A Day in the Forest
Riddle:
I am very
little. I can be different
colors. I grow tall. I
make plants. What am
I?
Answer: A seed.
—ANDREA P., THIRD GRADE
● Fruits and vegetables are edible parts of plants.
● In everyday language, fruits are usually those plant parts that taste sweet, particularly those we get from trees, such as apples, pears, peaches, oranges, and bananas.
● In scientific classification, however, sweetness is not the important factor. A vegetable is a root, stem, leaf, or flower of a plant. The fruit is the part of the plant that is a container for the seeds. To be even more specific, a fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant.
● Nuts, corn, wheat, tomatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash are really fruits.
Third grade Rio Vista - Seed and Fruit Investigation
Dissected snap peas and counted pods/seeds
found average was 7 pods
Dissected fruits and counted seeds
found out some were seedless - manmade
Explored using Pro-scope
Strawberry (students guessed quickly) Tomato (took students many guesses)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2277028/ItsbreakfastIncredible-close-images-everyday-foods-appetising.html
Reading Tree Cookies-
Center of a tree (heartwood) – send nutrients to the rest of
the of the tree
Sapwood (xylem)
Thin cambium layer
Phloem
Outer bark – protective layer
Narrow ring --> climate, weather, drought, frost
Stressors --> insects, diseases, disturbances
Scars --> insects, fire, machines, dead branch
Dendrochronology: “study of tree time”
*“Trees Grin” FREE App for Ipad*
auto play
personalize (record, rewrite)
highlighted words
I can be as tall as a
tree
Maybe as strong and
happy as a tree
I can be
Color changes: dark to light, light to dark --> differentiates seasons
during 1 year (1 ring)
1. We learn science through inquiry.
2. We learn science by collaboration.
3. We learn science over time.
F O C U S I N G Q U E S T I O N S
. What experiences, if any, have you had with planting seeds, indoors or outside?
. What do you think it means to be “alive”?
. What is the point of a class science exploration that takes days or weeks to complete?
.How does working with a partner or small group affect your learning experience?
.What is your reaction when you encounter earthworms? Have you ever handled a worm?
Practical animals
for the classroom
"During the elementary
grades, children build
understanding of
biological concepts
through direct
experience with living
things, their life cycles,
and their habitats."
—NATIONAL SCIENCE
EDUCATION STANDARDS
-Students in the 3rd grade class at Linda Vista sparked with excitement on the first day of school after seeing aquarium tanks in their new classroom. They were eager to find out what the aquariums were for, and found that they were going to raise craw fish for science studies later in the year. The students were very eager about new life additions to their classroom.
Owl Pellets
Owls eat things whole or in big chunks, which come from
their digestive system
BARF!!!!!
Rodents, bones, fur, hair, dirt, skulls, teeth
*Owl Pellet dissect Apps*
Jaw Bone and teeth
