1. Observing Nature

Nature-Journal-for-Children-Template.pdf
Printable Nature Journal

What do living things need to stay alive?

What do you need? What do your pets need? What do plants need?

Think about it. Make a list of all of things that animals, plants and people need to stay alive. Write down everything you can think of. How can we figure out if you thought of everything?

We can OBSERVE animals, plants and people in the world around us to check our list and make sure it is complete. Scientists record their observations in journals. You can record you observation in a journal that you print (like the Printable Nature Journal on the left) or one you create. Find a place where you can sit quietly and watch nature. It could be in your yard, at a park with your family or looking out a window. Find a place where you can safely observe nature and plan to make observations every day at the same time for a week. Record your observations in your journal.

Make a list of the needs you learn about in the video.

Watch the videos to see what animals eat.

Watch the video to learn how plants are like animals, and how they are different.

Draw a quick diagram to show how plants get energy.

How do animals eat?

Do you eat like a horse? Or more like a bird? As you might expect, different animals eat different things. Some animals specialize in eating one particularly rich food source, while others eat whatever they can find. The videos above show the different feeding habits among some of the world's creatures.

How do animal body parts help them find and eat the food they need?

  1. Choose an animal to study.

  2. Learn about them. Use the resources at the OVES Library to help you find more information.

  3. What parts of their body help them eat specific foods?

  4. Create and label a diagram of their body.

*** Independent readers, try this! ***

Animal Eats
Read the passage above in a new window. Make a list of the animals that are named in the passage. How can you classify, or organize them? Make a table or Venn diagram to organize the animals.
Bird Beaks

Ready for a challenge? View the presentation, then take the short quiz at the link below.

Body Parts Help Get Food

How do plants get energy?

Plants don't eat like animals do, but they still need energy. Where do plants get energy? Plant's don't move to find food. They don't have mouths like people and animals, so what parts of the plant help them to get water, nutrients and energy? The videos and activities on this page will help you explore how plant parts, their structures, help them to get and use water, soil and sunlight to create energy that can be used by living things.

How do plant structures gather and move water, air and sunlight?

  1. Draw a simple diagram of a plant. Label the structures. Use as many vocabulary words as you can.

  2. Learn about the structures of a plant. Use the resources at the OVES Library to help you find more information.

  3. Complete the Celery Experiment on the Clean Water page. Can you see the plant structures that moved the colored water in that experiment?

  4. Try the Walking Water Experiment below.

*** Independent readers, try this! ***

Plant Structure and Photosynthesis
Read the passage above in a new window. Describe the purpose of roots, shoots, flowers, and leaves using information from the passage. How do these systems work together to help the plant get energy?

Plants Structures Vocabulary

flower, leaf, stem, root

air, soil, sunlight, water

nutrients, shoot system, transport

carbon dioxide, chlorophyl, chloroplasts, glucose, oxygen, photosynthesis

Walking Water

Engineers and scientists use ideas from nature to help them solve human problems. Try the Walking Water Experiment. Get an adult to help you with the procedure.

Think about the Celery Experiment. How are the paper towels like the celery? What human problems could a system like the paper towels help you to solve?

What are the structures that help plants and animals survive?

Plants and animals are both living things, but at first glance, they seem very different. Animals tend to move around, while plants stay rooted in one place. Animals eat their food, while plants convert sunlight into the energy they need.

Think about the activities you have completed so far. What have you learned about the structures that help plants and animals survive?

Create a Venn Diagram to compare plants and animals.

  1. Start with a large sheet of paper. Hold it so the longest sides are horizontal. This is called landscape.

  2. Fold it in half left to right, like a hamburger fold. Open it up and press it flat.

  3. Draw a large circle on the left side, so that about 1/3 of the circle crosses the middle line.

  4. Draw a large circle on the right side so that about 1/3 of the circle crosses the middle line AND the first circle you drew.

  5. Label the circle on the left ANIMALS.

  6. Label the circle on the right PLANTS.

  7. Look back over the work you have completed so far. Think about the facts that you have learned. Organize your facts in the Venn Diagram:

    • Facts that are ONLY true for animals go in the left side of the Animal circle.

    • Facts that are ONLY true for plants go in the right side of the Plant circle.

    • Facts that are true for BOTH animals and plants go in the center of the page where the circle overlap.

*** Independent readers, try this! ***

Do plants behave like animals
Read the passage above in a new window, then watch the video below. How do plants behave like animals? Write about the ways that plants and animals are alike.

How are structures in nature like things we use everyday?

Engineers can and have learned a lot from nature. Scientists and engineers alike are on the hunt to tackle some of the issues the currently plague the world. It seems the process of biomimicry could have a lot of those answers. Biomimicry is

Can you find examples of biomimicry?

  1. Look through your Nature Journal. What things did you observe that help animals and plants solve problems?

  2. Look at the slides to the right with your family to find examples of products inspired by nature.

  3. Look around your house. Can you find any items that were inspired by nature? Can you solve a problem in or near your home using ideas from nature?

Look at the slides below. Read through the pages with your family. How did nature inspire the designs created here? What materials did engineers and scientists use to create their products? Do the new designs work the same as the natural solutions?
Biomimicry-Design-Curriculum-Activity_Primary_cards.pdf