Plant and Animal Life Cycles Student Activity Book Name
Contents Getting Started 3-4 Starting Seeds 5 Parts of a Seed 6 Germination Bags 7-8 See How They Grow 9 Flowers 10 Fruits and Vegetables 11 Mold Garden 12-13 Plant Needs 14-18 Milkweed Bugs 19-20 Mealworms 21-22 Darkling Beetle Life Cycle 23-25 Animal Needs 26 Comparing Plants & Animals 27 Glossary 28-30 Welcome to Our Website! You ll Find: Student Resources Teacher Resources About ESP Unit Video Support Animal Sites Monthly Activities Measure It Interactive Whiteboard Activities and much more... www.espsciencetime.org A resource for students and teachers of elementary science sponsored by The Elementary Science Program, Monroe 2 Orleans BOCES 2
Getting Started 1. What living things have I touched today? 2. What do I know about living things? 3. What do I want to know about living things? 3
Getting Started (cont.) 4. What have I learned about living things? 5. Properties are the things that can be observed about an object. What are _ some of the properties of all living things? 4
Starting Seeds One way to learn about plants is to grow them. You will grow a pea plant and a bean plant. You will observe the life cycle of each plant. Follow the steps below to plant a cup with pea seeds and a cup with bean seeds. 1. Use a sharp pencil to make 3 holes in the side of a Styrofoam cup. The holes should be just above the bottom of the cup. 2. Mark the side of the cup with your initials. Mark the cup with the date you plant the seeds. 3. Fill the cup with moist potting soil to 1 cm from the top. 4. Gently pack the soil into the planter cup. 5. Push two pea seeds or two bean seeds into the soil. They should be planted twice as deep as they are thick. Cover the seeds with soil. 6. Water until a few drops comes out of the holes near the bottom of the cup. 7. Place your planter cup near light. 8. Predict when you think your seeds will begin to grow? 9. Where do you think seeds get their food to start growing? 5
Parts of a Seed 1. In the box, draw what you think is inside the seed. 2. Open one of the lima bean seeds. In the box, draw what you observe inside the seed. 3. Label the embryo, the seed coat, and the cotyledons in your drawing. 4. What is the job or function of each part of the seed? seed coat embryo cotyledon 6
Germination Bags Make a germination bag to observe seeds as they start to grow. 1. Unfold a paper towel. Put it inside the plastic bag. 2. Measure 4 cm from the bottom of the bag. Mark that spot. 3. Put 4 or 5 staples in a row across the bag 4 cm from the bottom (see picture below). Germination Bag Paper Towel Seeds Staples 4 cm 4. Put one of each seed into the bag (see picture above). 5. Measure 25 ml of treated water in the small plastic cup. Pour the water into the bag. Be careful not to spill the water. 6. Close the top of the bag. 7. Write your name and the date on a piece of tape. Place the tape on your germination bag. 8. Hang the bag in the classroom where you can look at it every day. 7
Germination Bags (cont.) 9. As the seeds germinate and the young plants grow, draw what you see below. Label each drawing with the date it was drawn. 10. Write about what you saw as the seeds germinated and grew. 8
See How They Grow Draw your plant to show how it changes. Measure how tall it grows. Date Height Date Height Date Height Date Height 9
Flowers Draw your plant when it has flowers. Show how the flowers change. Measure how tall the plant has grown. Date Date Height Height Date Height Date Height What do the flowers on our plants become? 10
Fruits and Vegetables Draw a picture of a fruit. Draw a picture of a vegetable. Finish each sentence. Fruit I know this is a fruit because Vegetable I know this is a vegetable because 11
Mold Garden 1. Draw the plant pieces in the Petri dish. Date 2. Draw what the plant pieces look like two days later. Date 3. Discuss what you observe with your group. Write about what you observe. 12
Mold Garden (cont.) 4. Draw what the plant pieces look like in the Petri dish on four other days. Date Date Date Date 5. Write about what happened to the pieces of the plant. 6. How does decomposition help new plants grow? 13
Plant Needs 1. What change is made to Plant Number 1? 2. Predict what will happen to Plant Number 1. 3. Plant Number 1 Before After 14
Plant Needs (cont.) 4. What change is made to Plant Number 2? 5. Predict what will happen to Plant Number 2. 6. Plant Number 2 Before After 15
Plant Needs (cont.) 7. What change is made to Plant Number 3? 8. Predict what will happen to Plant Number 3. 9. Plant Number 3 Before After 16
Plant Needs (cont.) 10. What change is made to Plant Number 4? 11. Predict what will happen to Plant Number 4. 12. Plant Number 4 Before After 17
Plant Needs (cont.) 13. Conclusion: Write a paragraph to explain what plants need to grow well. 18
Milkweed Bugs 1. Draw a milkweed bug egg. 2. Draw a milkweed bug nymph after the eggs hatch, one week later, two weeks later and three weeks later. Date Date Date Date 3. How many legs does the milkweed bug have? 4. How do milkweed bugs know what is around them? 5. Draw what the milkweed bug looks like after its final molt. Adult Milkweed Bug 19
Milkweed Bugs (cont.) 6. How do milkweed bugs in the class culture get: air? food? water? right temperature? protection from other animals? 7. Cut out the pictures of the life cycle of the milkweed bug. Paste the pictures in the correct order below. egg young nymph older nymph adult 20
Mealworms 1. Draw a mealworm. 2. How many legs does it have? 3. How do mealworms know what is around them? 4. How many segments does a mealworm have? 5. How do mealworms in the class culture get: air? food? water? right temperature? protection from other animals? 21
Mealworm (cont.) 6. Write a paragraph on how a mealworm and a milkweed bug nymph are alike and different. 22
Darkling Beetle Life Cycle 1. Draw what a mealworm turns into. This is called the pupa. 2. Does the pupa act the same as the mealworm? Explain. What do you think the pupa is doing? 23
Darkling Beetle Life Cycle (cont.) 3. Draw what a pupa turns into. This is the adult darkling beetle. 4. How does the adult darkling beetle meet its needs for: air? food? water? right temperature? protection from other animals? 24
Darkling Beetle Life Cycle (cont.) 5. Cut out the pictures of the life cycle of the darkling beetle. Paste the pictures in the correct order below. egg larva adult pupa 25
Animal Needs Research the needs of an animal. Complete the chart below. Air Animal: Food Water Temperature Protection 26
Comparing Plants and Animals The plants and animals in our classroom are listed on the top of the chart. A nonliving thing is also listed. Read the words on the left hand side of the chart. Write yes or no in each box to show if the plant, animal, or nonliving thing has or needs the item on the left hand side of the chart. Bean Pea Milkweed Bug Darkling Beetle Nonliving Thing Larva Nymph Pupa Adult Egg Seed Young plant Needs food Makes food Needs water Needs air Moves Shows growth Has stages 27
Glossary Abdomen - the last, and the usually largest, of the three portions of an insect s body. It begins after the thorax. Adaptation - a property of a plant or animal which helps it to stay alive. Adult - a plant or animal which is completely grown, usually able to produce young. Air - the mix of gases that makes up the earth s atmosphere. Animal - a living thing made up of many cells, which does not make its own food and is able to sense and react to things around it. Complete metamorphosis -the four stage life cycle of some insects. They gradually grow by going through the egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Control - the part of an experiment that stays the same and can be compared to changed parts of the experiment. Cotyledon - the part of a seed used to store food for the plant to begin to grow. Dead - no longer alive. Decompose - rot or decay, to change into smaller parts or simpler chemicals. Development - getting more parts, growing up. Egg - the first life stage of an animal. Embryo - a young plant or animal which has just started to develop. Experiment - a test of an idea using observations. Flower - the part of the plant that makes fruit with one or more seeds. Food - plant or animal material that gives a living thing energy and raw material for growing. Fruit - something that grows on a plant that has seeds inside. Function - the main purpose or job of a part or life stage of a plant or animal. Fungus - (plural: fungi) a member of one of the kingdoms of living things which includes mushrooms, molds and mildews. Most fungi get food by decomposing dead plants or animals. Generation - plants or animals living at the same time and of the same age. Germination -to start developing or growing. 28
Glossary (cont.) Growth - the process in which a plant or animal gets larger. Head - the front part of an animal with parts used for eating and sensing. Incomplete metamorphosis - the life cycle of some insects that gradually grow up without going through a pupa stage. Larva - (plural: larvae) a wingless, often worm-like feeding and growing stage of an insect such as a fly or beetle. Leaf - a part of a plant that takes in air and where food is made. Legs - the body parts of an animal used to move on the ground. Life cycle - the changes in form plants and animals go through from young to adult. Life need - something a living thing must have to stay alive, for example: air or water. Life span - the length of time a plant or animal lives. Living - being able to grow and to change because of what is nearby. Metamorphosis - a change in body as a living thing grows from egg to adult. Mold - a kind of fungus growing on plant or animal material, usually in damp conditions. Nonliving - something which is not alive and has never been alive, for example: a rock or a pencil sharpener. Nymph - a young stage of some insects which looks like the adult but does not have wings completely developed and is not able to reproduce. Observe - to watch somebody or something very closely, especially for scientific purposes. Overcrowding - too many occupants (plants) for an area. Plant - a member of one of the kingdoms of living things which includes ferns, mosses, pines and flowering plants. Green plants make their own food using air, water, and energy from sunlight. Property - something that can be observed about a living or nonliving thing. Pupa - (plural: pupae) a resting stage of some insects in which the larva changes to an adult. Root - the part of a plant that anchors it to the ground and which takes in water. 29
Glossary (cont.) Seed - the first stage of many plants. Seed coat - the protective skin or coating of a seed. Senses - ways that a living thing knows what is happening nearby, for example: hearing, seeing. Soil - the mixture of dead plants and rock particles which many plants grow in. Sprout - to start to grow. Stages - steps or chapters in the life of a plant or animal, for example: egg, larva. Stem - a thin part of a plant which holds up the leaves and carries water and other material between the roots and the leaves. Tendril - a slim, thread-like part of a stem of a climbing plant that attaches to objects to help support that plant as it grows. Thorax - the middle region of the body of an insect between the head and the abdomen, part of the insect body where the legs and wings attach. Variable - changes in an experiment, made by the experimenter or what is observed. Vegetable - edible plant or plant part, which may include edible roots, stems, leaves or bulbs. Water - a common liquid on Earth, which is needed by plants and animals. Young plant - a plant that has not reached the adult stage. 30
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