http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=collection/duk_/lessons/duk_sunflower_mary_less/duk_sunflower_mary_less.xmllessontext/xmlWho Needs What?Engineering K-Ph.D. Program, animalsplantsplant growthexperimental designThe teacher leads a discussion in which students identify the physical needs of animals, and then speculate on the needs of plants. With guidance from the teacher, the students then help design an experiment that can take place in the classroom to test whether or not plants need light and water in order to grow. Sunflower seeds are planted in plastic cups, and once germinated, are exposed to different conditions. In particular, within the classroom setting it is easy to test for the effects of light versus darkness, and watered versus non-watered conditions. During exposure of the plants to these different conditions, students measure growth of the seedlings every few days using non-standard measurement. After a few weeks, they compare the growth of plants exposed to the different conditions, and make pictorial bar graphs that demonstrate these comparisons.
Determining the optimal environment for growing crops and other plants used to produce products is agricultural engineering.
Students will be able to describe how a simple experiment can be conducted in order to determine if plants need light and/or water in order to grow.30TeachEngineering.orgMary R. Hebrank (Project and Lesson/Activity Consultant), Duke UniversityS1028343North_CarolinaScience1.01 Investigate the needs of a variety of different plants:<br />• Air.11S102834DNorth_CarolinaScience1.04 Identify local environments that support the needs of common North Carolina plants and animals.11S100282CNorth_CarolinaMathf. Estimate quantities fewer than or equal to 100.11S100C8F7North_CarolinaMathc. Compare, using appropriate language, with respect to the attribute selected.11S100E7F0North_CarolinaMathb. Solve problems involving applications of time (clock and calendar).11S100A7C4North_CarolinaMath4.01 Collect, organize, describe and display data using line plots and tallies.11S1008E25North_CarolinaMath4.02 Describe events as certain, impossible, more likely or less likely to occur.11United StatesCopyright 2012 - Engineering K-Ph.D. Program, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke Universityhttp://www.teachengineering.org/policy_ipp.phphttp://www.teachengineering.org/2008-09-261Teacher