To start off our science activity, we would have the students get into groups and gather various leaves from outside. Once the students bring these leaves inside, we would have them draw pictures of the leaves they collected. The picture below show our drawings of our leaves.
After the students have drawn their pictures, we would have them go to a leaf identification website, www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm, where they would use this technology and their observation skills to identify the type of plant their leaves came from. One of the leaves we identified as we did this activity was a leaf from a sumac plant. In the picture below, you can see the image of our leaf next to the plant it came from on the identification site.
Once the leaves have been identified by the children, they would put their leaves under a microscope to observe in more detail. The children will notice that the leaves are not just one solid color, but have speckles and different colored veins. Also, there are often holes and blemishes in the leaves. Below is shown how our leaf is actually many different shades of green, unlike the dark green color that is seen without the microscope.
Additionally, each leaf contains veins, blemishes, and even tiny hairs, which are hard to examine without the help of a microscope. Below, you can see the veins of a dried leaf that we observed while doing this activity.
After the children have observed the leaves carefully under the microscope, we would have the children make new drawings of their leaves, making sure to show the new details that the learned about and observed.
despite the slow start your group did a great job! thanks for sharing and being done early.
ReplyDeleteI think this turned out great!
ReplyDeleteI really like this lesson! I like how the students first have to collect data themselves, and then further explore by identifying the leaves they found with the site you used, then even further, they get to use microscopes! I think this sounds like a fun experiment for students!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this experiment. It gives the students a different perspective when it comes to leaves. I liked the way you looked at different leaves (alive and dead) and showed the differences of each. This looks like it was a fun and educational experiment for students to do!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun way to look at plants! Cool drawings.
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