Plants/Ecology
Seeds
Use a dichotomous key to identify seeds
Germinate seeds in a plastic bag and transplant into a water bottle (you provide the used water bottle).
Adaptations that seeds have that help them be dispersed
Seed Dispersal: looking at the relationship between plants and animals
Engineering: Create a Wind Seed Dispersal that carries seeds the furthest.
Roots & Stems
Learn the parts of a root and stem
Looking at the difference between monocots and dicots
Vascular tissue lab
HW assignment Sequoia Tree: Looking at the parts of a tree and answering the questions in your packet.
Leaves & Photosynthesis
Study the parts to the leaf as they pertain to photosynthesis
What atoms are involved in photosynthesis
Ecology
This unit will be covered within the plants that are PRODUCING food for all biomes. This unit will begin after we cover leaves.
Biomes
Learn about the different biomes with Producers at the bottom of each trophic level.
A group project (google slides) that looks at Food Webs and the producers that form the foundation of any food web
Salmon run: looking at how bears and Salmon are a part of multiple biomes.
Flowers
Learn the parts of a flower
Group Flower project. Students will create a cross section of a flower. Please do not buy any materials. Look around the house for items like cotton swabs (represent the anther and filament) and tissue or wrapping paper (represent petals). Be creative but don't spend any money. If you are struggling with finding materials, come see me ahead of time and I can help! The rubric can be found in your science notebook. You will work on this project in class either individually or with a partner.
Fertilization leads to Genetics
Movies
How to Grow a Planet: Life from Light. The beginning of this movie is used as an introduction to bacteria and their importance to providing oxygen to Earth. This movie will start discussions that provide a foundation for the units to come as well as High School NGSS standards. The middle of the movie will lead us into the plant unit. The end leads us to a discussion on Plants and dinosaurs. This is a 3 part series. The first part will be shown entirely, the other two episodes sections will be covered.
Seed Dispersal short videos.
Quizzes/ Unit Exam
There will be small quizzes that cover
Intro to plants & seeds: 15 multiple choice questions covering definitions from the Introduction to Plants notes (powerpoint from class), as well as the structure and functions of the parts to a seed. There is also a short answer section to this quiz that pertains to class discussions on seeds. Flashcards can be found below for the multiple choice section.
Roots and Stems Quiz: 25 multiple choice questions covering the structure and function of roots and stems. There will also be a few questions from class labs and discussions. Flashcards can be found below.
Leaves and Flowers: 15 multiple choice questions covering the leaves, pollination, and the parts to a flower. Also on this quiz are short answer questions covering discussions and labs from class.
Some years (depending on the February break) the Leaves and Flowers are split up into 2 separate smaller quizzes. The leaf pop quiz would cover leaves and photosynthesis. Flashcards for leaves are posted below.
A large Unit test will cover the NGSS standards pertaining to plants, photosynthesis and ecology.
58 Multiple Choice questions
Most of these questions will be previewed in class. IF YOUR REVIEW IS COMPLETED you get to participate in this activity where you will see most of the test and answer the questions with a partner of your choice.
There are also around 10 questions that pertain to labs, discussions or movies viewed in class.
22 pictures on a google form (taken at the beginning of class on the Chromebooks)
pictures or adaptations of different seeds- is it dispersed by wind, water, animal or expulsion
pictures of organisms - is it a producer, consumer or decomposer
pictures of interactions of animals- are they predator/prey, mutually beneficial or competitive
Flashcards
NGSS
MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Lessons on how grass affected the evolution of the horse:
MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
MS-LS4-2. Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
This unit provides the foundation of knowledge needed to cover these NGSS standards in High School.
HS-LS1-5. Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
HS-LS2-4. Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
HS-LS2-5