Resources for Life Processes lesson

This time-lapse video shows a plant growing over a four-day period.


This film shows elephants swimming.


This one shows chickens hatching from eggs.


Prep:

A day in the life of a frog

You are a frog. Write a passage describing your day. By the end, it will be clear to the reader that you are alive, because you have proved it by referring to all seven life processes.

For example, if you were describing 'A day in the life of a flower', you might start like this:

In the morning my petals opened up as usual (MOVEMENT). I noticed to my surprise that I am already taller than the buttercups (GROWTH), even though my stalk has started to lean away from the shadow of the tree (SENSITIVITY). I think that it will soon be time for me to drop my seeds (REPRODUCTION). (And so on.)

Then learn the seven life processes for a test.

Checklist:

• Heading?
• Date?
• Heading and date underlined?
• Blue ink?
• All seven life processes named?
• Life processes either underlined or in colour, or in capital letters?
• Learned the seven life processes?

Low impact meals

Think about what makes a meal 'low impact' and bring in written suggestions for what you might eat or not eat, and why.

As we have learned in class this week, 'Low impact' means having as little effect as possible on the environment and on the amount of greenhouse gases. Think about packaging, think about whether the food you don't eat would be suitable as compost, and you might also consider 'food miles'. This means the energy used when the food travelled to you and the CO2 that was emitted as a result of its journey.

This task is not about how healthy the meal is, nor is it about whether the food is organic.

If you have chosen to bring your own lunch to Holme Dunes, then you could write down what you are planning to bring and how you are going to minimise packaging, including napkins. Re-used containers that you will take home again for further re-use are encouraged. Remember that the lowest impact is likely to be caused by food that does not require new packaging (even recycling itself uses energy, though it's better than landfill). Don't try to achieve a zero impact - you should still enjoy your meal!

You could look at these websites.

What 'food miles' are (BBC site), or try this from Wikipedia (less writing but more complex)

This is about food that is 'in season' (BBC), meaning it does not have to be preserved for long, or imported.

Don't look at this American site until after you have already thought about the task for a while. It is full of detail and very readable.

An easy site - only use if you're stuck or confused: activity sheet 1 of this document compares two packed lunches, one low impact, one not.

Finally, this gives more information about Holme Dunes.

Google link

http://www.google.co.uk/doodle4google/downloads/doodles_and_template.pdf

My environmental area

The task is to design an environmental area that will attract British wildlife. Please try to have at least one endangered species.

You will have two A5 sheets of squared paper.

As described in the lesson, one is for a picture of your area, to give an immediate idea what it looks like – it might have a meadow area, a pond, a logpile.

The other is for a plan of your area, to give details of what plants are there, and what animals they will attract.

The picture (a view from above) does not need any writing except for heading and date .

The plan needs the same shapes as the picture, but no drawing, only writing. The writing is about the plants and animals that live in the garden.

For good marks, you need to show that your plants and animals are interconnected. For example, if you want to encourage barn owls, make sure you give them somewhere to nest and to roost. And then make sure there is suitable food for the animals that the owls will feed on.

Please stick the work (landscape) on two pages in your book.

Food Webs

Here is an empty food web. Copy it or print it out, and fit these organisms into the correct spaces:

Moth caterpillars: Tawny owls: Squirrels: Aphids: Trees (leaves, flowers, fruits, bark): Beetles: Bank voles: Foxes: Sparrows.

It is slightly tricky. If you cannot manage to fit them in, you can rearrange the boxes, or make your own woodland food web based on what we did in the lesson. You may want to illustrate it.

Extension: if the number of foxes goes down, what will be the effect on the tawny owl population, and why?

A complex example.

A simple example.

Read more (also has a 'create a food web' activity).

Design an Animal

It is the future, the year 3007, and it is now possible for humans to build planets, and genetically engineer plants and animals to live on that planet.

• You are one of the scientists working on the animals, and it is your job to design and create an animal which will be perfectly suited to its environment on this new planet.


• Your animal must be strong and resilient enough to survive in its environment.


• You need to consider how this animal is going to stay warm or cool, what it is going to eat, how it is going to get its food and water, and how it is going to care for its young to make sure they survive.


• Your animal must fit into the existing food chain - it cannot be the top predator.
  

The planet MARITT

This planet is dark and cold most of the time.
It is very mountainous.
It rains almost all day.
Because of the wet, dark conditions, the only plants that grow well are small mosses and funguses.
Animals on this planet include a type of mouse, a nocturnal hunting large cat, fish, and a variety of insects.




The planet Q’ENNIT

This planet is dry and hot.
Most of the planet is flat.
Water is found in underground streams but there is little water on the surface of the planet.
Most of the planet’s surface is covered in sand, although there are patches of dry grass.
When plants can get their roots down into the water table, they grow into tall trees with leaves at the top but not along the trunk.
Plants which are not connected to the water table are small and dry, but they are edible.
Animals on this planet include carnivorous insects that attack in packs, a species of birds which roost in the high trees, a harmless sand-coloured lizard and a type of rat that eats dead flesh.

The planet DHONI

This planet is tropical: wet and hot.
Most of the planet is covered by rainforest.
The planet is very flat. Water collects in large pools and lakes which have water in them all year round.
A species of poisonous plant grows thickly on the ground. The spines of this plant are poisonous, and any animal which steps on one is sure to die.
The vegetation is plentiful, and includes leaves, fruits and nuts.
Animals include carnivorous snakes, varieties of insects, monkeys, fish and birds.

6I Woodlice Habitat Experiment

Write the method and results for the experiment, and provide a diagram.

The method should be in bullet points. Give reasons where appropriate, especially to do with your health and safety, or that of the woodlice.

The diagram comes next. Use a ruler and pencil, and label it in pen. It is to make your method clearer.

The results are simply a list of where the woodlice ended up.

Checklist: does the method mention everything listed in the apparatus? Is your method clear enough for someone to repeat the experiment in your absence? Does your method include reasons?