Weed Adaptations
A careful look at the plants we call weeds and their individual
adaptations.
Objective:
Students will develop a sense of how
plants adapt to difficult conditions, and what adaptations make
certain plants so common.
Materials:
1) Plants that have been weeded out of a garden.
2) Hand lenses
3) Paper & Pencils
4) Weed
Adaptation Sheet (PDF)
Procedure:
What does it mean to adapt? What are adaptations? Discuss plant
adaptations using the Weed Adaptation Sheet.
Working in groups of 2 –4, the students will examine a weed, looking for adaptations. Encourage them to use the hand lenses and to refer to the Weed Adaptation sheet. What adaptations does the plant seem to have? How might these adaptations help the plant to grow commonly? Ask the children to record their findings.
Conclusion:
Ask the class to come together to introduce their weed and its adaptations
to the class. Keep a bar graph to track the observed adaptations.
Are certain adaptations more common than others?
Extension:
Take the class into the schoolyard. What adaptations can they find
there? What clues do the weed adaptations give us about the habitat
in which they grow?
