The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed - Pollination and Plant Life Cycle Worksheets

Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.

Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung, brain, and skin. Assessment is limited to macroscopic structures within plant and animal systems.

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. Assessment is limited to testing one variable at a time.

Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.

Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.