Wednesday...wow it feels like a tuesday!

"Plantlets"
Spider Plant at my house :)



We started the class by turning in the plant lab which was due today. We then talked about the AMAZING plant of the day, which was the SPIDER PLANT! An interesting thing about the spider plant, is that it can self-propagate. This means that it can produce a baby plant of itself that roots in the soil. "Plantlets" are spider babies that the plant produces. It is a common houseplant that produces white flowers. After we finished talking about the plant of the day, Mrs. Stein demonstrated with the class Venus fly trap of how it closes to catch prey. She stuck a metal object inside an open trap and it closed up. It was pretty cooolll!!

Then we had a discussion about energy by answering a worksheet with our lab groups. Afterwards, talked about the questions as a class and Mrs. Stein elaborated on them.
Some of the questions were: (in up page 61)

Q:What is energy? Describe some characteristics of energy.
A: It is the ability to do work and it cannot be created or destroyed. It is TRANSFORMED!

Q: What is energy used for in living things?
A: to live and carry out functions

Q: What contains energy?
A: light, electric, sun, heat, chemicals

Note: When we consume food, we are consuming chemical energy which is stored in electrons of chemical bonds. In our body, our mitochondria is producing ATP.

Q: Why should you wear a white shirt on a hot day, not a dark shirt?
A: Dark colors absorb more heat or wave lengths of light and a white shirt reflects all wave lengths of light.

Q: What do you know about photosynthesis?
A: It is the process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy. The energy is stored in bonds of carbohydrates and plants make glucose by using photosynthesis.

Q: Describe the structures of a leaf that allow it to carry out the function of photosynthesis.
A: The shape of the leaf, being flat, increases SURFACE AREA which allows maximum light absorption. The cuticle prevents water from evaporating and the palisade layer is compacted with many chloroplasts. It is towards the top which allows maximum light absorption.

We talked about now light travels in waves and how colors have different wave lengths. "White" light is a mixture of all colors in the visible spectrum and plant pigments absorb sunlight. Chlorophyll has green pigments which is needed for photosynthesis. It reflects mostly green and it absorbs most all other colors.

We also reviewed Mrs. Stein's blog because SAM did not blog...so look at her post from last night.

HOMEWORK:
1. Read section 8.2 and 8.2 with UP pages 81-85 OR a reading strategy of your choice that fits reading-DUE FRIDAY!
2. Work on plant national park project
3. up pages 67-68

THE NEXT SCRIBE IS.....MADISON!