This guide is a flexible reading enhancement tool for use by parents and teachers. It can be used with one child, a small group of children, or an entire family or class.
Ñ The "Preparation for Reading or Listening" section in this guide suggests procedures for introducing the material and creating a stimulating environment for learning.
Ñ Children can read the book in one sitting or they can read and discuss one portion at a time.
Ñ The "Background Information" section in this guide provides more details about the material presented in the book. This information can help you guide discussion and answer questions children may ask.
Ñ The "Follow-up Activities" section in this guide links the content of the book with several subject areas. Select the activities that best fit your needs.
Reading comprehension depends in large part upon prior experience and motivation. The procedure suggested in the following section allows children to share knowledge and experiences before they begin to read the book. It also stimulates interest in learning more about the topic presented in the book.
Ñ Starting Out╤Show the child a plant. Have the child name any parts he or she might recognize. Explain that the CD-ROM book " The Parts of A Plant" tells about the different parts of a plant and what each part does.
Ñ Sharing Experiences╤Allow the child to share what he or she already knows about plants. Ask the child, "Have you ever worked in a garden?", "How did you care for the garden?", and "What did the plants need to grow?"
Ñ Setting Goals for Reading or Listening╤Discuss what the child wants to know about plants. Ask questions such as, "How many parts do plants have?", "What do roots do for plants?", and "How do leaves help a plant grow?" Keep a list of the questions generated for later reference.
Ñ Previewing the Material╤Let the child browse through the book to get a general idea of the content. The photographs may inspire more questions to be added to the list before reading begins.
There are more than 350,000 kinds of plants in the world. The plant kingdom includes simple plants╤fungi, bacteria, and algae╤as well as more complex ones╤trees, shrubs, vegetables, and flowers.
The bird-of-paradise flower is native to South Africa. Surprisingly, it is a member of the banana family. Buttercups, related to anemones, bloom in meadows and woods in the spring and summer.
How Plants Grow
Most plants need heat, water, and nutrients to grow. They also require sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air. These elements are used by the plant to manufacture its own food. Plants such as mushrooms, molds, and other fungi do not produce their own food. These plants, which live in moist environments, feed on decaying matter.
Plants grow at different rates. Annuals grow quickly, and they complete their life cycle in one season. Longer-lived plants, such as perennials, grow more slowly. They can live from two years to many hundreds. Bristlecone pines have been known to live as long as 4,600 years. They are probably the oldest plants in existence.
Seasonal Plants
Trees that lose their leaves every year are called deciduous trees. In the fall, these plants stop producing chlorophyll, the green pigment in their leaves. This is triggered by changes in light and temperature. The leaves turn red, yellow, and orange. These colors are always present in the leaves, but in the spring and summer they are masked by the more dominant green coloring. By the end of fall, the leaves die and drop to the ground. During the winter months, the plants stop producing food.
In the spring, deciduous plants begin growing again. New leaves and flower buds, produced in the fall, begin to develop in the warming months of spring. These plants need both the cold temperatures of winter and the warm temperatures of spring to bloom.
Plants that do not lose their leaves all at one time are called evergreens. These plants are always producing new leaves to replace dying ones. The old leaves drop off gradually throughout the year.
Roots and Stems
Roots and stems╤two of five major parts of plants╤play an important role in the growth and development of plants. Roots are the parts of the plant that absorb water and minerals from the soil. They may also store food for the plant.
Roots generally grow down into the ground. They fan out in the soil, supporting the upper parts of the plant and helping to control soil erosion. Tiny hairs along the roots absorb minerals and water from the soil.
There are two principal kinds of roots╤taproots and fibrous roots. Carrots and beets are examples of taproots. Taproots usually have a large primary root and smaller auxiliary roots. Many grasses have fibrous roots. All the parts of fibrous roots are about the same size.
Stems transport water and minerals to the leaves and return the food from the leaves to the rest of the plant. There are two kinds of stems╤the woody stems that form the trunks of trees and shrubs, and the thinner stems of flowers, grasses, and some vegetables. Most stems grow upward. Strawberry plants have specialized stems, called runners. These stems grow horizontally. Runners help the plant spread. Potatoes and onions are other kinds of stems.
Leaves
Leaves grow from stems. There are many kinds of leaves╤simple, compound, flat, needlelike, and specialized leaves such as tendrils. Leaves are arranged on their stems so that each one receives the maximum amount of sunlight. Most plants tend to grow toward a light source. Leaves of many plants contain chlorophyll, a green pigment.
Leaves make food for plants by a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll in the leaves absorbs light energy from the sun. Other parts of the leaf absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Water and minerals are drawn up from the soil by the root and the stem. The light energy unites carbon dioxide with the water and minerals, making sugar. The sugar helps the plant make proteins, starches, and other compounds it needs to grow. The process of photosynthesis also releases oxygen into the air.
Plants utilize food by a process called respiration. During respiration, chemical energy from the compounds is released into the plant. The plant uses this energy for growth and development. Whereas photosynthesis begins during the daylight hours, respiration occurs constantly, in all parts of the plant.
Flowers and Insects
Flowers contain the reproductive parts of the plant. They produce the seeds that make new plants. Most flowers develop from buds that form on the stem.
There are two basic kinds of flowering plants: gymnosperms and angiosperms. Gymnosperms include most evergreen plants. They make seeds in cones.
Angiosperms produce flowers that have many parts. Inside the flower is the stamen. This is the male part of the flower. Tiny yellow grains of pollen cover the top of the stamen. The pistil is the female part of the flower. It contains a slender tube leading down to the round ovary that contains the egg.
Insects play a crucial role in pollinating plants. The brightly colored petals of flowers and their sweet-smelling nectar attract insects such as bees and butterflies. As the insects sip nectar from the plants, they pick up pollen on their legs and feet. When an insect flies to another flower, the pollen rubs off onto the new flower. The pollen travels down a slender tube to the ovary, where it comes in contact with the egg. When pollen meets the egg, fertilization occurs.
Seeds
Seeds vary in size. The coconut tree produces one large seed. Tobacco seeds are very small. The size of the seed has no relation to the ultimate size of the plant. A tall oak tree grows from a small acorn.
Seeds contain all the parts a new plant will need to grow. Seeds have three main parts: the seed coat, the embryo, and a food supply. The seed coat protects the embryo and the food supply from insects and from water loss. The embryo is an immature plant with parts that will develop into the root, the stem, and the first leaves. A supply of stored food feeds the embryo until it can make its own food.
Germination
All seeds need three ingredients to germinate: water, the right temperature, and oxygen. As a seed absorbs moisture from the ground, it swells until the seed coat breaks open. The root develops first, pushing down into the ground. It anchors the baby plant in the ground. Next the stem pushes upward. Once leaves form from the stem, the plant can make its own food.
The following optional activities link the content of the book with several subject areas. The activities are designed to help both readers and nonreaders acquire and practice skills in various ways. Do as much of the activity as is appropriate to the needs and ability level of your child or children.
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Subject Areas: Science, Social Studies
Skills: Reinforcing concepts, oral expression
Ñ Review the questions the child asked before reading the book. What questions have been answered? Have the child discuss answers and plan ways to find answers to some of the remaining questions.
Ñ Visit the library and find books that will answer specific questions. Ask neighborhood friends, such as gardeners and florists, to share their knowledge with the child.
Ñ Take the child on a nature walk. Point out different kinds of plants and encourage the child to find others. Have the child look for large plants and small ones, plants with thick trunks and thin stems, plants with flowers and plants without, and plants with different kinds of leaves. Keep track of the number of plants found in each category. Then observe the parts of different plants. Let the child see, touch, and smell each part, but make sure the child doesn't eat any of the plants.
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Subject Areas: Art, Science, Math
Skills: Classifying, motor skills, following directions
Materials Needed: Mural paper, magazines, and tape
Ñ Make a mural showing plants that grow during each season. Place a large sheet of paper on the wall. Divide the paper into four sections. Label each section with the name of a season. Give the child pictures of trees, flowers, bushes, and grasses. Discuss what plants grow in what season. Ask the child to tape the pictures onto the correct sections of the mural paper.
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Subject Area: Science
Skills: Following directions, classifying, observation
Materials Needed: Jar, paper towels, bean seeds, and water
Ñ Soak bean seeds overnight. Then take several sheets of paper towels and wet them. Roll the towels up and place them in the jar. Add a little water to the bottom of the jar. Wedge the bean seeds between the paper towels and the side of the jar. Make sure the beans are not in the water.
Ñ After a few days, the seeds will germinate. Have the child watch the seedlings over a period of several days. Pay particular attention to which part grows first.
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Subject Area: Science
Skills: Observation, motor skills
Materials needed: Two shoe boxes, scissors, two small potted bean or pea plants
Ñ Take a shoe box and place a small bean or pea plant at one end. To allow light to come into the box, make a small opening at the other end of the box. Put the lid on the box and place the box near a light source. Put the other plant in the second shoe box. Cover the box, but do not make a hole in it. Water both plants as needed. Make sure no additional light enters either box. Have the child observe and record the results of the experiment. Have the child write what he or she thought would happen to the plants and what did happen.
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Subject Areas: Science, Art
Skills: Following directions, motor skills
Materials Needed: Clear sticky paper, construction paper, and wildflowers
Ñ Have the child collect wildflowers. Arrange the flowers on construction paper. To seal the flowers, press the sticky paper over them. The child may want to give the completed project as a present to a family member.
This Activity Guide may be reproduced by the original purchaser for use at home or in the classroom. Copyright ⌐ 1993 National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C. 20036.
