Water is essential to all living things. Students conduct demonstrations and experiments to determine ways in which water is used by plants. Students observe the results of capillary action in a plant and conclude that water keeps the stalks of nonwoody plants rigid. Students determine that some seeds are dispersed by water and that water is present in nectar, which attracts pollinators. Students construct marshmallow models of various molecules, including water, carbon dioxide, sugar, and oxygen, to become aware of the process of photosynthesis.
Students simulate the body coverings of various aquatic animals.
They analyze a film about wildlife to determine ways that animals depend on water. They design an aluminum insect to float on water. In pairs, students conduct library research using references about an animal living in an aquatic ecosystem and write a descriptive paragraph about this animal. Finally, they observe animals living in moist areas on the school grounds. Students listen to the story, Secret Place, by Eve Bunting, and identify ways the people in the story showed respect for the wildlife they observed.