

Target Student Performance

Students develop integrated accounts of how other plants (Lodgepole pine, Spartina marsh grass, prickly pear cactus) grow, move and function through the processes of photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and biosynthesis.

Resources You Provide

(from previous lesson) 3.3 Plants in the Light and Dark Class Results 11 x 17 Poster
(from previous lesson) 3.5 Evidence-Based Arguments Tool for Plants

Resources Provided

Recurring Resources

Three Questions 11x17 Poster (1 per class)
Three Questions Handout (Color Version) (1 per student)
Three Questions Handout (BW Version) (1 per student)

Setup

Prepare several copies of each version of 6.1 Other Plants Readings, so that there is one for each student. Gather the class results poster and spreadsheet from Activity 3.3, as well as their completed copies of 3.5 Evidence-Based Arguments Tool for Plants. Prepare a computer and a projector to display the PPT.

Directions

1. Use the instructional model to show students where they are in the course of the unit.

Display slide 2 of the 6.1 Explaining Other Examples of Plants Moving and Growing PPT.

2. Review the ways in which plants use food.

Use Slides 3-5 of the PPT to review what students have learned about how plants use food.

Slide 3 reminds students that the unit is about all kinds of plants.
Slide 4 reminds students of structures that all plants have in common at different scales: cells that are made of molecules that are made of atoms.
Slide 5 reminds students that molecules can either be used for growth through biosynthesis or energy through cellular respiration.
Tell students that their explanations today will be to tell this whole story.

3. Have students complete the reading and corresponding explanation worksheet for one other plant.

Display slide 6 of the 6.1 Explaining Other Examples of Plants Growing and Moving PPT.

Give each student a copy of one of the 6.1 Other Plants Readings. About 1/3 of the students should read about each plant.
Have students complete the 6.1 Lodgepole Pine/Prickly Pear/Smooth Cordgrass Worksheet for the plant they read about.

Modifications: Students can work in pairs or groups with those who have the animal.

4. Have students who focused on the same plant form a group.

Display slide 7 of the 6.1 Explaining Other Examples of Plants Moving and Growing PPT

In their groups, have students discuss their answers and come to consensus about their explanations and answers to the questions.

5. Have students share about how their plant grows, moves, and functions.

Display slide 8 of the 6.1 Explaining Other Examples of Plants Moving and Growing PPT.

Decide how to have students share the explanation for their plant.
- Students who focused on the same plant can present to the whole class. They could make a poster to share.
- Students can form groups of three with students who focused on each of three plants.

6. Have students discuss the similarities and differences between the plants.

Display slide 9 of the 6.1 Explaining Other Examples of Plants Moving and Growing PPT.

Have a class discussion about the similarities and differences between the three plants. Students should recognize that the chemical changes are similar in each case and that the rules about atoms and energy always apply.

7. Have students revisit their initial ideas from Lesson 1.

Display slide 10. Have students look back at their initial ideas on 1.2 Expressing Ideas and Questions Tool for Plants Growing.

Ask them to share some of their initial ideas, their thinking about how their ideas have changed, and what their initial questions were.
Ask them how they would now answer their initial questions.

8. Have students revisit their data and unanswered questions from the Radish Investigation.

Display slide 11. Have students review their data from 3.3 Plants in the Light and Dark Class Results 11 x 17 Poster.

Have students review their evidence-based arguments and unanswered questions from their 3.5 Evidence-Based Arguments Tool for Plants.
Have them consider how they would now answer their unanswered questions.

Assessment

Use 6.1 Grading Lodgepole Pine/Prickly Pear Cactus/Spartina Worksheet to grade the explanation tools. Although the plants are different, the answers should be similar across all the plants.