Plants
Week 4
Directions
1.Prepare your desk for science.
2.Use voice level 2 (conversation) to discuss this
question: How (not why) are plants able to adapt
and change or evolve over time?
If you have OLD homework or quizzes to turn
in, please put them on the desk up front.
Targets & Warm Up
Targets:
Students will discover how plants adapt to various
environments.
Warm Up: Open your notebooks to page 9. What
adaptations did we record yesterday in our science
notebooks? What biome is each adaptation for?
Adaptation
A change that living things go through to fit
better with their environment.
Biomes
Desert Plants
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Capture water with special roots and leaves
Use leaves to get water
Store water in roots, leaves, stems, or fruits
Change size and texture of leaves to hold on to
moisture
Desert Plants
Tundra Plants
• Grow close together and
to the ground
• Able to grow under snow
• Carry out photosynthesis
in cold temperatures
• Produce flowers quickly
• Have small leaves to hold
on to moisture
Tundra Plants
moss
lichen
Tropical Rainforest Plants
• Some plants below the canopy can grow in the
shade
• Some plants below the canopy work to reach
the sunlight
• Example: Strangler fig
Tropical Rainforest Plants:
Strangler Fig
• Seeds are deposited on
branches of host trees
• Seeds sprout and send a long
root to the ground
• Root gets bigger, branches
and leaves grow up and
create a canopy that blocks
sunlight from the host tree
• More roots are sent out and
wrap around the host to
strangle and kill it!
Tropical Rainforest Plants:
Strangler Fig
Deciduous Forest
• When it gets colder, the
tree closes off the area
between the stem and
the tree to prevent
damage to the leaves.
• The leaves fall off and
then grow back when it is
warm.
Deciduous Trees
Abscission: the process by which a plant drops
one or more of its parts, such as a leaf, fruit,
flower, or seed
Extreme Environments Video
Plant Adaptation Questions
1. Why do plants need to adapt? What causes
a plant’s adaptation?
2. How are plant adaptations from the various
biomes similar? How are they different?
THINK QUESTION: Natural selection says, “Only
the fittest survive.” – What does this mean?
How does this relate to plant adaptations?
Homework Assignment
Plant Choices
Mangrove tree
Barrel cactus
Water lily
Orchid
Bromeliad
Aloe vera
Cattail
Birch tree
Pitcher plant
Venus flytrap
Fir tree
Palm tree
Ocotillo (oh-co-ti-yo)
Bengal bamboo
Bougainvillea (boo-gan-veeya)
Arctic moss
Labrador tea
White oak tree
Targets (Revisited)
Targets:
Students will discover how plants adapt to various
environments.
Homework
Subject
Homework
Due Date
Science Plant Adaptation wksht Monday 9-29
Plant Summative Test Tuesday 9-30
Extra time?
Rainforest Plants