Mr.
BentonThis page is intended for review and further study of the topics worked on in Mr. Benton's Science class and on homework assignments. These assignments will be completed during the first quarter.
Return to all assignments page Return to first quarter review page
These assignments are for November and December, 2005.
|
Assignment |
Requirements and expected learning |
| Seed Dissection | Break apart a dry lima bean and, using a hand lens, closely inspect the three main parts of a seed: seed coat, cotyledon, embryo. Soak a lima bean in your mouth or a cup of water while dissecting the dry bean. Notice the differences between the wet and dry seeds, notice how the seed coat has wrinkled and split in the moisture. The embryo has already grown in size in the wet bean and may already be growing in the sense of beginning to create new cells. Students need to recognize the concept of germination - coming out of dormancy and beginning to show the characteristics of life which were not obvious in the dormant seed. |
| Roots and Shoots | Set up mini-sprouters using paper towels in a petri dish. Place rye grass and radish seeds in the sprouters with water; store in darkened sprouting chambers, observe each day to monitor changes and differences between the two types of seeds. Roots appear first to soak up water through root hairs which appear at first like soft white fuzz along the length of the root. When the root has reached a length of two to three centimeters (about three days) cut the tip of the root off, dye with methylene blue and observe under the microscope. Look for the different sized cells in different parts of the root. Notice that the new, growing cells are small and square at the tip of the root, and longer further up the root shaft. The elongated cells are the beginning of the xylem - the tubes which supply water to the entire plant through the process of transpiration. Important learnings: the root appears first to absorb water, the primary necessity for life ("all living things are 'aquatic'") |
| Ribbon of life | Explore the FOSS CD-ROM section on the Ribbon of
Life, which illustrates the particle nature of living things: Cells
are the basic unit of life, but they are made of smaller, non-living parts:
atoms, molecules and organelles. Cells join together to form tissues,
which make up organs. Organs join together in organ systems (like the
circulatory system) and these form multi-cellular organisms like animals. Prokaryotic (no nucleus) and eukaryotic (containing a nucleus) are the two basic kinds of cells. Cells are alive, but cells are not organisms unless the cells are able to live independently, like a single-celled paramecium, for example. |
| Read Pages 65-70 | The world of living things is divided into 5 Kingdoms: Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants and Animals. Scientists further divide each kingdom into subdivisions: Phyla, Classes, Orders, Families, Genera, and Species. Organisms have scientific names which are two-word Latin names made of the Genus and Species names; humans, for example, are Homo sapiens. |
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Read Pages 40-41 in the DOL book. |
Flowers are the reproductive organs of plants. Fertilization, the first step in the formation of a new plant (seed) takes place when the sperm (male sex cell) unites with the egg (female sex cell) in the ovary of the plant. Wind or animal agents have carried the sperm inside pollen grains from one flower to another for pollination to occur. The sperm inside the pollen grain then grows a pollen tube from the stigma, where it landed, down through the style to the ovary where it unites with the egg to form the first cell of the new plant. |