Living things & the processes of life - The processes of life - Living on Earth (Plants) - G14 - LT-C2.4

ISE 5-14 Curriculum Support Materials Overview advice

Group 14b exemplar Living things & the processes of life - Living on Earth (Plants) (Word)

1. Worksheet C25 (G) could be used here for labelling the main parts of the plant. The function of each part of the plant can be written in the box.

2. To show that the root system is needed to take up water and minerals you could simply take several small plants grown in light compost so that they can be unearthed and the root system clearly be seen.

Replant some of the plants in compost and nip off the roots of the others and replant. Watch to see how they grow.

A root system is also essential for anchorage.

A simple investigation to show this could be carried out using paper trees.

Make several paper trees consisting of a rolled up piece of sugar paper, Sellotaped into a roll about 1-2 cm diameter. They should be of four different lengths. Snip down around the roll at the top for several cm. to make branches. On the shortest of the trees leave the bottom as it is, on the next shortest make small snips about 1 cm long all the way around for roots, on the next make the cuts longer, say 4 cm and on the longest make them about 8 cm long.

Now ‘plant’ all the trees in a tray of sand, spreading out the ‘roots’ and burying them.

Ask the children to predict which trees are least likely to fall down in the wind. Use a hair drier from different distances to find out!

3. As an alternative, place some pale coloured flowers such as white carnations in a vase with water to which you have added a good amount of food colouring - most of a 38 ml bottle. Leave overnight and look at with the class on the following day. What has happened to the colour?

Note - Do not leave for too long as colour will fade.

This demonstrates to the children that water travels up the stems of plants.

humming bird A simple description could be given of the role of the flower as the organ of reproduction. Some are bright, colourful, scented etc in order to attract animals to the plant. The animals are given a reward of nectar - a sweet sugary liquid which they have to reach into the flower head to obtain. In doing this they inadvertently get covered in pollen which is then taken to the next flower where some is deposited and more picked up.

Pine - wind pollinated Wind pollinated flowers are not colourful or scented. They are dull, green. They have light pollen, easily carried by the wind and large stigma to catch the pollen.

The transported pollen fertilises the ovary in the next plant and ensures that cross pollination takes place.

Demonstrating that the leaves make food for the plant is difficult to demonstrate and explain. Suffice to say that the green colouring in the plant leaves and stem is a chemical called chlorophyll which has the ability to convert energy from sunlight, using carbon dioxide from air and water from the soil into food for the plant.