Message-ID: <3A17148C.2861AE45@worldnet.att.net>
From: "Barbara C. Johnson" Ecology of Pollination Essential Skills and
Strategies: Reading: 1.1, 1.2, 1.5; 2.1, 2.2;
3.1, 3.2. Writing: 1.1, 1.2; 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5; 4.1, 4.2.
Communication: 1.1, 1.2 1.3; 2.1, 2.2; 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 Science: 1.1,
1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5; 2.2, 2.4; 4.1, 4.2, 4.3. Arts: 1.3, 1.4; 2.1, 2.2
4.1 Materials: Biology
reference books covering pollination, non-hybrid flowering plants -
soon to be blooming and requiring cross-pollination, plastic bags
large enough to fit over and seal around growing plants, flatbed
scanner, word processing software, paint, construction paper, other
art materials, websites listed below, plus Ask an Expert @ The
Franklin Institute Science Museum,
http://sln.fi.edu:80/tfi/publications/askexprt.html Web sites used with the
lesson: Step One: Problem or
Question Step Two: Getting
Organized Step Three: Gathering
Information Step Four: Sorting and Analyzing
Information Step Five: Creating the Answer or Solving the
Problem Step Six: Evaluation
Grade
Level: Intermediate
Subject Area:
Science
1.
On-line
Biology Book, chapters 21,22:
http://gened.emc.maricopa.edu/bio/bio181/BIOBK/BioBookflowers.html.
2.
Bees
and Flowers: Buzzing with Life:
http://www.naturalist.org
3.
Biology
on the WWW:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/biological_sciences/lab8/biolab8_1.html
4.
California
Native Plant Scoiety:
http://www.calpoly.edu/~dchippin/kids1.html
What are the primary ecological relationships, processes and flower
structures involved in pollination?
Students will gather, review and organize information individually.
They will conduct an experiment, and give an informal presentation,
in groups of three.
The students will do their research individually using the learning
resources listed above plus school and public libraries. The students
will initially construct questions to be considered during research
individually, after a brief classroom discussion. About three days
after research has begun, the teacher will facilitate the class in
expanding and refining their research questions (some of the children
may not originally consider pollination by wind, ants, bats, etc.,
nor grasp the nature and extent of mutual interdependence between
plants and pollinators) The students will form groups of three to
hand pollinate flowering plants (enclosed in plastic) when they come
into bloom (and recover them). Students will track this plant's
development on a table compared to a control plant that has been kept
sealed in plastic throughout its blooming period. The students will
construct a table, make entries twice a week, then co-operate to give
an informal verbal presentation to the class. The students may pose a
question to an expert at the Franklin Institute via the internet.
Additionally, the students may be instructed to enlist a parent's
help to find a patch of flowers where bees are active and observe as
closely as possible. Another possibility is plants with unusual
stuctures, such as where the bee must climb inside.
Useful information may be printed or photocopied. Information on
flower structures will be used to make a line drawing, drawing,
painting, or construction paper cut-out diagram with all pollination
structures labelled. Other information will be organized according to
an outline the student constructs using six basic research questions
he has formulated or chosen, in order to write a six paragraph report
on the ecology of plants and pollinators. Students will keep
bibliography cards. The students will list their experiment data on a
table.
1. Drawing or diagram as above. 2. Formal outline, as above, then
upon approval of outline, a six paragraph report, as above, with
bibliography, completed with word processing software. 3. Hand
pollination experiment and presentation, conducted in groups of
three, as above. 4. Students will e-mail their report and scanned
image of their drawing to students in another school, who will return
comments.
Criteria referenced: Drawing: clarity, neatness, all pertinent
structures present and labelled. Report: Six internally cohesive
paragraphs with adequate transitions, adequate bibliography,
sufficient coverage relevant to chosen research questions, accuracy
of information, etc. Experiment/presentation: Correctly follow
procedure, keep consistent and sufficiently detailed records,
understand significance of results, work harmoniously with others,
communicate main concepts clearly. Self evaluation: Students will
briefly discuss with teacher their evaluation of their work on the
report, drawing, experiment and presentation. They will consider the
comments of the students to whom they e-mailed their work.
This Research Lesson was created by Kyle
Strieby
kyles@cc.wwu.edu
Bellingham, WA
Return to: WWW Research
Lessons Library