How Does Water Travel through a Plant?

SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

Engage Review parts of a plant we have

already discussed and their function. Lead to question: (point to stem)

“Does anyone know what this part of the plant is called?” And have a discussion of what they think its function is.

Pass around the celery plants and have them discuss in their groups what they notice.

Ask questions about what they think the purpose of the stem is. “Why do you think the stem of a

plant is important?”

Explore/Explain Each group will receive

chunks of the celery stalk to dissect and observe. “What do you notice about

the inside of the stalk?”

Pull apart the celery into strings. “How would you describe

this?” “What do you notice along

the outside of the stalk?”

Show them the tubes “I wonder what the tubes

are for. What do you think?”

Explore/Explain Student will each

receive a cup filled with colored water and their own celery stalk inside.

Then they will make predictions in their notebooks about what they think will happen.

Students will observe what is happening to their celery throughout the day.

They will write about what they see as well as draw a picture of what they observe happening.

Explore/Explain

The next day we will discuss what students observed. “Tell me what you

noticed about our celery in the colored water.”

When they tell me the water went up the stalk: “How do you know that?” What evidence do you

have?”

Elaborate The next day they will apply

what we learned the day before to carnations.

They will make predictions about what they think will happen based off of their experiment with the celery.

We will put the carnations in colored water and they will observe the changes like they did the day before.

Questions for a discussion about real-life application: “What do the tubes in the celery

remind you of?” “Are there ways that you drink

water that are similar to how plants drink water?”

Evaluate Will happen continuously

throughout lesson through: Discussions

Are students engaged? Are students grasping the new

concepts? What questions are they asking

that let me know they are understanding and/or confused by this concept?

Drawings/Diagrams Do their diagrams and illustrations

reveal an understanding of the material?

Writing Do their written explanations

uncover any confusion?

Formative Assessment

3 Types: Students color parts of plant that I describe

with a specific color in the beginning of the first lesson.

Students will draw many diagrams: They will draw their own picture of what they observe

when they “dissect” their celery. They will draw their own pictures of what is happening

to the celery stalk throughout the day. I will look at their science notebooks and see if

their writing, diagrams, and pictures are demonstrating a thorough understanding of this concept.

Data Collection

Students will be drawing the celery throughout the day, documenting at what point they see the dye on the celery stalk.

Students will do the same for the carnations, documenting how long it take the dye to reach the petals of the flower.

Students will compare the two and see if the dye traveled fastest in the celery or carnation. “Which took longer for the water to travel? What evidence

do you have?”

Strategies with Students Who Speak English as a

Second Language They will be able to display their understanding

through diagrams they create of how the water travels through the stem using words and short phrases.

They can also display their understanding through demonstrations.

Students will be grouped together to have discussions on what they observes so they can ask questions and practice language skills. I will also allow for time that students can talk in pairs, as group

discussions can be intimidating. I will display a chart of new scientific words so all

students can have easy access to them.

List of Questions “Why do you think the stem of a plant is important?” “What do you notice about the inside of the stalk?” “How would you describe this?” “What do you notice along the outside of the stalk?” “I wonder what the tubes are for. What do you think?” “Tell me what you noticed about our celery in the colored water.” “How do you know that?” “What evidence do you have?” “Which took longer for the water to travel? What evidence do you

have?”

Integrate Math

Record data about how long it took the dye to reach the top of the celery.

Record data about how long it took the dye to reach the the flower of the carnation (other plant).

Compare the lengths of time that it took the dyes to reach the top of the celery versus the carnations.

Every time students observe their celery throughout the day they will have to document the time. We will look at the celery at a time that is an hour or half-hour.