Botany Unit Part 3: Seeds and Young Plants

This unit includes 9 lessons (50 minutes each) and 19 pages of printable work bundles. The Work Bundles have students fill-in critical notes (red slides), conduct exciting hands-on activities, answer questions, includes games, built-in quizzes, and much more. The work bundles chronologically follow the detailed and interactive set of slideshows. A quiz game concludes for a great review and additional assessment. Answer Keys, video links, crosswords, built-in quizzes, and much more are provided. Everything you need to run a fantastic learning experience is provided. Everything arrives in editable format if you want add in your own slides and activities, and the slideshows and work bundles can easily be converted into Google Slides / docs for friendly Google Classroom learning.

A Brief Description of the Lessons

This is a fantastic PowerPoint because it is incredibly interactive. There are more visuals and activities than text.

Lesson 1 Seeds: The PowerPoint begins with a hook about the dooms day vault seed bank in Svalbard. This gets the students realizing the importance of seeds to human survival. Parts of the seeds are then described in a step by step process and students record a visual in their work bundle.

Lesson 2 Seed Dispersal: Seed dormancy is described and factors that can break dormancy listed in a step by step process with visuals. Seed coats are described in detail. Seed dispersal is covered in a step by process. Male and female pine cones and pollen is described with visuals and questions. Seeds dispersal mechanisms, wind, water, animals, and tension, I also address that fire is also a factor that can break seed dormancy around this time. Wind dispersal is covered in detail with amazing visuals and neat video link. Students then get introduced into the design a seeds to travel in the wind project. They have seen many natural examples and now to a bit of biomimicry to design something that can compete with natures best. They'll spend a deal of time designing, the teacher just needs to have a box of paper, tissue paper, tape, string, paper clips, etc for construction.

Lesson 3 The Fan / Seed Dispersal Competition and continuation of Seed Dispersal. Their might be a whole lesson of fine tuning and letting the seeds fly in the fan. I usually go one at a time and count tiles from the fan, or measure. I try and ask the custodian for the larger industrial fans they have laying around to make the dispersal a bit more dramatic and to turn the classroom into a wind storm. The more fans, the better. After the fun, more dispersal mechanisms (water, animals, and tension) are described with amazing visuals and video links. A visual quiz that has the student name the seed dispersal mechanism is provided with answers.

Lesson 4 Young Plants: The young plant is then described in a series of slides including the radicle and gravitropism. The Hypocotyl and epicotyl, and series of challenge slides are presented. This section has many visuals. Gravitropism is described as is seed germination in a step by step process. The first visual quiz then has the students put their knowledge work and must name the part of a young plant that the arrow is point to. Answer are provided.

Lesson 5 Monocots and Dicots: Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons are described in a highly visual step by step process. A series of challenge based slide help to reinforce the lesson. A visual Quiz concludes the PowerPoint 1-10 with Answers helps review the information about monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Students stand and make hand signals for their answers which gets them out of their seat and interacting. Directions and visuals are included.

Lesson 6 George Washington Carver: The lesson wraps up studying George Washington Carver with slides, video link, and reading with questions. There's a place in the work bundle for students to answer questions and provide extra details from the video.

Lesson 7: Wrap-Up and Review. A full 20 question quiz game with bonus and final question, as well as a full crossword puzzle help review and provide an assessment of the learning. The review game has an answer version that the teacher should run and allows the students to self assess. The word bank can be removed from the crossword puzzle to make it more challenging it you wish.

This is a nice set of slideshows because it involves the students from beginning to end and is highly visual. The work bundle chronologically follows the slideshows throughout. Everything you need for an amazing unit of study is provided.