Lesson LEAFlet
Teaching/Learning Resources
Subject Area: Photosynthesis and Transpiration
Grade Level: 6th to 8th
Curriculum Integration: Science and Biology
Lesson Objectives:
- To observe the effect of light on plants. Illustrate the exchange of gases.
- To understand how green plants use the sun's energy to produce food through photosynthesis.
- To see that plants are part of many cycles.
Materials Required:
- Two or more six inch pots.
- Fifty or more pea seeds.
- Vermiculture soil mix (or potting soil).
- A sprinkler (a jar with holes poked in the lid).
- A dark area or a cabinet
- A glass bottle or jar
- pencils
- crayons
Lesson Outline:
INTRO: Plants provide a renewable source of food energy for many forms of
life. Green plants
utilize the sun's energy and the gases in the atmosphere to produce food through
photosynthesis
and exchange gases in the atmosphere in the associated process of transpiration.
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1.Have the class divide into small groups (if not conducting this
experiment as a demo.)
Have each student make an illustrated log of events for germination of
the seedings to
the end of the experiment.
2.Germinate pea seeds by placing them onto damp paper towels in a tray or
shallow dish
and covering them with warm tap water. Keep covering them with warm tap
water. Keep
covered with warm water and in a indirectly lit place. A "hook" should
appear in two to
three days. After the "hook" appears, the seeds are ready to be planted
in the pots.
3.Prepare two pots by placing paper towels as a lining for each pot. Fill
with the
vermiculite soil mixture up to 2 1/2 inches from the top.
4.Place the seeds carefully on top of mixture. Cover with 1/4 to 1/2 inches
of soil mix.
5.Sprinkle water over the top of the soil until the soil is well saturated.
6.Place one of the pots in a well lit place.
7.Place the other pot in the designated dark area and leave it completely
in the dark for one
week to ten days.
8.At the end of one week or ten days, remove the pot from the designated
dark area and
compare it with the pot of seedlings that were grown in the light.
9.Have the class discuss the differences and make a drawing to illustrate
the differences
between the two sets of seedlings.
10.Leave the pot that was in the dark in the light for a few days, and
compare the results.
11.Remove one seedling from each pot and compare the root structure of the
dark grown
seedlings and the light grown seedlings.
12.Place a glass bottle over one of the seedlings, and place it in the
sunlight.
13.Notice the condensation that occurs on the inside of the bottle. The
condensation is
water vapor being given off by the plant when it exchanges oxygen for
carbon dioxide.
(transpiration)
Extension Activities:
1.Take the class out to a grassy area on the school grounds. Dig up a
shovelful of grass
covered soil. Have the class examine the depth of the roots and their
structure. How do
they differ from the pea seedling roots? How does grass differ
physiologically from the
pea seedlings? (stems leaves, etc.) Do they have the same photosysnthetic
process?
2.Take the class to a treed or forested area. Compare the effect of light
on identical
seedlings growing in the shade of a tree and seedlings growing in
sunlight.
Submitted by:
Rachel Berry, Jason Gerle, Heather Hogue, and Paula Braendel
Composed by:
These lesson plans are the result of the work of the teachers who have
attended the Columbia Education Center's Summer Workshop. CEC is a consortium of
teacher from 14 western states dedicated to improving the quality of education
in the rural, western, United States, and particularly the quality of math and
science Education. CEC uses Big Sky Telegraph as the hub of their
telecommunications network that allows the participating teachers to stay in
contact with their trainers and peers that they have met at the Workshops.
For:
Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park
Send plans to:
Dr. Charles Elliott, Director
Educational Technology
Gannon University
109 University Square
Erie, PA 16541