Summary Study various animals that plants interact with: look at worms, look at a herbivore jaw, make a bird feeder. Science content Biology: Features, Adaptations of Living Things (K, 1, 3, 7) Biology: Indigenous People's sustainable use of Living Things (K, 2, 3) Biology: Food Webs, Ecosystems, Biomes (3, 4) Activities in this lesson Worms: close observation Teeth in herbivores, carnivores and us Bird feeder Mason bees Printing with leaves Procedure Plants are not isolated - they interact with other living things. Choose a part of this lesson plan. Plants and worms: Use magnifiers to closely observe worms. Label a drawing of a worm. Class discussion on structures of worm (hearts, breathe through skin). How are worms linked to plants? They make the soil that the plants grow in. Look for dark soil being made in the gut of the worm. Plants and herbivores: Plants are tough. Animals that eat them need specialized teeth to crush the tough plant cell walls. Sit at carpet and look at the teeth in herbivore jaws. Molar means “millstone”. Show deer skull and jaws fitting closely together to grind the plants. Show some of the plant structures with plant printing. The xylem and phloem vessels that make the branching patterns have cell walls made of tough cellulose. Cellulose molecules make up all the cell walls of plant cells. Herbivores can’t break down the cellulose. They have to smash open the cell walls to get to the sugars and other nutrients inside. Plants and birds: What do birds eat? Seeds. (Reference seeds studied, or seeds planted by the class.) Make bird feeder with pine cone, lard and seeds. Notes with discussion of the Indigenous use of plants would work well at the end of this lesson. Grades taught Gr 3 Gr 4 Gr 5 Gr 6
