Prairie Activity: Plant Adaptations
Objective
: Students will be able to identify and describe prairie plant parts
that show adaptation to
habitat
and environmental conditions.
Grade
levels : Elementary and junior high
Time
Required: 50 minutes
Museumlink Web sites:
Prairie
Ecosystems, Plants, Adaptations: https://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/prairie/htmls/
eco_adapt.html
Field Guide:
https://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/prairie/htmls/eco_fieldguide.html
Students
will read the Adaptations section of the Prairie Web module, and read about
plant adaptations
in their
science text or other science materials in the curriculum. Using real plants
and field guide
examples,
the teacher will guide the students through descriptions of plant parts and
how the parts are
adapted
to the soil, water, and temperature conditions in which they grow.
Motivation:
Class discussion of adaptations, using real plants if possible
Sample Discussion Questions:
What is
the size, shape, surface texture, and location of the leaves? (soft, fleshy,
dry, hard, thin, thick,
narrow,
round, at the base, along the stems) How does this relate to water retention
and survival in
drought
or fire?
What type
of flowers does the plant display? (many small blooms, clusters, large blossoms)
Does the
stalk bloom
from the bottom up or from the top down? Do the flowers attract insects? How?
What kind
of stems does the plant have? (height, thickness, surface texture). How does
this help the
plant survive
and reproduce?
How are
the seeds stored and dispersed in the plant? (if possible to see at this time
of year) How does
this promote
diversity?
Materials
:
prairie
plants (either in the field or in pots
field guide
(online or print)
worksheet
pencil
Prairie
Activity - Plant Adaptations- -page 1of 3