Title: 2nd Grade Unit on Seed Dispersal, Plant Life Cycles and Pollination

Authors: Amy Workman & Stacy Stecker

Overview / Description:

This unit focuses on the diversity of life at Hartje School Forest and centers around NGSS Standards on Ecosystem Interactions, Energy and Dynamics. Field experiences in observing and recording the diversity of life, seed dispersal methods, plant pollination, and plant life cycles will support science disciplinary core ideas, cross-cutting concepts, and hands-on engineering practices.

Subject(s):

Life Science

Grade Level(s):

Second Grade

Learning goals/objectives:

The goal of this unit is to engage students in hands-on learning related to plants of the forest, prairie, and wetland habitats and their interactions to support NGSS Standards on Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems.

Student objectives and activities will be to:

• Identify different methods of seed dispersal of Wisconsin plants by conducting a scavenger hunt for seeds in three habitats;
• Create a model to mimic seed dispersal methods by observing closely and recording accurately methods of seed dispersal in Wisconsin plants and applying this knowledge to create a model of seed dispersal methods;
• Describe the life cycle of a Wisconsin plant from seed to to adult by locating and sketching Wisconsin plants in various stages of their life cycle and apply this knowledge to create a journal on the life cycle of an individual plant chosen by each student (“Plant Partner Project”); and
• Describe the process of pollination in Wisconsin prairie plants by observing closely and recording accurately pollinators on prairie plants at the school forest.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):

LS2.A. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Disciplinary Core Ideas addressed:
LS2.A. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

• Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.

LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

• There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

• Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings, or physical models. These representations are useful in communicating ideas for a problem’s solutions to other people.

Cross-Cutting Concepts addressed:

Structure and Function

• The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).

Science and Engineering Practices addressed:

Developing and Using Models

• Develop a simple model based on evidence to represent a proposed object or tool.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

• Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data which can be used to make comparisons.

Workplace Readiness Skill:

Type of Activity ( check all that apply) :

• Individual
• Small Group
• Whole Class

Teaching Strategies  (check all that apply or include new strategies) :

• Discussion
• Partner work
• Use of Technology
• Role Playing
• Simulation
• Performance Assessment

Length of Time and length of class periods:

The three field investigation activities can be completed together as part of three half day field experiences (~3 hours), with pre-activities completed in class the day before and post-activities the day or week after. The field activities can also be completed separately during three 50-minute periods if the outdoor study area is in close proximity.

Materials List (linked if online resource please):

Seeds Research and Sorting Pre-Activity (50 minutes)

• Reason for a Flower Children’s Audio book, Ruth Heller author
• Brown paper bags labeled “Water,” “Explosion,” “Gravity,” “Wind,” “Animals Eat,” “Animals Bury,” and “Attach”
• 6 packets of color printed/laminated Seed Play Cards
• Index Cards
• Colored pencils, crayons or markers

Field Experience: Part 1 - Seed Scavenger Hunt (50 minutes)

• Technology version : one iPad or Android tablet per pair of students
• Journaling app (Noteledge, ShowMe, Educreations, Explain Everything, Skitch, or other app)
• Non-technology version : Clipboards (1 per student)
• Pencil or other writing utensil
• Seed Dispersal Scavenger Hunt sheet
• Roll of clear tape (if seed collection permitted)

Science and Engineering Design Model: Seed Dispersal (3 30-minute periods)

• Construction paper
• Hot glue gun         
• Markers
• Scissors        
• Tissue paper         
• Rulers
• Glue        

• Cotton balls                 
• Hot Glue Gun sticks
• Modeling clay        
• Straws                 
• Pipe cleaners        
• Balloons
• String/Ribbon                                 
• Styrofoam (random assortment)
• Velcro         
• Envelopes        
• Felt cloth
• File box (15" x 12" x 10"

Plant Parts Pre-Activity (45 minutes)

http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/plantparts.html

Upload FarmDell music

Tomato Plant Life Cycle

Field Experience: Part 2 - Plant Partners (50 minutes)

• Technology version : one iPad or Android tablet per pair of students
• ABC Plant Journal page
• Clipboards (1 per student)
• Pencil or other writing utensil

Pollination Pre-Activity (25 minutes)

Flower Fantasy  (A Dramatic Reading) adapted from: Keepers of Life by Michael J. Caduto
and Joseph Bruchac, p. 139-140.

Field Experience: Part 3 - Pollinator Hunt (50 minutes)

• Technology : one iPad, Android tablet or other mobile device per pair of students
• Example Siftr sites: Wisconsin Animals Active in Winter

Devil’s Lake State Park Plant Communities

Bluebird Nest Boxes-RAHS

• How-to instructions for creating a Siftr site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uzGxOcnb4E
• Pollinator Siftr site: https://siftr.org/pollinatorhunt-HartjeNC/

Directions (Step-by-Step):

Seeds Research and Sorting Pre-Activity (50 minutes)-This activity can be used as an extension instead of a pre-activity

1. Using the YouTube Audiobook version or a paper copy, show or read The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller to your students. Afterwards, ask the students to help generate a list of ways seeds travel on the board. When finished, check the list for completeness by showing the students the brown paper bags you’ve made labeled “Water,” “Explosion,” “Gravity,” “Wind,” “Animals Eat,” “Animals Bury,” and “Attach”. Place these bags around different areas in the room.
2. Share the packet of Seed Play cards to students and ask them to choose one to research, or choose their favorite plant to research. Using books, periodicals, the internet, posters, and other resources, have the students research what their plant’s seed looks like and how it travels.
3. Pass out index cards to all students. On the blank side of an index card, students should draw a picture of their plant’s seed with the name of the plant. On the lined side of the index card, students should write down their name, their plant’s name, and the  method of seed dispersal for their plant.
4. At a designated time, ask students to group themselves according to like means of travel and share their seed with the other group members. Do their seeds have similar shapes, sizes, and characteristics? Are their seeds all found in the same habitat or different habitats? When finished, students should put their cards in the paper bags that fit the seeds’ method of travel.
5. Game (and formative assessment) time! Students close their eyes while the teacher collects all the bags of seed dispersal methods and places them with the labeled sides facing away from the students. Take all the cards out of one of the bags and lay them picture side up on the carpet or a low table. Based on the seeds portrayed, which bag did the seeds come out of? Students should give evidence for why they think seeds came from one seed dispersal method bag vs. another. Turn the labeled side of the bag towards students. Ask if students think all the seeds were in the correct bag? Why or why not? Students should close their eyes while seeds from another bag are emptied and layed out. Continue with the bags until all seeds have been matched with their seed dispersal method bags.

Wrap-Up : On the board, write forest, prairie, wetland. Ask students would a particular seed dispersal type work better in one habitat vs. another? Can they guess at what types of seeds will be found in a forest, versus a prairie, versus a wetland? In preparation for the field investigations at the school forest, students should keep in mind what types of seed dispersal methods they anticipate finding in each of the three habitats they will be visiting.

Field Experience: Part 1 - Seed Scavenger Hunt (50 minutes)

*There are several options for this portion of the lesson - with/without technology and with/without seed collecting. If iPads or Android tablets are available, a photo journal scavenger hunt is preferred. If not, a modified paper scavenger hunt can be used with seed collecting (if permitted), or tracing seeds (if collection not available). Students can work in pairs and the same Practical Assessment rubric can be used to score whatever artifact students produce.

Students will travel to each of three habitats at the school forest (or designated natural area): the forest, prairie, and wetland. At each habitat, the goal is to find a minimum of three seeds and correctly categorize them according to the method of seed dispersal. Students will have 10 minutes to search at each habitat before traveling to the next habitat.

*Safety Precautions :

1. Scout the areas in which you plan to take students for hazardous plants (poison ivy, stinging nettle, wild parsnip, etc) beforehand. Depending on the landscape, you may wish to restrict students to ‘on trail’ areas only, or allow students to venture off trail within guidelines.
2. Give clear boundaries for where students can and cannot travel (must be able to see the instructor at all times, can’t go beyond this trail marker, must stay within 10 steps of the trail, etc).
3. Students should not eat plants or seeds.
4. Close-toed shoes and long pants are recommended. Bug repellent for mosquitoes and ticks is also recommended. Check your school district’s policy on student use of repellents for outdoor activities.
5. Check seed collection policies for the property you are visiting. Do not collect seeds from State Natural Areas, Arboretums, on private land (without permission), or other restricted areas.

Technology Option : Using iPads, Androids, or other tablets, and a multimedia presentation app, such as Noteledge, ShowMe, Educreations, Explain Everything, or Skitch, students will create a multimedia photojournal of seed dispersal methods in each habitat. Journal pages can include:

• Drawings of seeds, plants, or environmental factors
• Pictures of seeds with arrows and text to label seed type and dispersal method
• Video of wind dispersal of seeds, floating seeds, or squirrels carrying/burying acorns
• Audio notes (voice recordings) to draw connections between seed/animal photos
• Web links to additional sources of information

Most multimedia journaling apps include tutorial videos to get students started, or search YouTube for “How to use _________app” videos and reviews.  

If using a paper scavenger hunt, see the attached “Seed Scavenger Hunt” handout, which can be modified to fit your specific natural area. Students have 10 minutes to search in each habitat before traveling to the next habitat.

Wrap-Up:  For the paper scavenger hunt, ask students to stand in a circle and share their favorite seed from each habitat. What did they like about that seed? Did anyone else also find that seed? How does that seed travel and what makes you think it travels that way? Does anyone have a different idea on how that seed travels and what makes you think differently? Can you identify characteristics on the seed that give you clues as to how it travels? Who has a different favorite for that habitat and how does that seed travel? These debriefing questions can be used for any of the three habitats.

For the technology option, the debrief can be done outdoors or in the classroom. Students can trade devices to view each others’ journals or journals can be plugged into a SmartBoard or shown on a document camera in the classroom. The same questions can be used to debrief the digital scavenger hunt.  

Science and Engineering Design Model: Seed Dispersal (3-35 minute periods)

This portion of the lesson can be conducted in three separate time periods. Using what they have learned from the pre-activity and seed scavenger hunt, students will construct three-dimensional models of seed dispersal methods. The model must meet the following specifications:

• Three different seed dispersal methods (students’ choice)
• Three-dimensional components
• Stay within materials budget
• Stay within size constraints

Students may choose any three of the seven seed dispersal methods to create models for. Two dimensional drawings may be used in the planning phase, but the final models must include three-dimensional components. All three models must be able to fit inside a standard file box (15" x 12" x 10"). The Total “budget” for all models may not exceed $10. A sample list of materials and costs is below: the exact materials and costs can be modified to fit whatever materials are readily available in your classroom and whatever “budget” you think appropriate.

Sample Materials List and Cost

Cotton balls - $1/handfull                        Hot Glue Gun sticks - 5 for $1        Modeling clay-$1/block

Straws - 20 straws for $0.50                Pipe cleaners - 10 for $0.50        Balloons - 5 for $1

Envelopes - 10 envelopes for $0.50        String/Ribbon -  $1 for 3 ft.

Velcro - $1 per ft.                                 Felt cloth - $1 per sq. ft.

Free materials available

Construction paper                 Hot glue gun                                 Markers

Scissors                        Tissue paper                         Rulers

Glue                                Styrofoam (random assortment)        

Students must work in teams to complete the model and will be scored using the Seed Dispersal Model Assessment Rubric. The project is divided into three phases:

• Planning Phase
• Build Phase
• Test and Refine Phase

During the planning phase, all team members should brainstorm on paper what initial ideas they have for models of seed dispersal and which models would most likely fit the size and cost constraints. All team members should contribute ideas and feedback. Students must also agree on how to decide which three models to build. The emphasis for this portion of the lesson is the communication process between team members. Student scores will be based on how students listen to each other, provide feedback in positive ways, and include all members in decision making. The final product of this phase should be a two-dimensional plan (drawing with notes and materials) for the three seed dispersal method models.

During the build phase, students gather materials, keep track of the project budget (not to exceed $10), and construct the three models according to the team’s design plan. All students should be involved in the construction process. The emphasis for this portion of the lesson is using the design plan agreed upon by team members in the previous phase to construct the three seed dispersal method models, and to keep track of the project budget.

During the test and refine phase, teams test the functionality and accuracy of their models (i.e. does the “water” seed dispersal model float? Is the “wind” seed dispersal model light enough to be airborne? Does the “attach” seed dispersal model stick to something?) The emphasis for this portion of the lesson is how students identify design flaws and make modifications to their models while staying within the project budget. It is also the final test of whether the models met all the design constraints.

Wrap-Up:  This project can be debriefed in a variety of ways. Formats for displaying the seed dispersal method models can be set up as part of an open house/science fair project, where students visit each others’ models to ask questions and see demonstrations. Students can present their models to the class as part of a formal presentation process. Students can act as judges and give scores to models or vote on the best model per seed dispersal method.

Plant Parts Pre-Activity (45 minutes)

1. Project the words to “The Plant Parts Song” (http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/plantparts.html) on the SmartBoard or write on poster paper. Read through all the words together. The class will sing this song to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell” (FarmDell music can be played in the background). Motions to the words can easily be incorporated into the song to add a kinesthetic component.
2. Ask students how plants grow up? How do plants start their lives? What do ‘baby’ plants look like compared to ‘children’ plants, compared to ‘teenage’ plants, compared to ‘adult’ plants? Tell students they’ll be learning all about the life cycles of plants so that when we go outside, we can recognize baby plants, versus young plants, versus teenage plants versus adult plants.
3. Hand out copies of the Tomato Plant Life Cycle. Read together the tomato plant life cycle and examine the diagram. Students will color each of the tomato plant life cycle pictures, cut them out, and glue them in the correct order on the tomato plant life cycle diagram.

Wrap-Up : Ask students what kinds of plants they expect to see at the school forest (flowers, trees, shrubs, grasses, etc). Ask how they will recognize what stage of the life cycle a plant is in? (Example: smaller plants are likely young plants (sprouts or ‘seedlings;’ teenage plants are probably larger (‘saplings’) and adult plants probably have flowers or seeds. Tell students they will be choosing one type of plant to partner with for the next three months. Each month when we visit the school forest, they will be looking for changes in the plant (have the ‘babies,’ or seeds, sprouted? Have the saplings opened their buds? Have the leaves come out? Are any flowers blooming? Can you see any seeds?  

Field Experience: Part 2 - Plant “Partners” (50 minutes)

*This portion of the lesson can be completed with or without technology. If iPads or Android tablets are available, a multi-media journal is preferred. If not, the ABC Plant Journal pagecan be used. Students can work in pairs and the same Practical Assessment rubric can be used to score whatever artifact students produce.

Ideally, this activity should be conducted in a natural area where all students can remain in sight of the instructor. Students will be searching for one particular kind of plant, but several examples of that plant in different stages of the life cycle (for example, if a student’s chosen plant was an oak tree, ideally the student would find acorns (‘baby’ oaks), seedlings, (‘young’ oaks), saplings (‘teenage’ oaks), and oaks with flowers or acorns (adult or ‘mature’ oaks.) Students will search for and record with drawings, pictures, words, photos, video, etc, their plant in various stages of life.

*Safety Precautions :

1. Scout the areas in which you plan to take students for hazardous plants (poison ivy, stinging nettle, wild parsnip, etc) beforehand. Depending on the landscape, you may wish to restrict students to ‘on trail’ areas only, or allow students to venture off trail within guidelines.
2. Give clear boundaries for where students can and cannot travel (must be able to see the instructor at all times, can’t go beyond this trail marker, must stay within 10 steps of the trail, etc).
3. Students should not eat plants, flowers or seeds.
4. Close-toed shoes and long pants are recommended. Bug repellent for mosquitoes and ticks is also recommended. Check your school district’s policy on student use of repellents for outdoor activities.
5. Students should not pick plant specimens. A good rule is “If it is attached to the ground (has roots), you cannot pick it up. If it is unattached, you can pick it up.”

Technology Option : Using iPads, Androids, or other tablets, and a multimedia presentation app, such as Noteledge, ShowMe, Educreations, Explain Everything, or Skitch, students will create a multimedia journal of the life cycle of their plant partner. Journal pages can include:

• Drawings of seeds, plants, and environmental factors
• Pictures of seeds, seedlings, saplings, and mature plants with arrows and text to label the stage of the plant life cycle
• Video of flowers, leaves, branches, trunks showing movement in the wind, sound of leaves rustling, pollen leaving flowers, etc.  
• Audio notes (voice recordings) to show and explain examples of their plant partner in different life stages
• Web links to additional sources of information

Most multimedia journaling apps include tutorial videos to get students started, or search YouTube for “How to use _________app” videos and reviews.  

If using a paper plant observation, see the “ABC Plant Journal” handout, which can be modified to fit your specific natural area. Students have 30 minutes to search for and record examples of their chosen plant partner in various stages of life. When possible, a sketch, description, and label should be provided for each plant specimen that illustrates each of the four life cycle stages (seed, seedling, sapling, mature).

Wrap-Up:  Ask students to stand in a circle and share the name of their “plant partners.” Did everyone find a baby version of their plant? How about a seedling version? A sapling? An adult? What did students notice about changes in their plant as the plant grew from a baby to an adult? How did size, number of branches or leaves, texture of the stems and branches, amount of shade produced, etc. change throughout the life stages? Do we share any changes in how we will grow over time compared to plants?

Wrap up for the multimedia journal can be done outdoors or in the classroom. Students can trade devices to view each others’ journals or journals can be plugged into a SmartBoard or shown on a document camera in the classroom. The same questions can be used to debrief the digital journal pages.  

Pollination Pre-Activity (25 minutes)

This activity was taken from “Grow Native: Native Plants and their Pollinators,” Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, Grow Native Curriculum, April 29, 205. It is “Flower Fantasy” (A Dramatic Reading) adapted from: Keepers of Life by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, p. 139-140. (Suggested motions are in capital letters):

You are a tiny seed buried in a field of rich, dark soil (CURL UP IN A BALL CLOSE TO THE GROUND). It is spring time and each day the soil get warmer in the sun and wetter with the spring rain. Soon you are about to sprout! First, your root splits out of your seed coat and reaches down into the soil (STRETCH ONE LEG OUT INTO THE GROUND). Then, two small leaves push through the soil into the bright sunlight. (SLOWLY REACH TWO HANDS OUT TOWARDS THE SUN). Each day you grow a longer, stronger stem and large wide leaves that catch the sun’s energy and make food that feeds you. (CONTINUE TO STRETCH OUT HANDS AND GROW TALLER) More leaves grow and branches form with flowers and buds. The wind bends you at times, but you are anchored strong in the soil. (SWAY FROM SIDE TO SIDE)

One day, the large bud on the top of your stem begins to open. Soon a large, round yellow flower with many petals opens. (MAKE A CIRCLE WITH YOUR ARMS OVER YOUR HEAD). Buzzing bees and other insects visit your flower every day. (LEADER MAKES BUZZING SOUNDS). The bees pollinate your flower and soon tiny seeds form where the flower once was. (HAVE STUDENTS EXTEND ONE HAND ABOVE THEIR HEAD WITH THE PALM FACING UP - PLACE A SEED ON EACH PALM).

Birds are landing on you to eat your seed. (ADULT PRETENDS TO BE BIRD AND COLLECTS A FEW SEEDS). Some of the seeds drop to the ground from the birds or from you. (HAVE STUDENTS DROP REMAINING SEEDS ON FLOOR). The days start getting colder and the frost causes your leaves and flowers to droop. (CHILDREN BEND OVER LIKE DROOPING FLOWER). Some of your seeds on the ground are buried by squirrels for the long winter ahead. (HAVE AN ADULT PRETEND TO BE A SQUIRREL BURYING SEEDS). The squirrel forgets some seeds and they will grow into new plants next year. When the snow starts to fall, your leaves, stems and flowers are brown and withered. (HAVE EVERYONE FALL TO THE GROUND). But, your seeds will grow next spring!

Field Experience: Part 3 - Pollinator Hunt (50 minutes)

This portion of the lesson requires a mobile device and uses a unique online mapping tool called Siftr.org. An internet connection is not required for the field experience, as long as “GPS location services” are enabled on the mobile device being used to take pictures. Pictures uploaded to the Siftr.org site will automatically be located according to the GPS coordinates connected to the picture. See the “Materials List” for example Siftr sites and a YouTube video on how to create a Siftr site for your natural area or field investigation site.  

This activity is ideally conducted three times in the spring (once in April, once in May, and once in June). As different plants are being fertilized and developing seeds throughout the spring and early summer and different pollinators are active at different times, students will be able to make phenological comparisons between plants and pollinators over time at the school forest. Students will observe and photograph pollinators in action, as well as the plants that depend upon them for reproduction, in the prairie habitat. With an internet connection, students will upload the photos to the shared online mapping tool. Visit the Pollinator Siftr site: https://siftr.org/pollinatorhunt-HartjeNC/ to upload photos.

To prepare for the pollinator hunt, follow these steps:

1. Students visit Siftr.org on their mobile device and click on “Discover”
2. Enter “Pollinatorhunt-HartjeNC” and click on the icon
3. Click on “Instructions” for guidance and then “Follow this Siftr”.
4. Students will be prompted to create an account using an email address and password.
5. Go to “Settings” and then “Privacy” to switch “Location Services” to “on” (enables GPS coordinates to be attached to photos).

*Safety Precautions :

1. Scout the areas in which you plan to take students for hazardous plants (poison ivy, stinging nettle, wild parsnip, etc) beforehand. Depending on the landscape, you may wish to restrict students to ‘on trail’ areas only, or allow students to venture off trail within guidelines.
2. Give clear boundaries for where students can and cannot travel (must be able to see the instructor at all times, can’t go beyond this trail marker, must stay within 10 steps of the trail, etc).
3. Students should not eat plants, flowers or seeds.
4. Close-toed shoes and long pants are recommended. Bug repellent for mosquitoes and ticks is also recommended. Check your school district’s policy on student use of repellents for outdoor activities.
5. Student should not try to catch pollinators or distract them from their goal of pollinating. The goal is to photograph them in action, doing their job to feed and move pollen from one flower to another
6. **Be sure that any student, teacher, or chaperone with an insect allergy has the necessary equipment on their person (epi-pen, Benadryl, etc).

Before beginning the pollinator hunt, review some basic information about pollinators with questions to students:

1. What are pollinators? (Animals that visit flowers and deliver pollen from one flower to another, fertilizing it)
2. Why are pollinators important? (Without pollinators, many flowers and other plants would not be able to produce seeds or fruits).
3. So pollinators help plants. What do they get out of it? (Flowers provide nectar for them to eat).
4. What are examples of pollinators? (Bees, ants, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies)
5. We’re going to hunt for pollinators in the prairie. What’s a prairie? (Open areas that have mainly grasses and flowers, instead of trees (like forests).
6. How do pollinators pollinate flowers? (They carry the pollen from one flower to another flower as they visit flowers to feed).
7. How do pollinators know which flowers they should visit? (Flowers have certain characteristics to attract specific pollinators, such as color, scent, and shape).  

Set clear boundaries for the study area and give students a goal to photograph three different pollinators on three different plants. More is better! If they know the type of pollinator and/or type of plant, excellent! If not, when an internet connection is available, students can search for ‘common Wisconsin prairie plants’ and ‘common Wisconsin pollinators’ to make educated identification guesses for the pollinators and plants they discover. They can also upload their photos, along with a caption and selecting a ‘tag’ for the category of the photos, onto the Siftr site.

If the same site is visited multiple times (ideal), students can sort the photos numerous ways:

1. Sift by date

• Moving the left and right sliders will modify the date range
• Only items published within that range will be visible

2) Sift by category

• Select the combination of categories you want to display
• If no categories are selected all items will be displayed
  

Wrap-Up:

After three visits to the field investigation site, ask students to sift through the siftr site and try to identify three patterns over time. Prompt questions can include:

1. What pollinators stayed the same over the three month period we photographed? What pollinators were only present during certain months?
2. Was there a month where more flowers were in bloom compared to other months? Were there more different pollinators photographed when more flowers were in bloom?
3. Did certain pollinators seem to always visit certain flowers, or did all pollinators appear to visit all flowers?
4. If this study were continued into July, August, and September, what would you predict about the number of flowers in bloom and the number of pollinators present? Would you expect the patterns you observed in the spring to stay the same in the late summer? Why or why not?

Formative Assessment:

Seeds Research and Sorting Pre-Activity, Seed Scavenger Hunt, Plant Parts Pre-Activity, “Plant Partners” field experience, and Pollinator Hunt

Extension Activity for differentiation:

Seed Song- How Seeds Move - Seed Dispersal YouTube

Who Will Plant a Tree  by Jerry Pallotta

What kinds of Seeds are These?  By Heidi Roemer

The Dandelion Seed , by Joseph Anthony

A Seed is Sleepy , by Diana Aston

The Tiny Seed , by Eric Carle

Flip, Float, Fly , by JoAnn Macken

OER Commons License:

Free, open license, creative commons, By, Non-Commercial, Share Alike

Additional Background Resources:

Native Plant Seed Collecting ppt

11 Plants that Love the Cold

"Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail," editors of Storey Publishing: North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781612129013

“Grow Native: Native Plants and their Pollinators,” Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, Grow Native Curriculum, April 29, 205.