Plants and Animals!

Second graders began their final science unit on plants and animals.  The units starts out with students thinking about the differences between a seed and an egg.  Then, students were given a mystery object, which was either a seed or an egg.  We placed the mystery object into fresh water and salt water to see what would happen over the next few days.  Would it grow into a plant or an animal?  Three days later, we saw something small moving around.  It was brine shrimp!  The mystery objects were eggs!

Later on, students observed different plants, such as peas, grass, clover, and bean seeds.  We measured their growth over time.  We looked at fava beans and got to see the seed coat and break it open to see the different parts.

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Recently, students have been looking at different organisms and insects.  We explored and observed daphnia (water fleas), damselfly nymphs, aphids, ladybugs, and fruit flies.  We have been labeling the different body parts of these insects as well as comparing similarities and differences amongst them.

Second graders have also been talking about predators and prey.  A predator is the animal that hunts.  The prey is the animal that is hunted and eaten.  The damselfly nymphs eat the daphnia, and the ladybug eats the aphids.  Because of this relationship, the population of these organisms will decrease when the predator is present.

Everyone has been enjoying watching these organism grow and move around in the classroom!  Ask your child what they have been enjoying so far!