Lesson to Grow Monocots and Dicots - Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom

[Pages:4]Lesson to Grow Monocots and Dicots

Grade Level: 3-8 Essential Skills: 1, 4, 5, 9

NGSS: 3-LS4-2, 4-LS1-1, MSLS4-2

Time: 30 minutes to set up experiment with daily observations for about two weeks.

Materials: Monocots and Dicots Kit* Per Student: ? 8-10 Grass Seeds* ? 8-10 Wheat Seeds* ? 2 Bean Seeds* ? Snack-sized zip lock

bag* ? 3 cotton balls* ? Water ? Observation worksheet

*Kit available from Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom's Lending Library.

Additional AITC Resources: Books: Straight Forward Science: Plant Life (3-8) Seed, Soil, Sun (1-4)

Ecology Field Card Sets: Douglas-fir Forests; Oak Woodlands; Riparian Bottomland Forests

9/19

Description

In this lesson students set up a side-by-side germination experiment of monocot and dicot seeds. They will observe differences and similarities of these two types of flowering plants at the germination level, specifically the number of cotyledons. Students can record their findings daily. This is a great way to begin a flowering plant unit.

Background:

Flowering plants or angiosperms are divided into two groups, monocotyledon and dicotyledon (also called monocot and dicot). A cotyledon ("seed leaf") is the embryonic leaf-like structure within the seed that provides food for germination. The very basic distinction between monocots and dicots is the number of cotyledons it produces upon germination: one cotyledon makes a plant a monocot, and two cotyledons makes a plant a dicot. There are four other differences between these two plant types. Attached is a worksheet template.

Did You Know? Monocots comprise a quarter of all flowering plant species. This include lilies, orchids, agaves and grasses. Monocots range from tiny duckweeds to large palms and climbing vines. Economically, monocots are perhaps the most important plants grown. Corn, rice, wheat and barley all come from monocots. Bamboo and palms are a primary source of building materials and fibers in many tropical countries. Sugar cane, pineapples, dates, bananas and many familiar tropical fruits come from monocots.

Directions:

1) Begin the lesson by providing students with a brief discussion on the two types of flowering plants - monocots and dicots - and how at their most basic, the difference is the number of cotyledons they have. Use the student fact and observation sheet attached to help explain a cotyledon.

2) Break students into pairs and provide each group with a bag, seeds and three cotton balls.

3) Students moisten the cotton balls with water until they are wet, but not dripping.

4) Students then put the seeds on a cotton ball and place it in the bag. Note: Each type of seeds are on a separate cotton ball. Don't mix them. When they are all done, students seal the bag so moisture won't escape. Using a sharpie marker they write the first letter of each seed type on the bag to help them track their observations.

5) Students record the seeds' germination process and try and determine which of the seeds are monocots and dicots, and how they can tell the difference.

. Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation . 541-737-1318

Activity Page

Monocots & Dicots

Directions: Record the germination process of the seeds you are using in words and drawings. Using the monocot and dicot fact sheet, which seeds do you think are monocots and which are dicots? How can you

tell the difference?

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ Observation Log Day: _________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

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Draw

Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ Observation Log Day: _________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

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Draw

Draw

Observation Log Day: _________________________ Observation Log Day: _________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

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____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

Draw

Draw

Conclusion: Which seeds are monocots and which are dicots? Support your conclusion.

Activity Page

6 Ways to Identify Monocots and Dicots

Angiosperms is the scientific name for flowering plants. Flower plants are divided into two groups called monocotyledon and dicotyledon. They are also called monocots and dicots. There are six ways to identify if a plant is a monocot or a dicot.

Monocots

Dicots

1) Cotyledon: Also called a seed leaf, it is the leaf of the embryo of a seed plant. When it germinates it either remains in the seed or emerges, enlarges and becomes green.

Monocotyledons , or monocots, have just one of these first leaves. mono = one cotyledons = seed leaf

Dicotyledons, or dicots, have two first leaves. di = two cotyledons = seed leaf

2)Number of Petals:

Monocots have petals in multiples of three (3,6,9).

Dicots have petals in multiples of four or five (4,8,12 or 5,10).

3) Leaves: The veins in leaves are usually visible either on the top of a leaf or on the bottom or both. They look like lines that are a bit darker or lighter than the rest of the leaf.

Monocots have straight or parallel veins in their leaves.

Dicots have branching veins in their leaves. Lots of times they make the shape of a V.

4)Stems: Plants get food and water up and down their stems through a vascular system (like tubes) called xylem (ZAYH-luhm) and phloem (FLOH-em).

In monocots the xylem and phloem are randomly arranged.

5)Root Systems: In monocots the roots are fibrous with no main root.

For dicots the xylem and phloem are spaced evenly in a circle around the center of the stem.

For dicots there is a main root or taproot (e.g. a carrot).

6) Secondary Growth: This refers to branches coming off of the main stem or trunk of a plant.

Monocots are like palm trees. They basically have one main stem or trunk and they might have just a couple of leaves coming off that.

Dicots have lots of branches coming off of the main stem or trunk. An example would be oak trees.

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