20 minute read
Unit 3 – All About Plants
3
All About Plants
In this chapter you will ...
• list places where plants can be found. • identify and label the parts of a plant. • list the needs of plants. • describe how plants change as they grow. • list some ways people use plants.
What are the parts of a plant?
Go Online!
Access interactive content relating to this topic on the NGScience website.
ngscience.com
What things do plants need to live and grow?
Try This!
Visit an area with lots of plants. Draw one tall plant and one short plant.
Plants Around Us
Plants are living things that are found all over the world.
There are plants in forests and deserts. There are plants in our parks and gardens too. There are plants in your schoolyard and around your home.
Where can plants be found in your area?
Plants live in water too. They live in ponds, lakes and rivers.
People also grow plants on farms.
AB Activity 3.1
Try This!
Pull a weed from the ground. Observe and describe the different parts.
Go Online!
Label different parts of a plant on the NGScience website. QuickCode: J4R3 What are the different parts of a plant?
Parts of a Plant
Most plants have the same parts. They have roots, a stem and leaves. The different parts help the plant in different ways.
leaf
stem
roots
Some plants also have flowers and fruits.
flower
fruit
Can you name a fruit that people can eat?
AB Activities 3.2 – 3.7
Try This!
Take a piece of fruit and ask an adult to cut it into halves. What’s inside?
What things do plants need to live and grow?
Needs of Plants
All plants need the same things to live and grow. Plants need sunlight. They take in sunlight through their leaves. Sunlight helps the plant to make food.
Plants need air. They take in air through small holes in their leaves.
Plants also need water. They take in water through their roots.
Air and water help plants to make the food they need to live and grow.
AB Activity 3.8
Think Deeply
Where does the water plants take in through their roots come from?
Try This!
Sprinkle some radish seeds on a dish of cotton wool. Wet the cotton wool and place the dish near a window. Care for the plants as they grow. Draw the changes you see.
How Plants Grow
Plants grow from seeds. When a seed gets water and warmth it starts to grow. The roots grow down into the soil.
The stem and leaves grow up towards the sky. As a plant grows, it gets bigger. Some plants will also grow flowers and fruits.
How does a plant change as it grows?
Go Online!
Watch how a plant grows on the NGScience website. QuickCode: V2X4
AB Activity 3.9
How We Use Plants
People use plants in different ways. We eat many different kinds of plants and plant parts. Fruits and vegetables are foods that come from plants.
What are some plants you eat from day to day?
People use plants to decorate their gardens and homes.
What are some other ways people use plants?
A Closer Look
The Venus Flytrap
Plants make food by taking in sunlight through their leaves. Some plants also eat animals for food! The Venus flytrap is a plant that eats small animals such as flies for food. It has special leaves that can close quickly to trap the animals.
Over time, the Venus flytrap breaks down and eats the trapped animals. When they have finished eating, the leaves open up and are ready to trap the next animal.
Science Words
roots stem leaves flowers fruits sunlight air water seeds
Review
1. List three places you can find plants. 2. Which plant part holds up the plant? (a) flowers (b) roots (c) stem
3. Which plant part takes in sunlight? (a) roots (b) stem (c) leaves
4. Which plant part takes in water from the soil? (a) roots (b) stem (c) leaves
5. True or false. (a) All plants have flowers. (b) All plants have fruits. 6. List two things a seed needs to start to grow. 7. Describe how a plant changes as it grows. 8. Use the pictures to tell how people use plants. (a)
(b)
4
All About Animals
In this chapter you will ...
• list different kinds of animals.
• tell some ways animals move. • tell how animals grow and change. • tell how animals are important to people.
What are some different kinds of animals?
Where do animals live? How do animals move?
Go Online!
Access interactive content relating to this topic on the NGScience website.
ngscience.com
Animals Around Us
There are many different kinds of animals.
There are small animals like ants, bugs and butterflies. There are big animals like crocodiles, bears and elephants.
Animals come in all shapes and sizes. They live in many different places. They move about in different ways. Name and describe some animals you know.
AB Activities 4.1 – 4.4
Try This!
Describe an animal to a friend. See if they can guess the animal.
Needs of Animals
All animals need the same things to live and grow.
Animals need food.
Some animals eat plants. Some animals eat other animals.
What is your favorite animal? What food does it eat?
Animals need air and water too.
Think of an animal you know of. Tell how it gets the things it needs.
AB Activity 4.5
How Animals Move
Animals move in different ways. On land, animals walk, run, jump and hop. A snake uses its body to slide on the ground or climb a tree.
Butterflies, birds and bats fly from place to place. Many animals live in lakes, rivers and the ocean. These animals move about by swimming.
List some animals you know of. Tell how they move.
AB Activities 4.6 – 4.8
Amazing Fact!
A flying fish uses its wing-like fins to glide through the air.
Try This!
Compare a young chick to an adult chicken. How are they the same? How are they different?
Animals Have Young
All animals have young. Animals like cows and tigers give birth to their young. Animals like birds and turtles lay eggs. Young animals hatch from the eggs.
Many young look like their parents. Some young animals, like frogs and butterflies, do not look like their parents. They change to look more like their parents as they grow.
Amazing Fact!
It takes a butterfly about one month to change from a caterpillar to an adult butterfly.
Tell how a young frog changes as it grows.
AB Activity 4.9
Animals and People
Animals are important to people. We keep animals on farms and in zoos.
We keep animals at home as pets.
AB Activity 4.10
We eat some animals for food.
Foods like eggs, milk and cheese come from animals too.
What are some other ways people use animals?
Try This!
With a friend, make a list of the different foods you eat. Which foods come from plants? Which foods come from animals?
A Closer Look
Farms
A farm is a place where people raise and care for animals. The animals are used by people in different ways. Farmers get milk from cows and goats. They get eggs from chickens and wool from sheep.
Review
1. List three places where you can find animals. 2. List three things animals need. 3. List three different ways animals can move. 4. How do animals change as they grow? 5. Use the pictures to tell how people use animals. (a)
(b)
5Environments
In this chapter you will ...
• observe the different places where plants and animals live.
• identify the relationship between the needs of plants and animals and the places they live.
What are some places where plants and animals live?
AB Activity 5.1 Go Online!
Access interactive content relating to this topic on the NGScience website.
ngscience.com
Where Plants and Animals Live
Plants and animals can live in many different places.
Some places are hot and dry. Other places get lots of rain. Some plants and animals live underwater.
The place where plants and animals live gives them all of the things they need to survive. Plants get the sunlight, water and air they need in the place they live. Animals get the food, water and air they need from the place they live.
AB Activity 5.2
Engineer It!
Five new animals have arrived at the City Zoo. Design a new home for one of the animals.
Think Deeply
What’s your favorite animal? Where does it live? How does it get the things it needs to survive?
Rainforests
A rainforest is a hot place that gets lots of rain. There are many different kinds of plants.
Think Deeply
Why are there so many plants in rainforests?
Think Deeply
Why are there so many different kinds of animals in rainforests? Rainforests have lots of plants and water. This makes them a suitable place to live for many different kinds of animals.
AB Activity 5.3
Can you name some of these rainforest animals?
A Closer Look
Amazing Toucans!
Toucans are birds that live in tropical rainforests. They are well-known for their large and colorful bills. Compared to the size of their bodies, toucans have the longest bills of all birds. Although their bills are very big, they are also very light. Toucans mostly eat fruit. They use their bills to pluck and pick fruits such as figs, papayas, oranges and guavas. Some toucans also eat insects and small lizards.
Toucans have small wings and are not very good at flying. They mostly move about using their legs and claws to hop between trees. There are about 40 different kinds of toucans. The biggest is the toco toucan. They can be as long as 70 centimeters and weigh up to one kilogram!
AB Activity 5.4
Grasslands
Grasslands are flat places with lots of grass and short plants.
Did You Know?
Grasslands are also called plains, prairies or savannas.
What kinds of animals can you find in grasslands?
The plants in grasslands provide food and shelter for a great variety of animals.
Talk about how these animals get the things they need in a grassland.
AB Activity 5.5
Amazing Fact!
Cacti are desert plants that can store lots of water in their stems! This lets them survive for a long time without water.
Deserts
Deserts are very dry places. In some deserts it may only rain a few times a year.
Desert plants, such as cacti, can survive with very little water.
In what ways are desert plants different from rainforest plants?
Engineer It!
Animals try to eat cacti to get the water inside the stems.
Design and build a cactus that will stop animals from getting to its water.
Think Deeply
Why are there fewer plants in deserts than in rainforests?
Think Deeply
Why do some desert plants have sharp, spiky leaves? Desert animals can survive with little rain.
Some animals get the water they need from plants.
How do desert animals get the things they need?
AB Activity 5.6
Amazing Fact!
Most of the Earth is covered by oceans!
The Ocean
The ocean is a big body of salt water.
The ocean is home to many different kinds of animals.
How do ocean animals get the air they need?
Whales, lobsters, sea turtles and fish are ocean animals.
What are some other kinds of animals that live in the ocean?
AB Activity 5.7
Tundras
Amazing Fact!
Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia which means ‘treeless land’. A tundra is a place that is cold, windy and dry. There are not many trees or tall plants. At times, the ground may be covered in snow and ice.
Not many animals can live in a tundra all year. When it gets too cold, some animals move to warmer places.
Engineer It! You just bought a deserted island. Now it is time to build your home!
AB Activities 5.8 – 5.9
Think Deeply
Why are many tundra animals covered in thick fur?
A Closer Look
Antarctica – The Frozen Desert!
When you think of a desert you may think of a very hot place. Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. It is also a desert!
Although many deserts are hot, a desert is a place that is dry with very little rainfall. Deserts can be hot or cold.
While Antarctica may be the coldest place on Earth, it is also the driest. This makes Antarctica a very cold desert. Being so cold and dry makes it difficult for plants and animals to live there.
Science Words
rainforest grassland desert ocean tundra
Review
1. List three things animals get from the place they live. 2. List three things plants get from the place they live. 3. Choose a word to describe each place.
rainforest ocean desert tundra
(a)
(c) (b)
(d)
4. Name the place you might find each animal. (a) (b)
(c) (d)
5. Name the place you might find each plant. (a) (b)
(c) (d)
In the Field
A park ranger is a person that works to protect natural environments and the living things that live there. They often patrol parks to check that people follow rules and do not damage the environment.
They also care for the plants and animals in the environment and make sure visitors have a safe and enjoyable time.
© Blue Ring Media Pty Ltd ACN 161 590 496 2013 - 2021.
This publication would not have been possible without the tireless effort of our production team.
Special thanks to: Matthew Cole, Daniel Cole, Wang Hui Guan Joseph Anderson, Halle Taylor-Pritchard, Sophie Taylor-Pritchard, Tejal Thakur, Varasinun Mathanattapat, Kanungnit Pookwanmuang, Saijit Lueangsrisuk
Original Illustrations: Natchanuch Nakapat, graphicsRF, Blue Ring Media and Interact Images Royalty-free images: Shutterstock, Adobe Stock
