Time to check in on our seeds! Everyone brought their bean seeds back to class so we could compare the growth and discuss what we observed. The students were all excited to share what their seeds were doing, and we realized that the few that hadn't sprouted were random and did not correlate with which direction they were put into the bag. The seeds knows which way to send the roots and the stem no matter what direction it is facing. We also saw that seeds do not need dirt to sprout, but we discussed how the nutrients stored in the seed will eventually be used up and the plant will then need the extra nutrients it gets from the ground. Now, the kids can plant their beans at home! Then, it was time to learn about photosynthesis. I had the students fill out a K-W-L chart: What they KNOW, what they WANT to learn, and then, after we watched a short video and discussed, what they LEARNED. We had some good questions in the Want to Learn column, such as "Could people ever evolve to perform photosynthesis?" and "What part of the sunlight do the plants use?" After our discussion, it was time to model the photosynthesis equation. Each student was given a set of beads in three colors representing the atoms that are required for photosynthesis. They used pipe cleaners to create molecules of CO2 and H2O and we talked about how this is the air and water that the plants take in through the leaves and roots. They drew the chloroplasts on their "leaf" bag, put the molecules into the bag, and held them up to the sun. Then, because the bags aren't actually magic ;), they got to be the energy and broke apart the molecules to reform Glucose! I gave them both the formula and a diagram to follow so they were able to make a model of a glucose molecule, just like the plant would do during photosynthesis.
They quickly found that once they'd made glucose, there were a lot of oxygen beads left--which is why plants give off O2 and why we can breath--an important by-product of the reaction for sure! Hopefully doing hands-on modeling of the whole process helped them understand the process a little better. Videos: The Amoeba Sisters Photosynthesis This is the one we watched in class in case anyone wants to review again. Photosynthesis from Bozeman Science Another, longer, overview oh the process. The Most Amazing Thing About Trees Not related to photosynthesis, but another video that points out just how incredible plants are! Activities: Photosynthesis demonstration--check out this video to see how you can observe photosynthesis.
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May 2020
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