Anchor of the plants!

Objective: To observe and identify the types of roots present in plants.

Materials Required: A wheat, Maize or rice plant; a plant of pea, balsam or marigold; a hand lens.
Procedure: Uproot the plants carefully so that the roots are not broken. Wash the roots with water to remove any soil sticking to the roots.
Now observe the roots and answer the following questions:
1. Do all these roots have the same structure? Yes/No
2.If no, then how are they different?
3.Which plant has a main, thick centrally placed vertically growing main root from which branches are coming out?
4. Which plant has fibre like roots that spread in the soil?
5. Can you name any other plant near your surroundings that have similar roots?

Interpretation: Grasses and cereal plants have fibre like roots that spread in the soil. Such roots are known as Fibrous roots. Plants like pea, balsam, marigold and tulsi have a main root that grows vertically into the soil and gives out smaller branches. Such roots are known as Taproots.

Reinforcement: · You must have observed vegetables like carrots, beetroot and radish. These are actually modified roots. To which of the root categories mentioned above do these belong? You may not be able to uproot all the plants to know about their root system. How will you find out the type of root present? (Hint: Try to compare the leaves of such plants with the ones whose roots you have already observed.)

Do plants drink water?

Objective: To show that water absorbed by the roots is transported in a plant from the stem to leaves and flowers.

Materials Required: A white coloured flower of balsam, carnation or rose, two beakers, red and blue ink, a sharp blade and water.

Procedure: Fill the beakers with water. Add a few drops of red ink into one beaker and a few drops of blue ink in the other beaker. Take a flower with a stem that is atleast six inches long. Using a sharp blade carefully cut the stem into two halfway up towards the flower. Put each stem-half into the beakers as shown in the figure below. You may provide additional support to the flower by putting the set-up against the wall. Keep the set-up undisturbed for two to three hours.

Observation: You will observe that half the flower has turned red while the other half has turned blue. Interpretation: The coloured water has travelled upward through the stem to the petals of the flower. Red and blue lines in the stem indicate the path for conduction of water through the stem.

The advertising Petals!

Objective: To learn about the parts of a flower.

Materials Required: Flower of Hibiscus (china rose), rose, balsam, salvia etc.

Procedure: Observe the flower and read the clues to the crossword puzzle to identify the parts of a flower.

Clues:
1. I am green in colour,
for the bud I am the protective cover!

2. Most eye-catching in plants,
Pluck me if you want!

3. The butterflies carry it,
The bees ferry it,
It is not merely a carriage
It is much more a marriage (between two flowers)

4.Little stalks with swollen tops!

5. I attract the butterfly and the bee,
The flower is attractive because of me!

6. Before I turn into mango, orange and apples on the tree,
Peep into the flower and see me.

7. I form the seed that grow into plants and trees,
If you could peep into the ovary, you would see me.

8. The swollen tips of the stalks,
I produce some powder that is not for you folks.

Riddle-1

1. I have teeth to grind what you ate
And a tongue to taste and masticate
With saliva from the salivary glands
Can you guess who I am?

2. I form a passage
From the mouth to the stomach
Food pipe is my common name
Are you ready to play the game?

3. I churn the food
With some acidic juice
And then the proteins I digest
Are you ready to take this test?

4. I am tubular and long
And start with the duodenum
The process that is completed here is digestion
Another process that takes place is absorption.

5. I take the undigested food from the small intestine
And absorb water from it most of the time.
This food is then passed to anus
Who am I? Can you guess?

Am I a producer or a consumer?

Objective: To understand the relationship between the biotic components of an area. (Producer and consumer, Autotrophs and heterotrophs, Herbivores and carnivore and omnivore)

Materials required: Pictures/ Drawings of plants and animals found in aquatic, terrestrial and amphibious habitats; glue; scissors; small pieces of magnets; a metal board (made of iron); Paper or cardboard to make arrows

Procedure:
1. Collect pictures /drawings of plants and animals.
2. You may also paste the pictures on cardboard pieces and attach a small magnet behind the cardboard pieces.
3. Put the pictures of organisms in the order of ‘who eats whom’ on the metal board.
4. You may put picture of one organism and then look for others.
5. Form all possible food chains. You will observe that there are food chains in which common organism/organisms are present and so you may have to connect them.
6. Now answer the following questions:
Why are the plants are not eating any organism?
From where do the plants get their food?
There are some animals that are only eating plants. What are they known as? Identify such animals in the food chains that you have made.
There are some animals that are only feeding on other animals. What are such animals known as? Identify them in the food chains that you have made.
There are some animals that are feeding on both plants and animals. What would you call such animals?
Are their any such animals in the food chains that you have made? Name them.

Interpretation: Plants can prepare their own food by the process of photosynthesis. That is why they are known as producers or Autotrophs.
Heterotrophs cannot make their own food. Food chain is a process of one organism eating the other and being eaten by another organism. An interconnected network of food chains is known as a food web.

Reinforcement: Why are herbivores, carnivores and omnivores known as Heterotrophs?
Are humans herbivores or carnivores?
Why do most food chains start from plants?
Why are vegetarian food habits more advantageous in terms of energy?
Classify the following as herbivores, carnivores and omnivores:
Parrot, cat, cockroach, grasshopper, butterfly, white ants, scorpion, head-louse, malarial mosquito, bear, monkey, squirrel, crocodile, caterpillar and honeybee.

Where does manure come from!

Introduction- You may have seen the gardener putting manure in the flower beds.
Do you know what it is and where it comes from?

Objective-To study the role of decomposers in the environment.

Materials required- Vegetable peels, rotten vegetables and fruits, dry leaves, cow dung etc.

Procedure- Dig one circular pit that is about one foot deep and one foot in diameter. Fill the pit with vegetable peels, rotten vegetables and fruits, dry leaves, cow dung till it is about three-fourths full. Fill the rest of the pit with soil and leave this pit undisturbed for two months. You can sprinkle water occasionally if the weather is too dry. Dig the pit after two months and observe.

Do you observe the peels, leaves etc. in the same shape and size as you had put them at the beginning of the experiment? Yes/No

If there is a change, describe what exactly do you find?

What term can you use for the process that brought the change- digestion, erosion, decomposition or precipitation?___________

Do you find any kind of living organisms in the pit-earthworms/insects/worms etc? Yes/No

Interpretation: The change in the vegetable peels, rotten vegetables and fruits, dry leaves, cow dung etc. into a homogenous mass, is brought about by micro organisms like bacteria and fungi that are present in the soil. Such microorganisms are called decomposers.

Re-enforcement - (i) Perform the same activity in summer and winter and note the difference in the extent of decomposition. Give reasons for your observations.
(ii) Collect some earthworms and put them in the pit with vegetable peels and cow dung. What difference do you observe in this case?
(iii) Add a few plastic bags with the vegetable peels and perform this experiment. Record your observations.

If the roots get “drowned”, the plant is going to die!

Objective: To show that the roots of the plants need air for respiration.

Materials required: Two potted plants such as balsam, rose, sunflower etc. that are similar in size, some wet clay or some plastic putty.

Procedure: Take two potted plants A and B. Block the hole at the bottom of one of the pots (pot-B) using wet clay or plastic putty. Leave the plants in open space where there is sufficient sunshine. Water the plants twice a day. Continue this experiment for two weeks or more.

Observe the pots everyday for the following: (i) Absorption of water into the soil, whether it seeps down or stays.
(ii) Whether the leaves stay firm or wilt/droop. Record your observations. What happens to the plant in pot-A? What happens to the plant in pot-B?

Interpretation: Excess of water that fails to drain out from pot-B (with the bottom hole blocked) drives out air from the soil. As a result the plant roots do not get oxygen for respiration and so the leaves of the plant will wither and ultimately die.

In this kitchen, microbes cook!

Objective: To find out the appropriate temperature for the setting of curd.

Materials required: curd (as a starter )(100 mL), milk (1 litre), 5 beakers, a spoon, heat source for heating the milk, measuring cylinder, and thermometer.

Procedure: Take five beakers and label them as A, B, C, D, and E. You may label them with a sketch pen or a marker pen. Put 200 mL of milk in each of the five beakers. Heat the milk in the first four beakers to the temperature mentioned in the table below. Add a teaspoonful of curd in each beaker and cover the beaker with an inverted petridish. Put the beakers in separate cardboard boxes or insulated containers. You may wrap each beaker in a thick towel to maintain the respective temperatures. Put the fifth beaker in the refrigerator after mixing a teaspoonful of curd. Leave the beakers undisturbed for 3-4 hours. Record your observations in the table given below:

BEAKER	Temperature at the time of mixing milk with curd	Observation (Has the milk been converted to curd) Yes/No
A	40 C
B	50 C
C	60 C
D	100 C
E (in the refrigerator)	5-8 C

Interpretation: Most microorganisms exhibit maximum growth in the temperature range 30-45 C. That is the reason why we put perishable substances in the refrigerator. The longer you leave the curd at room temperature, more sour it tastes because of increased growth of bacteria and further production of acid

Re-enforcement: Why do curds set slowly in winters? If you boil the starter curd and then mix it with milk, will curd formation take place? Give reasons for your answer. After this experiment, can you find out the ideal temperature for the growth of microorganisms? Why is it advised to put curd in the refrigerator after it is set?

Are you aware of your surroundings?

Objective: To identify the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of the environment.

Given here is a crossword puzzle. Read the clues and fill up the spaces, using one alphabet in each square to make words/terms that represent components of the environment. Then categorise these ten answers into living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of the environment.

The clues:

1. I hold the roots and feed the plants
I house the earthworms, insects and ants!

2. Biotic factor am I
And cannot make my food No matter how hard I try!

3. I may be harsh and sometimes mild
Being abiotic factor temperature is my child!

4. I rise up and make you sweat I fall down,
you shiver like a clown.

5. Invisible as such, although so near
I set the curd
and a distant relative of mine May even cause fever!

6. In the cloud, on the land and under the boat,
Freeze me or heat me, I stay afloat.

7. To prepare food, I stand in the sun.
My kitchens are green, now guess this one.

8. A medium to fly and to stay afloat
You all need me, a plant or a goat.

9. I come at dawn and when the lamp is switched on.
I make the plants grow and even form the rainbow.

10. I make mountains, plateaus on land Parent of gravel, soil and sand.

Reinforcement: Identify at least three biotic and three abiotic components of:
A crop field
An pond/aquarium
A forest
A potted sunflower plant kept in the verandah

for answers, see the table at the end of the blog.