We discussed the visible functions of the stem - support and flexibility - briefly, but most of the class focused on the inner parts of the stem. I kept it simple - just xylem and phloem. Xylem and phloem can be compared to veins and arteries. They are both vascular tubes, but they do different jobs. Xylem carries water up from the roots and phloem transports sugar down from the leaves. Instead of making models of this, we made a page for their lab book. First they drew a kind of ugly plant with all the basic parts - roots, stem, and leaves. In the stem we left a wide space. In the space, we taped two straws and labeled one straw xylem and one phloem. Then we put label tags on two pipe cleaners and labeled one water and one sugar. We inserted the pipe cleaners in the straws to symbolize the water and sugar that flow through the tubes. I have copied a lot of things off pinterest this year, but this one I made up myself!
Next we briefly discussed woody stems and how they differ from green (herbaceous) stems. I had the kids make a "Me" tree - this seemed like a pretty preschool project and I did it mostly because I couldn't find a worksheet I used last time. They wrote on the back of a paper plate "A _______ Tree" (their name went in the blank), on the top they colored the bumpy edge brown for the bark and made rings in the middle to represent their own ages.
I did not expect any of them not to know about how tree rings show a tree's age (and they all did), but it was something to do while we talked about things that might affect a tree's growth over the years and the fact that trees in tropical climates have less defined rings because they grow pretty much year round.
Yea botany! Yea 1 1/2 classes left! Since I am the 3rd class, my last class is interrupted by the annual Thanksgiving Feast!
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