Middle Years Science Program

B Barber
Science Coordinator

Partner Primary & Secondary Schools
John Paul, Nazareth, Padua, St John's Reg. Colleges & Partner Primary

Science

Middle Years Science Program - Animal & Plant Show

Middle Years Science Program

"Animal & Plant Show"
Return to Science Shows
Program: St Joachim's 2003; St Jude's 2004.

Presentation:

Equipment:

Microscopes (x5?) with set of animal and plant slides
Microviewers (x15) with set of animal and plant slides
Plant posters: stem, flower, roots, leaves
Animal posters: classification, animal characteristics and body structure
Skeleton structure of animals
Hand magnifying glasses (x20?)
Digestive system of human
Human skeleton.
A4 paper worksheet for illustrating slides

Handout: Blank paper

Notes:

Topics:

Plants:
- basic structure of plants (flowers, stomata, leaves, stem)
- flowering versus non-flowering plants
Animals:
- body structure of animals
climate and survival
how do animals and plants reproduce, take in nutrients, respond to environment?
types of plants and animals

Demonstrations:

Experiment	Method	Equipment	Concepts
Animal skeletons	Students can look closely at various animal skeletons.	5 skeletons for display.	How do skeletons support our bodies? What are bones useful for?
Animal structure	A look at the various parts of animals that help them survive.	5 skeletons for display.	Discussion of skin type, 5 senses, reproduction, absorption of nutrients, animal behaviour for survival, unique body structures.
Climate & survival	A look at different types of animals living in different climates and how they have adapted to survive.	Flash cards/picture of camel, polar bear, fish, lion etc.	Environmental adaptations to help survival.
Plants	Look at posters on plant structure	posters of plants	What are plants made up of?
Microviewers	Set up microviewers and students can look and draw what they see.	microviewers and slides of animals and plant cells etc.	What do animal and plant cells look like? What functions do they carry out?
Hand magnifying glasses	Look outside for animal and plants in the area outside. Find examples of types of animals and plants.	posters of plants	What sorts of plants and animals are in our neighbourhood?
Human skeleton and digestive system	Look at the structure of the human digestive system and skeleton	Human skeleton & digestive system	How does it work?

Plants

Basic structure of a plant: Plants are made up of a number of parts: the roots which carry water and minerals up into the plant and provide the plant with structural support; the stem which contains the phloem (channels that transport nutrients to other parts of the plant) and xylem (very strong cellulose lined channels that transport water way up into the leaves of the plant); the green leaves that provide through photosynthesis the transforming of sunlight into stored chemical energy; and the flowers or buds responsible for plant reproduction. Little stomata are holes on the underside of leaves that allow air and particularly carbon dioxide into the leaf for photosynthesis.

Flowering versus non-flowering plants: All flowering plants are termed angiosperm (as opposed to gymnosperm which are nut, pod or budding plants). Inside each seed there is 1 or 2 cotyledons. Plants with 1 cotyledon are called Monocotyledon and plants with 2 are called Dicotyledons. The classification of these two is below ...

Characteristic	Monocotyledon	Dicotyledon
Leaves	usually long and thin with parallel rows of veins	generally broad leaf with branching veins
Flowers	often in 3's or multiples of 3	usually in multiples of 4 or 5
Root system	fibrous roots	usually tap roots
Stem	usually soft	may be soft or woody
Examples	grasses, oats, kangaroo grass, bamboo, maize, orchids, flax lillies, asparagus	daisies, dandelion, gum trees, bottlebrushes, tea-trees; orange or lemon trees; wattles, banksias, grevilleas

Leaves: Plants get their energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis. This occurs in green leaves when carbon dioxide and water with the help of the green pigment chlorophyll are changed into glucose and oxygen. In the dark, plants cannot photosynthesize. They must have the sun in order to survive. Looking at a plant up close you will find small holes on the under side of the leaves called stomata through which The energy they make is either used straight away by the plant; stored as starch or oil in the stem, roots or fruits; used to make cellulose for the cell walls; or combine with minerals to make proteins for plant growth.

Animals

Basic structure of an animal: Animals come in many shapes and sizes. All carrying different features. All creatures of some form or another take in inputs and return outputs to their environment.

Requirements for Life: All living things require a number of things for survival. They must all be able to ...

Reproduce
Growth
Movement
Remove waste products
Respiration [Getting energy from food or sunlight etc]
Irritability [Respond to their environment]
Nutrition

All animals and plants need the same inputs. They also have certain outputs but they are slightly different. We can say they all need food and oxygen from the air and they all give off energy, use carbon dioxide and water.

Fats - Sources of fat include butter, margarine, fried foods, cheese and meats. Oils are liquid fats. They contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are are largely made up of fatty acids and glycerol. There are two types of fats: saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are found in animal products whereas unsaturated fats are in vegetable oils and fats. Fats are a stored source of energy under the skin providing heat insulation also. Cholesterol is a fat useful as a hormone that can be harmful in large amounts.

Minerals - Such elements as iron and calcium are found in a variety of foods. A deficiency disease may result if your diet lacks one or another of the minerals. The most common deficiency is iron called anaemia which is important for the transport of oxygen in the body.

Vitamins - There are 13 vitamins that we need on a regular basis. Even with a varied diet you may get a deficiency in vitamins. We can make vitamin D ourselves from sunlight which is used by our bones to take up calcium. Cooking destroys vitamins so as little cooking as possible is better for our health.

Protein - The building blocks of our body are amino acids. We cannot store protein so we need a constant supply of it. They help us to repair damage, grow and maintain our bodies.

Fibre - Also known as roughage they are complex carbohydrates that cannot be digested. They are found in fruits, rice, vegetables or wholemeal bread. They act to keep our digestive system clean.

The digestive system: The human digestive system is made up of the oesophagus, stomach, liver, small and large intestine, pancreas and colon.

Feeling Fit

Self Image - It is important to feel important about ourselves. Thinking about what you like about ourselves and not putting ourselves down. It is not good to compare your size and looks critically in magazines or your fitness with world class athletes; or your mental ability with Einstein.		External Pressures - Different pressures from magazines and television can affect the way you might feel about yourself. Pressure from the media, coaches, parents and teachers can adversely affect the our health. The media influences the way we dress, listen to music and what activities we should be involved in. The pressure to conform could lead to nervous or eating disorders.
	Feeling Fit
Fitness - Regular exercise is important for us all.		Stress - Stress can take physical (headaches, chest pains, blood pressure, asthma, tiredness, insomnia etc) form or mental (irritability, bad temper, depression, panicky, inability to noise or concentrate, impulsive behaviour etc) form. Stress is our ability to relate to pressures in our lives.