Botany Unit Study

When I first put this unit study together for my boys, we were living in Canada. Now we are living in California. My youngest child wanted to study botany this school year, so I pulled out this unit study and have updated it slightly to reflect where we live and what we can do here.

We will use a library book, a few DVDs, lots of Youtube videos, and plenty of time in the dirt. Everything is listed chronologically in the order we plan to do them.

Introduction

Read Introduction pg 6-9 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons

Plant Anatomy

• Read Cells, Tissues, and Organs pg 10-11 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Read The Stem pg 12-13 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• View plant slide samples under microscope
• Read Leaves pg 14-15 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Go on hike and find 5 types of leaves
• Read Roots pg 16-17 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Dig up a few plants and examine the roots.

Watch George Washington Carver: An Uncommon Life

Plant Physiology

• Read Photosynthesis pg 18-19 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch photosynthesis song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o
• Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo5XndJaz-Y
• Sprout seeds in a glass jar stuffed with wet paper towels.
• Read Plant Nutrition pg 20-21 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Read Growth and Development pg 22-23 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtK7w4F5GW0 Tree rings
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFCdAgeMGOA Time lapse growing
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-FO8tZQGfk
• Watch Bill Nye on Plants

Plant Reproduction

• Read Reproduction and Heredity pg 24-25 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Pollination, Plants, and Insects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwkJui2mh0
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVhH2GPlckE Big flower pollination
• Read Asexual Reproduction pg 26-27 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYpOoye1WCs Plant reproduction
• Read Artificial Asexual Reproduction pg 28-29 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Make cuttings of a few plants and put in water to encourage roots. Plant in soil when roots are well developed.
• Watch how to graft a tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTtXmBVsolY
• Read Flowers pg 30-31 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Bill Nye Flowers
• Go on hike or to a flower store to find several kinds of flowers. Examine flowers to determine the parts.
• Read Fruits pg 32-33 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwCpQflmQG4 Fruit development
• Grow tomato and cucumber plants. Once flowered take pictures every 3 days to document the change from a flower to a fruit.
• Read Seeds pg 34-35 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Seed dispersal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY4JFOSuqvY
• Cut open a bean + other seeds and examine the interior.

Ecology

• Read Physical Conditions of the Environment pg 36-37 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch soil types https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuafBZgPwwI
• Start a worm compost http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhEQEA0GN8
• Read Plant Communities and Ecosystems pg 38-39 (intro to plant classification) Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Read Endemisms and Floral Kingdoms pg 40-41 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch saving plant species from extinction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70lFfmQhW8M
• Read Vegetation and Landscape pg 42-43 (review on ecosystems) Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Read Special Forms of Plant Life pg 44-45 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch parasitic plant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmlUuR33h84

Kingdom Protista

• Read Microscopic Algae pg 48-49 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Blue-Green Algae Mitosis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRFICkSGR9s
• Watch Diatoms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYB5529hDPI
• Take sample of aquarium water and examine it under a microscope
• Read The Higher Algae pg 50-51 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Kelp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9eyK6C9nDA
• Watch Seaweed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsU6xRvGl8k
• Read The Lower Fungi (slime molds, algae-type fungi) pg 52-53 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Slime molds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkVhLJLG7ug
• Watch Why study slime molds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlJ0ElcOAv8
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3mwrww_Ymc Treatment of ich in fish tank

Kingdom Fungi

• Read The Higher Fungi (sac-type, club-type) 54-55 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Truffle hunting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUcUX2oGgaU
• Watch Death cap mushroom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCylKeLRXcg
• Read Parasitic Fungi pg 56-57 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Apple Canker Orchard Walk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WrgmWTxuI8
• Read Fungal Symbionts pg 58-59 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Lichens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te4qnLkHnS4
• Explore The Fungus Among Us http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/champignons-mushrooms/English/index.html
• Grow mushrooms http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Grow-Mushrooms-From-Old-Mushroom-Stem-Butts&id=2623916
• Watch lecture A Visit to the Mushroom Planet http://www.cornell.edu/video/?videoID=559

Kingdom Plantae

Non-Vascular Land Plants (bryophytes)

• Read Mosses and Liverworts pg 60-61 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Mosses life cycle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbSZbd02UEg
• Watch Liverwort http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4ZTSJqQT0
• Watch Liverworts airborne sperm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALGDLzWcvnU
• Watch Liverworts time lapse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeA-W9c6OAk
• Watch Hornwort pest plant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgjwjPBZLqY

Private Life of Plants Video – Seed Travelling

Vascular Land Plants (tracheophytes)

• Read Ferns, Lycopods, and Horsetails pg 62-63 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Watch Lycopod drying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-g4jrsphQw
• Watch Fireball Steve Spangler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAdElO1FCSM
• Watch Ferns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YtOT0Z6Ek

Private Life of Plants Growing

Seed Plants (spermatophytes)

• Read Plants with Naked Seeds pg 64-65 conifers Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons
• Pine tree cones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Se_9y68P0
• Watch Conifer reproduction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI8iy2wRJ0Q
• Extract seeds from pine cone http://www.ehow.com/how_8069652_extract-pine-tree-seeds.html
• Grow pine seeds http://www.ehow.com/how_4482519_grow-pine-tree-seed.html

Private Life of Plants Flowering

Angiosperms

• Read Dicotyledons pg 66-67 Essential Atlas of Botany by Barrons

Beech Tree

• Beech tree seed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rswfAzmLzHA
• Beech tree felling part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXAqyPrlkYI
• Beech tree felling part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WaV4xx0SiA

Apple Tree

• How to sprout apples from apple seeds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnBzn_ytQ4
• Apple varieties http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWq8qI_cN0

Peas

• How to plant peas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRhrC9VTF8c
• Time lapse pea growth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHaJhc-o–Q
• Plant peas

Watch The Queen of Trees – 60 minutes

Olive Tree

• Olive tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ROyelV_K4A
• Picking and oil making http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6BjChiieSA
• Watch olive oil being made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IalTzb6z-YY
• Grow olives from seeds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udxz301giQs
• Get different varieties of olives and sprout the seeds.

Grapes

• Plant grape vine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyO_c6kIXCk
• Growing grape seeds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mf4-haI9ng
• Set aside grape seeds for germination

Carnation

• Growing carnation from seed after watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nHPBfmT0U4
• Carnation experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMvEVnAFCNA

Rose

• Rose cuttings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5qhp11rgYI
• Types of roses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITuDKT5piww

Clover

• Clover lawn and honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoO62dWLg-U
• Benefits of eating clover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjiFfB2owzs
• Sprout clover seeds to eat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JCpJV78-OY
• How to find 4 leaf clover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYZ_EsufPY

Alfalfa

• Grazing alfalfa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIPahL3tIwo
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29nnF1zst6o
• Chopping alfalfa crop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNW4bQkYiFQ
• Alfalfa planting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNq2K3-bCJc

Daisy

• Time lapse bloom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nG5lsCZnBA
• How to find daisy seeds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5IALgUY1qI
• How to plant daisy flowers from seeds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjzZA1E12jk

Cacti

• Different types of cacti http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL8mKGOlkLA
• How to grow cactus from seeds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9vZ63J7n3I
• Get cactus seeds and germinate them.

Sweet Potato

• Sprout a sweet potato http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtgb5Vkgy2Y
• Sprouted sweet potato http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BZIQ0YEmE
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oid9RgSvqfc
• Put 3-4 toothpicks in a sweet potato and rest it in a glass of water. Put in a warm and dark place until roots appear and then move to sunny place.
• Plant when lots of leaves and roots appear.

Private Life of Plants the Social Struggle http://science.docuwat.ch/videos/?alternative=2&channel_id=0&skip=0&subpage=video&video_id=58