Courtenay Middle SchoolCreated by Joni Denroche April 2005. All rights reserved.

Life Cycle Unit1. Go to the Science Central site.

2. Read about the three different types of sciences: Earth Science, Life Science and Physical Science.

3. List what type of science that you think that we are studying when we look into the world of food webs, life cycles, plant and human reproduction?

Write the type of science and the definition on your word document.

Give this document the title “Life Science” and save it under the folder titled “You and the Cycle of Life”

Part OneHow Ecosystems Work

1. We will study lots of things this unit – food webs, life cycle of plants and animals and the role of heredity to name a few……

Go to the following site: http://www.quia.com/dir/sci/

This site is a commercial site that requires a student to login and provide a password. You need to change it.

http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/5_cool/galapagos/g45_eco.html

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwepecosystems.htm

2. Click on #15 – How Ecosystems Work

3. Click on the LIST OF TERMS at the bottom of the page.

4. Cut and copy the list of terms to your word document. Give this list a title: “Vocabulary – Life Cycle Unit”

5. Your task is to create a study guide of vocabulary terms. You may print a copy of the terminology from the web site. Cut out the term and place the matching definition on cue cards.

6. Study the terms at home.

7. Practice your knowledge of the terms by clicking on the “Matching” Game from the above web site.

  To play this game you simply have to click on the word and then click on the matching definition. If you are correct a star will appear on both cards! Too hard?? Click on answers – read the answers and then return to the game and try to answer the questions again….it is a good memory builder and it is good for your knowledge of the vocabulary words.

8. Write down on your word document how you did – give this a title “Game Results”. How did you like the game? Did you learn from it? Has your understanding of the terms improved?

9. Return to the menu. Click on the FLASHCARDS game. Play this game and write down your results on your word document.

Part 2The Food Chain

1. Find the definition of the word “ecosystem” in your textbook and write it in a new word document.

Give this the title “The Food Chain.”

Save it in the folder You and the Cycle of Life

2. Go to the Science Bob archives for food webs and food chains

3. Write down on a word document the definition of “Food Chain”.

4. Go to Planet Pals Food Chain

5. Scroll down to the Food Chain and make a copy of the food chain on a separate piece of paper.

Title this “The Food Chain” and at the bottom of the page write the definition of Food Chain and the URL address for this site. (http://www._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.com/_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.html)

6. Discuss with your teacher what the different terms on this diagram mean and how they work together.

Part ThreeThe Food Web

1. Return to Science Bob archives for food webs and food chains.

2. Write down on a new word document the definition of “Food Web”.

3. Go to Fun With Food Webs (by Harcourt School Publishers).

4. Try each one of the Food Webs - it is FUN! Ask if you need help!!

5. Write down in your word document what you learned about food webs! Try to use your vocabulary words!!

(This is an example of what you could have written down)

The Food WebAll energy on the Earth comes from the Sun. Things such as plants

and blue-green algae are called producers. They take in the sun's energy, and change the solar energy into chemical energy or food through the process of photosynthesis.

Animals are consumers. Herbivores and omnivores eat plants and use the chemical energy they provide. They are called primary consumers. Carnivores and omnivores eat herbivores and thereby get energy indirectly from plants. They are called secondary consumers. Decomposers such as fungi and beetles break down organic materials and the energy cycle continues as plants use the nutrients in the soil to help them grow. We call this interdependence among plants and animals a food web or food chain. Scientists prefer the term food web because it emphasizes the many relationships that exist among plants and animals.

Part FourGrowth and Development

 1.  Start a new word document and save it under the title Life Cycle of

Butterfly and place it in the folder “You and the Cycle of Life”.

2.  Go to your textbook and look up the term “Life Cycle” Write this down on your word document.

 3.  Go to the following web site:http://www.memphis-schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/

branan_butterfly.htm 4.  Click on the word “Process”

5.  We will be learning about the life cycle of the butterfly … click on the picture of the caterpillar with the word “Challenge.”

6.  The butterfly goes through 4 stages in life – it is called a “metamorphosis”

7.  Write the definition of “metamorphosis” on your word document.

8.  Click on Butterfly Life Cycle Printout.

9.  Color this printout carefully and add it to your written notes.

10.  Click on Butterfly Life Cycle: Label Me Printout. Try to fill in the blanks – do not write on it though – keep it for practice (You can make a rough copy of the answers – just click on the “answer” button!

11. Click on “Butterfly Anatomy and Life Cycle” – try to answer these on your own with the use of the information on the web site. When you have completed it go to the answers and see how you did!

Part Five The Life Cycle of the Plant

Part A – Flower Power One of the greatest stories in botany is the story of the flower.

Flowers help with reproduction in plants. Through flowers and some animal helpers, plants exchange the pollen that carries their genetic information. The pollen germinates the ovules in the flower that grow into seeds. This exchange of information is vital to the evolutionary success of plants. You can made a carrot continue to grow by putting the stem into water. It will soon grow new leaves and roots (this is ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION)

Asexual reproduction means that a plant can create a new plant from itself. Many plants will grow from cuttings, roots, tubers and leaves, but these plants are all genetically identical to their "parent" plant.

It is only when plants grow from seeds do they combine the characteristics of two "parent" plants. This is called “SEXUAL REPRODUCTION” when it takes two plants to make a new “baby plant”. Over time, the descendants of many parents may combine the successful traits of their ancestors. It is by manipulating this process that some people have developed modern domestic plants from wild plants.

1. In your own words – write down what “asexual reproduction” in plants means.

2. In your own words – write down what “sexual reproduction” in plants means

  Parents Heredity Organism  

Asexual Reproduction

Only one parent

Identical to Parent

Usually in single organisms. Some plants use this (ex. strawberry plants).

Sexual Reproduction

Two parents

50% of characteristics from each parent

Usually in plants and animals and most multicellular organisms.

 

Part B – What's My Part?

When there is a big wind, it is the roots of the plants that keep them anchored in the ground. When it is really hot – it is the roots that suck up the water from the soil and sends the water up the stem or truck and up to the leaves.

There are two different kinds of roots:- fibrous roots which are thin and have many strands, and - tap roots which are very thick.

Bean plants have fibrous roots.

Tap roots are used as food storage for a plant as well as an anchor and water finder. Some tap roots are carrots, parsnips and beets. We actually eat the roots of these plants!

The stem is like a plant's spine and keeps it standing up tall so the plant can get the sunlight it needs. Stems are also like straws pulling water up through a plant. People can eat the stems of some plants, just like we can eat certain roots. We eat celery, asparagus, broccoli, rhubarb, sugar cane and potatoes (which are underground stems not roots).

Plants have a chemical called chlorophyll that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into the materials a plant needs to survive. This process occurs in the leaves of the plant. The leaves can be considered to be "food factories".

PART C – The Connection

Life on Earth can be divided into three categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. Consumers must get their food from an outside source (humans eat plants and animals). Plants are producers, which means that they make the food they need to survive.

Plants have a chemical called chlorophyll that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into the materials a plant needs to survive. This process occurs in the leaves of the plant. The leaves can be considered to be "food factories".

Because of the need for sunlight, plants are phototropic. They will grow toward a light source in order to get the light needed for the process of photosynthesis to occur.

Below you will find pictures of a flower in different stages of reproduction.

1. Copy this picture on a new word file and then print the picture.

3. Label the parts of the flower and the stages of reproduction. (You may use your textbook.)

4. Is this asexual or sexual reproduction – and how do you know?

The Scientific Principle

The job of the flower is to make seeds for the plant. To do this, flowers must exchange pollen. Pollen is produced on the stamen of a flower (which students may identify on the chart or on their bloom). To produce seeds, the pollen from the stamen of one flower must somehow move to the pistil of another flower.

5. Brainstorm and write down on paper the ways that pollen might move or be moved from flower to flower.

Answer: Flowers are pollinated by the wind or by animals that carry pollen from flower to flower. Animals do not set out to pollinate plants, but they distribute pollen in the act of gathering nectar from flowers. Nectar is a sugary, sticky liquid that is usually found in the center of a flower. Animals that gather nectar include birds (humming birds), insects (bees, flies, butterflies, wasps), and bats.

6. Think about the best way to attract insects (or other pollinators). Students should think about times that they have observed gatherings of insects.

Answer: In reality, insects and other pollinators are attracted by the smell, color, shape and patterns of flower petals.

7. What kinds of smells attract bees? What kinds of smells attract flies? (Some flowers do produce a smell much like rotting meat.) Why do the students think that flowers are often brightly colored?

Answer: To attract the attention of pollinators. When a pollen grain is deposited on a pistil, it sends a microscopic pollen tube through the style and the ovary wall. When the pollen comes in contact with an ovule (egg) in the ovary, a seed is formed and the flower's job is done.

8. What do you think happens to a flower after the ovules have been pollinated ?

Answer: The petals drop off because the flower no longer needs to attract pollinators. The ovary protects the seeds until they are ready to sprout. Some ovaries grow hard coats and others swell to protect the seeds inside. Any part of a plant that contains seeds is actually a swollen ovary.

9. What kind of seed bearing plant parts (fruits) can you think of?

Answer: Apples, cantaloupe, ….

Bonus Assignment10. Have the students design a flower of their own. They should design

the size, color and odor of their flower to attract a specific animal. (Some flowers are pollinated by the wind and are shaped and colored differently). You might choose a fanciful animal to illustrate the concept of pollination. For example, what shape or odor would a flower need to attract a dog or cat as a pollinator? What might keep the flower from being eaten rather than pollinated? Make sure your flower has all of the necessary parts to complete the flower's job.  

WOW – TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!

Check out the NatureWorks site to learn more and to test your knowledge. Have fun!