Activity 2. WHAT OTHER LIVING THINGS ARE FOUND IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS?

Materials NeededMagnifying lensPencil

Procedure:1. Look for other things that are plant-like in the school grounds. Your teacher will suggest where to go and what to collect.2. Go back to classroom and observe what you collected with a magnifying lens.

Q1. Describe what you see. Draw it.

Q2. Describe the place where you found it. __________________________________________________

Q3. What do you think it needs to live and grow? _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q4. Does it look like any of the organisms you saw yesterday? __________________________________ If so, which one? ____________________________________________________________________

Q5. How are they different from the living things you already know about and studied in the lower grades? ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q6. What are the similarities among these groups? ___________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q7. How are they different from each other? ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Q8. How are these big groups different from the groups of animals and plants studied in the lower grades? ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 1. CAN YOU GROW NEW PLANTS FROM “EYES”?

Materials Needed:1 potato5 big cans filled with garden soilKnife

Procedure:1. Examine the potato. Can you see depressions? These are the “eyes” or buds.

Figure 1. Potato eyes.

2. Cut the potato into pieces with each piece having an “eye”. Observe how the cut pieces look.3. Set aside the cut pieces for 2-3 days. Draw and describe how the cut pieces look after 3 days.4. After 3 days, plant each piece in a can, about 10 cm. deep. Set the tuber so that the “eye” points upward.

Q1. Can you give a reason why it is better to plant the cut pieces with the “eye” pointing upward? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

5. Set aside the cans in a shady area. Water the soil everyday to keep it moist.

Q2. How many “eyes” from each potato were you able to get? __________________________________

Q3. How many new shoots grew from each potato “eye” you planted? ___________________________

Q4. What is the advantage of using this type of propagation? ___________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

6. Report the progress of you work to your teacher. Discuss your work in class.

Activity 2. STRUCTURE OF A GUMAMELA FLOWER

Materials Needed:2 gumamela flowers (1 fresh and 1 withered)1 gumamela budHand lensScalpel or razor blade

Procedure:1. Examine the entire flower and the part of its stem.

Q1. Describe how the flower is attached to the stem. __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

2. Examine the bud, an unopened flower. Identify the sepals.

Q2. What is the function of the sepals in the unopened flower? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

3. Remove the sepals and petals. The most important reproductive parts remain. Touch the stigma in a relatively fresh opened flower, in a bud and in withered one.

Q3. On which flower does the stigma feel sticky? _________________________________________________________________________________

Q4. Why do you think the stigma is sticky? __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

4. Cut through the ovary and examine the parts with a hand lens.

Q5. How many compartments do you find? _________________________________________________

Inside the compartments are ovules which contain the egg cell (female gamete).

5. Touch the tip of a stamen or tap it lightly over a piece of white paper. The powdery materials at the tips are made up of pollen grains. Sperm cells (male gamete) are produced inside these grains.

6. Take a whole flower. Measure the distance between a pollen grain on a stamen and the ovary where the ovule is.

Q6. How do you think pollen grains reach the pistil? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ALIVE?

Materials Needed:Drawing and writing materialsRocks whose surface is grown with small plantsMagnifying lens

Procedure:1. Visit your school garden or a pool near your school. On a separate sheet of paper, describe or draw the place.

Q1. What are the things that you see in your school garden or the pond? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q2. Which of these things are living? Which of these things are nonliving? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q3. Observe the things that you identified as living. What do they have in common? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q4. Observe the things that you identified as nonliving. What do they have in common? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q5. What interactions do you observe happening among the living and nonliving things? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q6. What makes living things different from nonliving things? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1. Small plants growing on Figure 2. Small plants growing Figure 3. Different kinds of rocks. on fences. plants.

2. Observe the rocks in your school or the pond near your school. Do they look like that shown in Figure 1? If so, use a magnifying lens to see the details of the small plants. These small plants make up a population.

Q7. What do these small plants need that is provided for by the rock? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q8. Where do you find these rocks that are inhabited by small plants? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q9. What other things in the environment are inhabited by these small plants? Where do you find these things? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Q10. Why do you find them in these places? _______________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 2 shows a fence populated by small plants. They usually grow on fences during the rainy season.

Q11. Do you also see small plants growing on the fences of your school?_________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Q12. What other living and nonliving things did you see in the school garden or the pond? Do you see them in other parts of the school? Explain your answer. __________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 3 shows a picture of populations of different kinds of plants. Together, they form a community.

Q13. Do you know of a similar place near your school where you see communities of organisms? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Q14. Are the things you find in your school garden or the pond the same things that you find in the backyard of your house? Explain your answer. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Q15. How do living things interact with each other and with their environment? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 2. WHICH EATS WHAT?

Materials Needed:WorksheetPencil

Procedure:1. Observe each organisms in the picture carefully. Fill in the appropriate box to each of the organism.