• Students should have a laminated copy of the Windshield Check graphic organizer (S-4-3-2_Windshield Graphic Organizer.doc) taped in the corner of their desk throughout the lesson. Periodically ask students to assess their comprehension of the content by filling in questions they still have on the Windshield Check graphic organizer. They should use a dry-erase marker to allow them to erase their marks afterwards. This graphic organizer can be used to gather student responses to a variety of questions and topics throughout any lesson. While students “check” their understanding, walk around the classroom to get a feel for students’ understanding and where they still have difficulty. Tailor your teaching to reach all the students’ needs and understanding.

Introductory Activity: Let’s Sing About Plant Parts

Give each student a copy of the Plant Song (S-4-3-2_Plant Song and American Idol Poster.doc). Sing the song once for students and then have the class sing it with you a few times. Once students are comfortable, take volunteers to create their own version of the song. Choose three students to serve as judges and allow your students to share their own versions of the “Plant Parts” song, as an American Idol audition. Several copies of American Idol poster can be printed and hung around the room. Have the judges decide on the winner of the audition. The winner of the audition can win a certificate, as well as any student who participated. Certificates for any occasion can be found on the following Web site: http://www.certificatestreet.com/templates/education/3/education.html

In this lesson, students will identify the various parts of a plant’s anatomy and explain their functions. Begin the lesson by having students work in pairs for 10 minutes, to brainstorm the similarities and differences between what plants and people need in order to survive. Each student should have a copy of the Plants and People Venn Diagram (S-4-3-2_Plants and People Venn Diagram and KEY.doc). This resource can also be projected on either your overhead or on a SMART Board. After 10 minutes, have students share their answers. Write the correct answers in the Venn diagram projected on the board. Explain to the class the needs of plants and people for survival. Students should begin to see that plants and people have more similar needs for survival than different needs.

Students will have an opportunity to interact and use each other’s prior knowledge to match the plant part vocabulary with the actual plant part. The Web site http://www.softschools.com/science/plants/plant_parts/ can be projected onto your overhead or on a SMART Board. Pick four student volunteers to help you “drag and drop” the plant parts in the correct places. (Although you have four student volunteers taking turns at the board, the entire class should be brainstorming and giving their input as to where the plant parts belong.)

After students complete the Internet activity, have them complete the Plant Parts table (S-4-3-2_Plant Parts Table and KEY.doc). Allow students 10 minutes to fill in the “What do I think this plant part does?” column. Have students share their ideas with the rest of the class. Get a class consensus and fill in their idea in the column. After some class discussion, together with students fill in the “What does this plant part really do?” column with the correct answers.

Begin reading Jack and the Beanstalk with the class. Use this as a review opportunity. While reading the book, ask students to point out the different plant parts in the illustrations. When students identify a plant part and its function, record this information on the board.

After reading Jack and the Beanstalk with the class, ask students to sit in a circle and take out a sheet of paper. Have them write down one question they still have about plant parts. Then have them pass their paper to the student on their left. Students should read the question on the paper and answer it if they know the correct answer. Otherwise, they should keep passing the papers as many as times as is necessary. Once students receive a paper with an answer already on it, they can either write “Agree,” if they think the answer is correct, or “Disagree,” if they think the answer is incorrect. If they write “Disagree,” they also need to provide the answer they believe is correct. You can provide the answers to any questions that cannot be answered by students.

Closing Activity: Relationship Between Electricity and Living Systems

Ask students the following questions:

• “What uses electricity in your house?”

• “What makes something that uses electricity different from something that does not?”

• “What is electricity and how does it work?”

Make a list on the board or chart paper of items students mention that use electricity. Discuss the household devices that use electricity and lead students towards the objective of the lesson. “If an electric device does not get electricity, it cannot work.”

Inform students that they will be demonstrating a closed and open electrical circuit. Take your class to a large area where they can make a circle, such as outside or the gym. Begin by having one student squeeze the hand of the student next to him/her. Then s/he should squeeze the next person’s hand and so on. (Be sure to tell students that they need to squeeze gently.) After a few seconds, stop students, and remove one student from the circle so there is a gap. Once that student has stepped out, have the class resume squeezing each other’s hands around the circle. Students will realize that the “squeeze” will not make it around the circle because the circle is broken.

Have students sit down; then introduce open and closed circuits. Ask students some of the following questions:

• “What happened when we broke hands?”

• “What kind of circuit was it when we broke hands?”

• “What kind of circuit was it when we were all holding hands?”

• “If a hawk eats a rabbit, which eats grass, which gets energy from the sun, can the hawk get energy from the rabbit, if there is not grass?”

• “Can the rabbit get energy from grass, if there is no sunlight?”

Allow students to form responses to this last question and lead them through a short discussion on the importance of the flow of energy through a system, be it a household electric system or a living system.

• “If energy needs to pass from the sun to many organisms, is it considered a system like an electrical system?”

Inform students that they will be learning about living systems during the next lesson.

Students will use the Squeezing Hands Circle Worksheet (S-4-3-2_Squeezing Hands Circle Worksheet and KEY.doc) as a way to rethink, revisit, and reflect on the day’s lesson. Students will be asked to make a correlation between the electrical circuit simulation exercise and how electricity really works.

Extension:

• Take the class to a local garden or greenhouse for a field trip. Allow students to take pictures of their favorite plants or flowers. Use those pictures to create a class scrapbook that focuses on plant parts. Each student should have a page in the scrapbook. On their pages students should include the picture of their favorite plant or flower, and each of the plant parts should be labeled. Have students write in the function of each plant part as well. If you are unable to go to a local garden or greenhouse, have students look for their favorite plants and flowers on the Internet. If necessary, students can substitute printed pictures from the Internet for the photos.