activity 3: mystery plant adaptation - stem resource...
TRANSCRIPT
©2010.TheConcordConsortium,Inc. page1
Activity3:MysteryPlantAdaptation
Inthisactivity,studentspickupwheretheyleftoffattheendofActivity2.TheyreturntotheVirtual
GreenhousetoexaminethevariationinoffspringofanotherMysteryPlant.Again,studentsmoveplantstoflowerboxesthatmatchtheirneeds,butthistime,theystartwithadifferenttypeofplant.Finally,studentsplantoneplanttypeintheVirtualFieldandobservehowpopulationsofplantscanadaptto
newenvironmentsovermany,manygenerationsduetoinherentvariations.
LearningGoals
BigIdea3:OrganismsandTheirEnvironment
• Anorganismthrivesinspecificenvironmentsthatmatchitsspecificneeds.• Selectionbasedonwaterorsunlightwouldleadapopulation(notanindividual)ofplantsto
migratefromoneareatoanother.
BigIdea7:IntraspecificDifferences
• Individualsofthesamespeciesmaydiffer.• Notalloffspringfromthesameparentslookalike,evenwithrespecttoinheritedtraits.
BigIdea8:Adaptation/Evolution
• Speciesareadaptedtotheirenvironmentsandspeciesadapttochangesintheirenvironment.Iftheenvironmentchangesonlycertainspeciessurvive.
• Organismswithtraitsbestsuitedtotheirenvironmenthavebetterchancesofsurvival.
BigIdea9:HeritabilityofTraits
• Offspringinheritsome,butnotall,oftheirtraitsfromtheirparents.• Therearedifferencesbetweentraitsthatareinheritedandtraitsthatarenot.
BigIdea10:Reproduction
• Organismshaveoffspring.• Withoutreproduction,aplantoranimalspeciescannotcontinue.
BigIdea11:Descentwithmodification
• Speciesevolvefromcommonancestors.• Differentspeciescouldarisefromonespeciesifdifferentgroupshaddifferentselection
pressures.
TheModels
Inthisactivity,yourstudentswilluseamodelofthe“VirtualGreenhouse”(page2)thatisnearlyidenticaltotheoneattheendofActivity2.Inthiscase,thefirstparentplantisLeafSize2,withLeaf
Sizes1and3asvariations.
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Theflowersinthismodelproduceoffspringthatvaryfromtheparents.Thismeansthatoffspringmaynotallbesuitedtotheflowerboxtheyarefoundin.Makesureyourstudentsobservethedifferences
byclickingontheInformationToolandthenclickingoneachoftheplants.
StudentscanclicktheCarrybutton andthenclickonanyplantinthemodeltocarryittoanew
location.Havestudentsholdthemousedownastheydragtheplanttoadifferentflowerbox(therootswillbevisiblenow!).Whentheyletgoofthemouse,theplantwillbeplantedinanewlocation.
Figure1.Flowerboxmodel.
Onpage5(Figure2)oftheactivitythereisamodelthatissimilar,butnotidenticaltothefirst“VirtualField”modelofActivity2.Theplantsinthefieldnowproduceseedswithvariations.Thegoalofthismodelistohaveyourstudentsplantseedsofonlyonevarietyofplantsandobservethechangeinplant
populationovertime.Thereisonlyoneseedpacketbutton.Alsonoticethespeedsliderabovethemodel,whichspeedsupthemodel.Besuretopointthisouttostudentsaftertheyhavehadachancetoobservethemodelforafewgenerations.
Thegraphiskeytounderstandinghowthepopulationischanging.Whenstudentsstartthe
modeltherewillonlybeonelineonthegraph,butasthemodelrunstherewillbemoreandmorevarietiesofplants.Spendtimeasaclassinterpretingthegraph.UsetheInformation
Tooltoclickonplantstodeterminewhichsizeleavestheyhaveandmapthosetothegraph.
Makesureyourunthemodelbeforeyourstudentsstartthisactivitytoensurethatyouarefamiliarwith
themodelandthecontrolbuttons.Belowaredescriptionsofthecontrolbuttons.
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Figure2.VirtualFieldmodelwithplantsthroughoutthefieldandcorrespondinggraph,showinghealthy
(flowering)plants.
ClickthePlaybuttontostartthemodel.UsethePausebuttontostopit.
ClicktheInformationToolandthenclickonaplantinthemodelforinformationabouttheplant.
Clickaseedpacketiconandthenclickinthefieldtoplantaseedofthatvariety.Eachseedpacketcontains20seeds.(ClickthePlaybuttontostartthe
modelandtheplantswillgrow.Thebushyplantswillonlygrowandflowerintheleastamountoflight.Thethinplantswillgrowbestwiththemostsunlight.Themediumplantswillgrowbestwithamediumamountof
sunlight.)
Note:Whenstudentsusealltheseedsinapacket,theiconwillgreyout.StudentscangetmoreseedsbyResettingthemodel.
TheCarrybuttonallowsstudentstopickupaplantandmoveittoadifferentlocation.Studentsshouldnoticetherootsizeandshapeforeachplantwhentheymoveplantsfromoneboxtoanother.Note:ifstudentsdropaplant
outsideofaflowerbox,theplantdies.
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ClicktheResetbuttontoresetthemodeltoitsoriginalcondition.
ClicktheTakepicturebuttontotakeapictureofthemodel.(Note:whenyoutakeapicture,themodelpauses.YoumustclickPlaytorestartit.)Youcan
annotateyourpicture.
TheLabBookholdsallpictures.
Theglossarycontainsdefinitionsforthevocabularywords(inblue)usedinthisactivity.Studentscanclickonindividualbluewordsforpop‐up
definitionsorclicktheGlossaryiconforthecompleteglossary.
LessonPlan
1.Estimatedtime
Thisactivityshouldtakeapproximately45minutes.
2.Introducetheactivity(Engage)
HavestudentsthinkabouttheMysteryPlantsinActivity2.
• HowweresomeoftheoffspringMysteryPlantsdifferentthantheirparents?Makesurethatstudentsunderstandthatallplantsandanimalbabieshavevariation,notjustcertainMysteryPlants.
3.Guidedinquiry(Explore)
Asstudentsruntheactivityyoumaywantthemtothinkaboutthefollowingdiscoveryquestions:
• Describevariation.• Howmightdifferencesintheoffspringberelatedtoitschancesofsurvivalinthesame
environment?Inadifferentenvironment?
4.Discusstheactivity(Explain)
Afteryourstudentsrunthisactivity,discusswhatstudentsconcludedfromtheactivity(answersto
questionsintheactivityareincludedbelow).Inparticular,itisimportanttodiscussthefollowingwithyourstudents:
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1) Variation2) Howisvariationisrelatedtotheadaptationsoforganismstotheenvironment?
Belowaresuggestionsfordiscussionquestions:
Variationsinplantsandanimals
Howdoestheplantmodelshowthatbabyplantsaredifferentfromtheirparents?HowaretheplantsintheVirtualGreenhousemodeldifferentfromtheonesinActivity2?(Answer:TheseareLeafSize2plantsandinActivity2,studentsplantedLeafSize5plants.Thepointinrepeatingthemodelistoshow
studentsthatallplantshavevariation,notjustLeafSize5!)
Adaptation
Howdothesedifferencesintheplantsaffectwheretheycangrow?(Answer:Differencesinleafsizeallowdifferentplantstothriveunderdifferentlevelsofsunlight.)
Whatcausedtheplantstospreadacrossthefield?(Answer:Variationintheplantoffspringenabledsomebabiestoliveindifferentpartsofthefield.Variationinsubsequentgenerationsofoffspring
allowedtheplantpopulationtospreadacrosstheentirefield.)
Whataresomeotherreal‐worldexampleswhereadaptationmighthelpplantsoranimalssurviveintheirenvironment?
AnswerstoQuestions
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Noquestions.
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Studentpicturesshouldshowatotalofsixfloweringplants–fourinthemiddleflowerboxandoneeachonthetopandbottomflowerboxes.
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Noquestions.
Askstudentstodescribeplantadaptations.StudentsmightdescribethelongtaprootsthathelpdesertplantsgetwaterfromdeepbelowthegroundortheymightdescribeleafsizeonrealplantsortheMysteryPlantsthathelptheplantgetsunlight.
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Q1.WhichadaptationshelptheMysteryPlantssurvive?A.SizeofleavesQ2.Cactusplantshavespines.Inadditiontopreventingwaterloss,whatelsedoyouthinkthisadaptationisgoodfor?A.TokeepawaypredatorsPage5
Q3.Whatdoyouthinkwillhappentotheoffspring?A.Studentanswerswillvary.StudentsshoulddescribetheparentplantofLeafSize5havingsomeoffspringthatarealittledifferent.Thosedifferentoffspringwillneeddifferentamountsofsunlight,soiftheseedsfallintherowwiththerightamountofsunlight,theywillgrowandproduceflowers,thenseeds.Someofthoseseedswillbealittledifferentthantheparent.
Studentpicturesshouldhaveplantsgrowingthroughoutthefield,asabove.
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Q4.Inthisgraph,howmanytypesofplantshaveflowers?A.1typeofplantQ5.Whenwasthepictureofthisgraphtaken?A.Afteroneseason.[Somestudentsmayrespond,"Afterafewseasons."ThisiscorrectifthestudenthadplantedoneoronlyafewseedsinthecorrectrowcorrespondingtotherightsunlightlevelfortheLeafSize5plant.]Q6.Inthisgraph,howmanytypesofplantshaveflowers?A.10typesofplantsQ7.Whenwasthepictureofthisgraphtaken?A.Aftermany,manyseasons.Q8.Youonlyplantedonetypeoffloweringplant.Howdidsomanytypesofplantsgrow?A.Studentanswerswillvary.Sampleresponsesincludethefollowing:"Theonesthatsurvivedandwouldbehealthywouldhaveseedsandiftheywereadapted,theywouldgrow.""Sometimesthe5'shavebaby5'sandsometimestherearesome4'sandsome6'sandifthoselandinthe4or6zone,theywouldliveandbehealthyandflowerandhaveseedsanditwouldgoon,andthose4'swouldhavesome3'sandsome5's,andsoon!""Theplantsdidit.Theykeptmakingbabies.Thebabiesstartedchanging.Seedsgotscattered.Sotheplantsthatgotplantedinthesunnyspotgavebirthtoplantsthatneededlotsofsun."**Note:theremaybeapossiblemisconceptionhere.Plantsthatarehealthyinsunnyspotswilltendtoproducebabyplantslikethemselves—thatis,thatalsogrowbestinlotsofsun.Thoseplantswillalsoproducebabieswithvariations,however,sotheseplantsmayproduceaseedthatwouldgrowbestinadifferentamountofsun.Ifthatseedhappenedtofallinthehorizontalstripoffieldwiththerightconditions,itwouldgrowtobehealthyandproduceseeds.Page7
Noquestions.
StudentsmayhaveheardofCharlesDarwinandhisfinches.Leadashortdiscussionon
birdbeaksandadaptations.Askstudentswhatitmeansthatthevariationsinthepopulationhelpedsomebirdstosurvive.
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Noquestions.