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Scamper This! Plants
How do plants grow?
Plants have seven basic requirements for growth: temperature, light, water, air, nutrients,
time, and room to grow.
But not all plants
are the same. Plants can grow
under a wide variety of conditions. Different
plants have different requirements, and how much water or light or time a
particular type of plant needs will vary depending on the plant. Some plants thrive in very hot
environments, others in very cold temperatures; while still others prefer temperatures somewhere
in between. Some plants can’t survive
temperature extremes, while other plants can survive both a harsh, cold snowy
winter and a hot dry summer. Can you think of a tree that
grows year-round, no matter the temperature? Think about a place that is very
cold or very hot. What types of
plants grow there? Consider a
rainforest plant, do you think it would have a difficult time surviving in
the desert or in a cold climate? Identify
a plant that is native to the desert and another that is found in a tropical
rainforest. Do these plants
need the same amount of each of the seven requirements listed above? Plants share many
characteristics in common, but also differ in significant ways. Some like it hot; while others
not. Some like a lot of water, or can
survive in polluted or salty water; while others don’t need a lot of water. Some plants have developed special
structures or adaptations that help them survive in their specific habitat or
in response to changes in their habitats; while others can tolerate small changes, others can't tolerate even the most subtle changes and will not survive. Experimenting
with Plants. When conducting experiments with plants, remember that the type of plant or seeds
you choose for your inquiry can affect the results! HINT: Choose a plant that makes your
experiment interesting or relevant to an existing problem. In addition
to considering the type of plant to be used in an experiment, also
consider how the different stages in a plant’s lifecycle might also affect the results. For example, how is germination affected by changes in one or
more of the above requirements? Are
older plants stronger than younger plants?
In other words, can older plants withstand some changes better than
younger plants, or is it the other way around? Is a plant more susceptible to changes at certain points in its
lifecycle than at other times?
For example, when a deciduous plant is dormant during the winter and
is exposed to a chemical will it survive better than if it is exposed during
a growth period like in the spring or is the opposite true? HINT: Choose a stage of development
that might make your experiment interesting or relevant. |
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