PlantsWeek 4

Directions1.Prepare your desk for science.• Leave your plant quiz (signed) on your desk.

2.Use voice level 2 (conversation) to discuss this question: What is an adaptation? What would happen if plants didn’t adapt? Why is this important to the survival of a plant species?

If you have OLD homework or quizzes to turn in, please put them on the desk up front.

Targets & Warm Up

Targets:Students will discover how plants adapt to various environments.

Warm Up: What biomes did we discuss yesterday? What plant adaptations did your group discover as you read yesterday?

Adaptation

A change that living things go through to fit better with their environment.

Biome

A biome is a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment.

Each biome consists of many ecosystems whose communities have adapted to the small differences in climate and the environment inside the biome.

Biomes

Plant Text VocabularyDense• Very thick; so thick that it is difficult or impossible to

see throughVegetation• The plants of an area or a region; plant lifeCanopy• The upper (top) layer of the forestMoisture• Presence of a liquid, especially water, often in small

amounts

Your Task1. There will be 4 groups of 5 to 6 people.2. Each group will rotate from station to station.3. The group will read (out loud) the text about

how plants adapt to a specific biome.4. After reading, each group will discuss the

adaptations that they read about.

Table of Contents

Date Title PagePlant Adaptations 9

Once you are finished with the Table of Contents, go to page 9 and add the title and date to the top of the page.

Desert Plants• Capture water with special roots and leaves• Use leaves to get water• Store water in roots, leaves, stems, or fruits• Change size and texture of leaves to hold on to

moisture

Desert Plants

Tundra Plants

• Grow close together and to the ground

• Able to grow under snow• Carry out photosynthesis

in cold temperatures• Produce flowers quickly• Have small leaves to hold

on to moisture

Tundra Plants

moss

lichen

Tropical Rainforest Plants• Some plants below the canopy can grow in the

shade• Some plants below the canopy work to reach

the sunlight• Example: Strangler fig

Tropical Rainforest Plants:Strangler Fig

• Seeds are deposited on branches of host trees

• Seeds sprout and send a long root to the ground

• Root gets bigger, branches and leaves grow up and create a canopy that blocks sunlight from the host tree

• More roots are sent out and wrap around the host to strangle and kill it!

Tropical Rainforest Plants:Strangler Fig

Deciduous Forest

• When it gets colder, the tree closes off the area between the stem and the tree to prevent damage to the leaves.

• The leaves fall off and then grow back when it is warm.

Deciduous TreesAbscission: the process by which a plant drops one or more of its parts, such as a leaf, fruit, flower, or seed

Plant Adaptation Questions

1. Why do plants need to adapt? What causes a plant’s adaptation?

2. How are plant adaptions in the tundra and desert similar? How are they different?

THINK QUESTION: Natural selection says, “Only the fittest survive.” – What does this mean? How does this relate to plant adaptations?

Targets (Revisited)

Targets:Students will discover how plants adapt to various environments.

PlantsMangrove treeBarrel cactus

Water lilyOrchid

BromeliadAloe plant

CattailBirch tree

Pitcher plantVenus flytrap

Fir treePalm treeOcotillo

Bengal bambooBougainvilleaArctic moss

Labrador teaWhite oak tree

Homework

Subject Homework Due DateScience None None