Photosynthesis Phun Courtney Kiley Staci Washington

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis and Botany 8th grade Life Science 2 week exploration activity The photosynthesis unit will be team taught Each student will have access to a laptop or desktop computer on a daily basis

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Lesson Objectives Students will observe plant growth under different environmental conditions Students will hypothesize why different environmental conditions affect plant growth based on their knowledge about photosynthesis Students will share their observations and hypotheses with their peers using a variety of web 2.0 tools

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Michigan Curriculum Standards and Benchmarks C Generate scientific questions about the world based on observation - Design and conduct scientific investigations - Use tools and equipment appropriate to scientific investigations LO III.2 - Describe evidence that plants make and store food * Plants grown under different conditions

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis ISTE’s Educational Technology Standards for Students Communication and Collaboration Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Materials Marigolds Soil Foam cups Construction paper Cellophane Digital camera Rulers Laptops Light sources

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 1- Setup Students will pick a partner and set up a marigold to grow in an environment of their choosing. Environments can include, but are not limited to: With or without light Colored light With or without water In the refrigerator Students “flower pots” must include a label with their name and class period

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 1- Hypothesis Students will record the growing conditions and take a picture of plant Students will record observations about the original state of their flower. They will write a hypothesis about what they think will happen to their flower over the course of the next two weeks and why they think it will happen.

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 1- Sharing Go to the computer lab and learn how to access blog pages from class Wiki. Use the class flickr account, upload their photos, and write their initial observations. Comment on two other student blogs that have different conditions than their own.

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 2-Completion For the first 15 minutes of every class, students will: Take a picture of their flower Write observations about their plant in a journal A student will upload the class photos to flickr The students will type their observations on their blog via flickr They also need to comment on the 2 blog pages they looked at on the first day.

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 13 Students will look over their observations and reflect on their hypothesis. Using what they have learned in the past two weeks of class they will explain why their hypothesis was or was not supported.

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Day 14 Students will look at the two blog pages they have been commenting on and as a final assessment, write a short essay about the effects of the 3 environmental conditions on plant growth including the information they have learned about photosynthesis.

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Tools Used pbWiki flickr blogger.com

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis Assessment Experimental design, hypothesis, observation log and student interaction 20 pts Final essay 30 pts

What Makes Plants Grow? An Introduction to Photosynthesis