Teacher's Pages
ACTIVITY TWELVE - "Bean Plant Photographs"
(It may be helpful to view the student page alongside this teacher
page.)
Apply - Teacher Fade
Bean Plant Photographs
Purpose:
This activity challenges students to use their knowledge
about photosynthesis to describe how a bean plant is getting its food at each stage of development.
Teacher Role: Coach if necessary, but try to fade out and let the
students coach each other!
Materials:
A copy of Bean and Plant book by Christine Back and
Barrie Watts
(preferably one copy for each group of students).
FRAME
"Today you will examine some wonderful photographs of bean
plants at different stages of growth. For each picture, think about 'How is the plant getting its food at
this stage of growth?'"
ACTIVITY
Alternative l:
If you have enough copies of the Bean and Plant book, have
students work in groups.
Let each group examine the photographs on pp. 3-13. They should
come to agreement about how the
plants in each picture are getting their food.
Let groups take turns presenting their assessment of one of the
photographs. The other groups should be
encouraged to listen and to provide feedback and coaching.
Encourage feedback and coaching from the other students.
Alternative 2:
Organize students in pairs or small groups.
Walk around the room and show them the first photograph. Allow
time for each group to make their
decision about how the plant is getting its food in that picture.
Then, in a whole group discussion, have groups share and give
feedback/coaching to each other.
Follow the same pattern for pages 5-13,.
Desired Student Responses:
Page 3: Embryo is getting food from the cotyledon. The food in
the cotyledon was made by
the parent plant during photosynthesis and stored in the seed.
Page 5: Embryo is still getting food from the cotyledon. Even
though it is out of the seed, it
has no green leaves yet and is still in the dark (in the soil),
so it cannot make its own food
yet.
Page 7: Embryo is still getting its food from the cotyledon.
Leaves are beginning to show,
but they are not green and are not out of the soil yet where they
can receive the sunlight they
need in order to make their own food.
Page 9: Cotyledon is starting to shrivel. Plant now has green
leaves and is out in the light so
it can start to make its own food using water taken in through
the roots, carbon dioxide taken
in through the leaves, and light which is absorbed by the leaves.
It could still be getting
some food from the cotyledon.
Page 11 & 13: Plant is making its own food by
photosynthesizing sugar, using water, carbon
dioxide and light.