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On(line)SC

Energy Flow

Producers

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Notes and Facilitation Points

This is the second of four Energy Flow lessons. They can be taught together or alone, but are best taught together. They will teach how energy moves through nature as plants and animals get the energy needed to live and survive.

Stewardship can be promoted along with this lesson as students begin to value the importance of food webs, producers, and consumers.

Pre-lesson prep options: colored pens/pencils/markers/crayons, blank sheet of paper.

Suggested activity: leaves, scissors

Slide #11 - This activity continues into a crosscutting concept on slide #12.

Slides #17-18 - This is a suggested activity. The students can make leaf rubbing art.

Key questions to use throughout the lesson: Think of how many different types of plants you know. How are they similar? How are they different?

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Notes and Facilitation Points

Crosscutting Concepts within this lesson

Slide #5 Energy and Matter: When eliciting understanding of energy change, ask students: Where does the [___] get its energy? EX: Where do plants get their energy?

Slide #12

System and System Models: When eliciting information about the components and interactions of systems and system models, ask students: what are the key parts of the [ a natural object, designed object, or organism described in the scenario]? EX: what are the key parts of the plants you drew from the previous slide?

Structure and Function: After presenting students with a novel system students have not explored before to investigate: What function do you think [structure] serves in this [system]?

EX: What function do you think each key part of the plants serves in this plant?

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On(line)SC

Energy Flow

Producers

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Plants need three basic things to make food and energy.

Where do plants get their energy?

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Answers

Water

Sunlight

Carbon Dioxide

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Plants are producers because they make their food.

Producers create energy/food used by other organisms through photosynthesis.

Photo means light, and synthesis means to put together.

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Plants make food through Photosynthesis.

Carbon dioxide passes through the plant’s leaf pores.

Roots absorb water, moving through the stem and the leaves.

Sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll, a pigment located in the leaves, making them green.

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Plants use these elements to create their food, a type of sugar called glucose.

After photosynthesis is complete,

where does the oxygen and water go?

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Carbon dioxide and oxygen affect our lives.

Without oxygen, we would not be able to breathe, and without the carbon dioxide we exhale out, plants would not be able to survive!

Plants and animals help each other breathe.

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Plants come in a large variety of sizes and shapes.

Some grow to be over 350 feet tall, while some grow to only a few inches.

What is the largest plant you have ever seen?

What is the smallest?

Draw these two plants.

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Label these key parts on your drawing.

What are the key parts of a plant?

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Most plants have similar body structures including:

Roots to hold the plant to

the ground.

Stems and branches help keep the plant upright and pointed towards the sun.

Leaves capture sunlight for the plant to turn into glucose.

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Many plants produce flowers.

Flowers make pollen that is spread from flower to flower, often by insects, who pollinate the flowers.

Pollination allows the plant to make seeds that will grow into new plants.

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What are some examples of pollinators?

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Bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, wasps, and flies are

all pollinators!

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Use the leaves you find outside.

You will need a piece of paper

and crayons.

Set your leaf on a flat surface and put a white sheet of paper

over the top of it.

Rub a crayon gently across the paper. This is called a leaf rubbing!

Activity

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You can make several more

leaf rubbings

and create

beautiful leaf art!

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Plants are the building blocks

for the entire food web.

What would happen to the animals if there were

no more plants?

What would happen if plants did not produce oxygen during photosynthesis?

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THANK YOU FOR LEARNING ABOUT PRODUCERS WITH US!

Send us your leaf art pictures and questions to Socialmedia@ONSC.us.

We love hearing from you!

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Works Cited

Slide 5 | Image #1 | "Beautyberry blossoms and Bee" by bob in swamp is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Slide 7 | Image #1 | “Bears Foot” ONSC Archive

Slide 8 | Image #1 | “Wild Strawberry” ONSC Archive

Slide 9 | Image #1 | “Carolina Rose” ONSC Archive | Image #2 | "10. Bright" by colemama is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Slide 10 | Image #1 | "Pine trees near rest stop at road's curb" by Horia Varlan is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Slide 11 | Image #1 | "Parker Group sequoia trees" by daveynin is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Slide 12 | Image #1 | "The Colors of Death Valley" by Trey Ratcliff is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Slide 13 | Image #1 | “Mayapple” ONSC Archive

Slide 14 | Image #1 | “Spring Beauty “ONSC Archive

Slide 15 | Image #1 | "Flowers" by kevingessner is licensed under CC BY 2.0 | Image #2 | "multi-colored lantana flower" by Martin LaBar is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Slide 18 | Image #1 | “Leaf Rubbing” ONSC Archive

Slide 19 | Image #1 | "dog+steak=awesome" by eschipul is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0