Topic: Plant structure

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

General aim of education

Students describe the external structure of the plant.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• indicate individual parts of the plant and exchange their functions.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• specimens of flowering plants with all organs;

• sheets of paper;

• scissors;

• pencil;

• ruler.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• Each student receives two white sheets glued together with a long edge and a flowering plant specimen. The lecturer asks the pupils to look carefully at the plant, and then draw with colored pencils in the middle of the upper page.

• The teacher instructs students to familiarize themselves with the content of the abstract and pay special attention to the elements building the plant (roots, stem, leaves and flowers). Students sign them in their drawing. Then, using a ruler and a pencil, they mark those elements and cut the upper page along the line.

• On the bottom sheet, students draw lines in places that correspond to the intersections of the upper page. In this way, they give off four fields on a piece of paper. They sign them in the same way as the upper page, after which they describe the next organs of the plant based on the abstract in appropriate places. The teacher informs you that the description of the flower will be completed in the next lesson (see the lesson scenario „Flowers, fruits and seeds”).

• Participants familiarize themselves with the content presented in the interactive illustration. Then the teacher discusses the issues with the students.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

Summary

• At the end of the class, the teacher asks the students questions:

  • What did you find important and interesting in class?

  • What was easy and what was difficult?

  • How can you use the knowledge and skills you have gained today?

  Willing/selected students summarize the lesson.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Plant structure

Plants have very diverse sizes, shapes and appearance, but their structure is similar. Our eyes can only see the shoots, i.e. the part of the plant that comes up above the ground. A typical plants is composed of roots, leaves and flowers. Flowers can transform into fruit that contain seeds.

Roots provide plants with water and mineral salts, keep them in the soil and sometimes also store reserve substances (e.g. carrots). They grow deep into the soil, creating numerous branches. This allows to increase the surface through which water is absorbed.

The stem acts as a scaffold for the plant and connects its parts. It carries water and mineral salts from the roots to the leaves and nutrients produced in the photosynthesis process in the opposite direction. In some cases stems are also used for storing reserve substances. Depending on the shoot structure, plants can be classified as herbaceous plants (with a green and non‑lignified stem), trees (with a single lignified stem) and shrubs (with many lignified stems growing from the root or a single lignified stem that branches out just above the surface).

Leaves are adapted to carry out the photosynthesis process. Certain plants have transformed leaves into needles or thorns; they can also store nutrients (e.g. in bulbs).

• Plants have a similar external structure, although they differ a lot in terms of their appearance.

• A plant is composed of roots, stem, leaves and flowers.