Science
SCI.III.2.3
Grade: 6
Strand III:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Life Science
Standard 2:
Organization of Living Things - All students will investigate and
explain how living things obtain and use energy
Benchmark 3:
Describe evidence that plants make and store food
Constructing and Reflecting
SCI.I.1.1 Generate scientific questions about the world based on observation.
SCI.I.1.3 Use tools and equipment appropriate to scientific investigations.
SCI.II.1.1 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, or data.
SCI.II.1.5 Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world.
Vocabulary / Key Concepts
Context
Process and products of food production and
transport:
• photosynthesis
• starch
• sugar
• oxygen
• carbon dioxide
• water
Plant food storage organs:
• potato
• onion
See III.2.MS.4 Use of food for energy
Starch storage in plants grown under different
conditions
Knowledge and Skills
Students have misconceptions about food energy.
Food provides the energy and raw materials
needed for cell functions. Plants go through a
special “food” making process called
photosynthesis.
Students will:
• Observe chloroplasts in special plant cells.
• Determine the location in specialized plant
cells where photosynthesis occurs.
• Explain that in photosynthesis certain raw
materials (CO2 + H2O) are taken in and
chemically combined to form new products
(sugar and oxygen).
• Recognize that the sun’s light energy is
converted and stored as chemical energy in
food. This food may be used immediately or
stored as starch for later use.
• Examine various food storage organs (e.g.
potatoes, onions, carrots).
Resources
Coloma Resources
See CO2 & O2 Meter for Lab Pros
Power Plant Booklet
Laser disk: Diversity of Life
Lab: Using Iodine solution to place on
various fruit and vegetables.
Other Resources:
• IL Institute of Tech – SMILE – Biology /
Botany – LOTS of lessons vetted and
posted by teachers – AWESOME!!
•
SDSU – How Does A Green Plant Grow?
– teacher materials and info. Excellent
resource!
•
Education World – Photosynthesis –
activities, web sites, lessons, images,
information and more – entertaining and
educational!!
•
National Geographic- integrated
ss/science lesson – Photosynthesis, Trees
and the Greenhouse Effect – excellent
opportunity to collaborate – Nice!
•
Franklin Institute – The Greenhouse Effect
in a Jar – activity / lab
•
Discovery School – Plant Pollination –
plant dissection lab and further info,
extensions, vocabulary and activities –
excellent lesson!
•
GrowLab – National Gardening
Association
ƒ p. 148-151 “The Eyes Have It”;
ƒ p. 39-40 “Basic Needs”;
ƒ p.74-77 “Plants As Food Makers”
•
Michigan Teacher Network Resources
•
•
The Budding Botanist – AIMS
Bill Nye: Plants, Food Web
Science Explosion: Cells, Plants
MDE New Directions Unit The Lives of
Plants
•
•
Resources (Continued)
Videoconferences Available
For more information, see
www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl or call Janine Lim
471-7725x101 or email
jlim@remc11.k12.mi.us
III.2.MS.3
Carnivorous Plants from Camden Children's
Garden
Photosynthesis from Camden Children's
Garden
Plants, Plants, Plants from the Indianapolis
Zoo
Space Farming from NASA Johnson Space
Center
Growing Together from Queens Botanical
Garden
6th Grade Science Curriculum
Technology Resources
III.2.MS.3 Describe evidence that plants make
and store food
Instruction
Assessment
Students will:
• Observe chloroplasts in special plant cells by looking
at plant leaves under a microscope.
• Draw a diagram of what they observe under the
microscope.
• Discuss their data and observations with others to
determine the location of specialized plant cells where
photosynthesis occurs.
The teacher will explain:
• During photosynthesis certain raw materials (CO2 +
H2O) are taken in and chemically combined to form
new products (sugar and oxygen).
• Raw materials come from the atmosphere (CO2 –
animals, H2O – water cycle) and are combined in the
chloroplasts.
Optional Assessment:
Students will respond to the following
scenario and justify their answers based on
their knowledge of the food-making process
and food storage organs of plants.
The agricultural company Potatoes R Us claims
that growing potatoes in a high CO2 atmosphere
will produce bigger crops. If potatoes are grown
under two different concentrations of CO2, then
what is the best evidence to determine which
potato plants are making and storing more
food?
A. Amount of CO2 produced by plants
B. Size of potatoes
In order to develop an understanding of how plants store
food, students will examine various food storage organs
(e.g. potatoes, onions, carrots). They will conduct a
simple iodine/starch test to discover that the storage
organ is a vessel which plants use to store food energy.
Then, students will participate in a guided discussion of
the food storage organs:
1. What happens to a food storage organ in your
cupboard? (gets smaller, starts to grow sprouts,
develops brown spots)
2. Why is this happening? (losing water, growing roots,
decomposing – chemical change)
3. Where is it getting the energy to grow sprouts? (from
the food energy stored within the cells of the storage
organ)
Students will design an investigation to test their
hypothesis about what is happening to their potato, carrot
or onion as it ages.
Follow-up with a discussion and presentation of data from
the investigations.
End the lesson with a “Did You Know”… Native
Americans in South and Central America first cultivated
Many tuber plants, like the potato. One of these plants
has erroneously been called the Irish Potato. Its fried
version is called French Fries. Ask the students to talk
about what observations they can make from this
interesting story.
C. Amount of oxygen used by plants
D. How long it takes for seeds to
germinate
Select the best answer. Write a letter to the
company, Potatoes R US, citing at least two
pieces of scientific evidence that would support
your answer.
(Give students rubric before activity.)
Scoring Rubric:
Criteria: Correctness of answer:
Apprentice -Selects correct answer (B, size of
potatoes).
Basic -Selects correct answer (B, size of
potatoes).
Meets -Selects correct answer (B, size of
potatoes).
Exceeds -Selects correct answer (B, size of
potatoes).
Criteria: Accuracy of justification:
Apprentice -Fails to give an accurate reason
for that answer.
Basic -Gives only one accurate scientific
reason to justify that answer.
Meets -Gives two accurate scientific reasons to
justify that answer.
Exceeds -Gives several detailed scientific
reasons to justify that answer.
Teacher Notes:
“Plants use the energy in light to make sugars out of carbon dioxide and water. This food can be used immediately for
fuel or materials or it may be stored for later use.” (BSL) Plants store food for later use in roots, stems and seeds.
Some of the food they make is also stored in fruits, which are used to attract animals that carry the seeds (inside the
fruits) to other locations where they grow into new plants. Fruits and seeds are produced from flowers, as the result of
sexual reproduction similar to that in animals. Seeds carry the embryo, which, upon germination, grows into a new
plant.(JCISD)
The heredity benchmark that deals with reproduction in animals (as well as plants) – III.3.MS.1 – does not ask students
to explain the details of the reproductive system in animals in the same way that this “life cycle of a flowering plant”
benchmark does. Where this plant benchmark requires students to name the process of egg and sperm cells uniting
(fertilization), the heredity benchmark does not; where this plant benchmark names several reproductive parts of plants
(ovary, embryo) the heredity benchmark does not – nor does the benchmark about systems and processes in animals.
Its focus is not so much on the parts of each system as what the system’s function is and how it works with other
systems.
(JCISD)
Focus Questions
How do plants obtain food?
How do new plants form?
In terms of reproduction, how is a fern different from a rose?