Day Five - Plant Classification
Objective:
Explain what it means to classify something.
Describe the difference between edible and non edible, flowering and nonflowering, and evergreen and deciduous plants.
Materials:
Colored paper
Scissors
Colored Pencils/Crayons/Markers
Lesson:
As the last day on plants, have students think about how plants might be classified.
By this point in their education they will have likely discussed classification on some level, but it does not hurt to quickly review by asking students to explain classification or give an example of a classification. Once you are sure that students understand that classification is just a fancy word for putting things into groups or categories, begin talking about how we classify plants. For this unit it is important that students learn that plants are categorized into edible and non edible, flowering and nonflowering, and evergreen and deciduous plants. Explain to students each of these categories (if you need help with defining the groups see vocabulary terms under the Content tab above or by clicking here). Since we discussed in class yesterday that many plants are eaten, you can go over edible and non edible plants, but the concept should be quickly grasped by most students. Also, most children already know that some plants have flowers while others do not, so flowering and nonflowering can be quickly discussed as well but the main focus of today's lesson will be evergreen and deciduous plants.
Once the class has talked about the differences between evergreen and deciduous plants, have students construct a foldable that shows the two types, definitions, and examples. See the pictures below for an example of such a foldable.
Differentiation:
Have typed up definitions and possibly pictures of examples for students who need extra help to cut and paste under the correct flap, but allow students to write the names of the categories on their own foldable and make sure that they have to read the definitions and decide which type it is describing (in other words only type up the definition, not the term).
Assessment:
The foldable can be collected and used to assess students' understanding of plant classification.
Homework:
See if you can find one example each of a evergreen and deciduous plant near your home or daily activities and draw a picture of each one.
Resources:
Explain what it means to classify something.
Describe the difference between edible and non edible, flowering and nonflowering, and evergreen and deciduous plants.
Materials:
Colored paper
Scissors
Colored Pencils/Crayons/Markers
Lesson:
As the last day on plants, have students think about how plants might be classified.
By this point in their education they will have likely discussed classification on some level, but it does not hurt to quickly review by asking students to explain classification or give an example of a classification. Once you are sure that students understand that classification is just a fancy word for putting things into groups or categories, begin talking about how we classify plants. For this unit it is important that students learn that plants are categorized into edible and non edible, flowering and nonflowering, and evergreen and deciduous plants. Explain to students each of these categories (if you need help with defining the groups see vocabulary terms under the Content tab above or by clicking here). Since we discussed in class yesterday that many plants are eaten, you can go over edible and non edible plants, but the concept should be quickly grasped by most students. Also, most children already know that some plants have flowers while others do not, so flowering and nonflowering can be quickly discussed as well but the main focus of today's lesson will be evergreen and deciduous plants.
Once the class has talked about the differences between evergreen and deciduous plants, have students construct a foldable that shows the two types, definitions, and examples. See the pictures below for an example of such a foldable.
Differentiation:
Have typed up definitions and possibly pictures of examples for students who need extra help to cut and paste under the correct flap, but allow students to write the names of the categories on their own foldable and make sure that they have to read the definitions and decide which type it is describing (in other words only type up the definition, not the term).
Assessment:
The foldable can be collected and used to assess students' understanding of plant classification.
Homework:
See if you can find one example each of a evergreen and deciduous plant near your home or daily activities and draw a picture of each one.
Resources: