Microorganisms - Conservation Garden Park · The Garden guide will tell the students more about...
Transcript of Microorganisms - Conservation Garden Park · The Garden guide will tell the students more about...
Microorganisms
Suggested grade level: Sixth grade
Objective: Students will create a report about microorganisms and water resources.
Curriculum ties: �SixthgradeSciencestandard5Objective1a-c,Objective2a-e,ResponsibleandHealthyLiving �ConsumerandCommunityHealthStandard7Objective1a-c.
Time needed: �Prep:1hour �Pretrip:2-3hoursoverthecourseofseveralweeks �Garden:1-2hours �Posttrip:2-4+hours
Materials needed: �Pottingsoil,dividedinhalfwithonehalfofthesoilbakedinahotoven �Pots �Seeds �Yeast,water,andsugar �Smallplasticcontainers �Amicroscope(oneisavailableattheGarden)
Teacher notes:Inthisactivity,studentswilllearnaboutmicroorganismsinsoilandwater.Studentsshouldunderstandwhatmicroorganismsare,whattheyneedtosurvive,andthatmicroorganismscanbothhelpandharmus.
Procedures:PreparationTodemonstratethatmicroorganismscanbehelpful,takesomepottingsoilanddivideit.Bakepartofthesoilinahotoventokillallthemicroorganismsinthesoil.Fillacoupleofpotswiththebakedsoilandacoupleofpotswiththeregularsoil.
Call801-565-4314toscheduleyourvisittotheConservationGardenParkatJordanValley.
In the classroomExplaintothestudentsthatthesoilinhalfofthepotscontainsmicroorganismsandthesoilintheotherhalfdoesnot.Helpthestudentsplantseedsinbothofthesoilsamplesandgrowthemintheexactsameway.Noticethedifferencesthatoccur.
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Foranotherexample,useyeastforanexperiment.Explainthatyeastisahelpfulmicroorganismthatcausesbreadtorise.Takealittleyeastandmixitwithwaterandsugar,thenobserveitunderamicroscopesostudentscanseeitgrowing.Withtheteacher’shelp,studentsshouldbrainstormquestionsaboutmicroorganismsthatmightbeansweredbyobservationattheGarden.Suchquestionsmightinclude:Willyoufindmoremicroorganismsinthesoilorinthewater?WhichsoiltypesattheGardenarehometothemostmicroorganisms?Thefewestmicroorganisms?
FieldtripTheGardenguidewilltellthestudentsmoreaboutgoodandbadmicroorganismsinthewaterandsoilattheGardenandshowstudentsthe“RainGardening,”“Composting,”“OutsmartingInvaders,”and“SignatureSoils”exhibits.Theywillalsolearnaboutwaterconservationandhowitcanbeachievedthroughplanthealth.Studentsshouldconducttheirobservations/experimentsaboutmicroorganismsandlearnabouttheroletheyplayinagardenandinwaterquality.Useamicroscopetoobservemicroorganismsinthewater,thesoil,andthecompostattheGarden.
FollowupThegroupsshouldcreateareportabouttheirmicroorganismexperimentorobservation.BasedonwhattheylearnedattheGarden,theclasscanthenidentifyawater-relatedenvironmentalserviceprojectandcarryitout.
Assessment:Thestudents’reportswillindicatewhethertheyhavesuccessfullycarriedoutanexperimentaboutmicroorganisms.
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