• Background Info for Students (or as Word Doc)

From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons ISBN: 978-0823410255

Amazing Plant Powers: How Plants Fly, Fight, Hide, Hunt and Change by Loreen Leedy ISBN: 978-o823422562

• Review the Outdoor Classroom Rules with your students before going outside.

Procedure
Indoor Discussion:

1. Have the students pick one of the plants listed on the activity page and use the AWF's Dig into Plants to research the identification characteristics of the plant (black-eyed susan, cardinal flower, purple coneflower, or bee balm).
2. Have the students answer the questions about the parts of a flower, parts of a plant, and process of photosynthesis on their activity page.

Outdoor Discovery:

3. Then have the students explore their outdoor classroom to look for a flowering plant – black-eyed susan, cardinal flower, purple coneflower, or bee balm.
4. Have them draw the plant and label its parts on the activity page.
5. Next, have them draw the flower, label the structures of the flower, and describe the characteristics of the flower and its function.
6. Finally have the students pull up a weed.
7. Have them use a magnifying glass to observe the roots and draw their observations on the activity page.
8. Have them answer the questions about the structure and function of the roots on their activity page.

Indoor Discussion:

9. Discuss the similarities and differences between the structures of the plants that the students observed in the outdoor classroom as well as the functions of the structures that were observed.
10. Discuss how the external structures of plants function to support survival, growth, and reproduction.

Activity Tip

• If your outdoor classroom is home to a flowering passionflower vine, take the students outside to see the plant and flower in person. They can complete the first page of the activity sheet in the outdoor classroom while looking at the plant. The second page of the activity can be done indoors or outside.

Procedure
Indoor Discussion:

1. Have the students use the AWF's Dig Into Plants: Passionflower Vine webpage to view the pictures of the plant and its flower.
2. Have the students answer the questions about the parts of a flower, parts of a plant, and process of photosynthesis on their activity page.

Outdoor Discovery:

3. Then have the students explore their outdoor classroom to look for a flowering passionflower vine.
4. Have them draw the plant and label its parts on the activity page.
5. Next, have them draw the flower, label the structures of the flower, and describe the characteristics of the flower and its function.
6. Finally have the students pull up a weed.
7. Have them use a magnifying glass to observe the roots and draw their observations on the activity page.
8. Have them answer the questions about the structure and function of the roots on their activity page.

Indoor Discussion:

9. Discuss the characteristics of the passionflower vine and the functions of each physical structure.
10. Discuss how the external structures of plants function to support survival, growth, and reproduction.

• Answer Page #2 for Passionflower Vine

Evaluate the students' understanding of the topic with the following assessment tool:

• Parts of a Plant Assessment Sheet (or as Word Doc)

Select a plant species you would like the students to use for this general activity sheet. Select from the list of plants on AWF's Dig Into Plants page. Use that species' webpage to check the answers on your students' activity sheets.

• General Activity: Parts of a Plant (or as Word Doc)