LUGARESSOMBREADOS

Then, all together in the classroom and with the graphics and Venn diagram posted on the blackboard, they analyzed their results and reflected on the experience, guided by Professor Salvatierra.

Reflection:

To begin, the teacher asked: What results did you get? Students responded by brainstorming:

—In sunny places there is more grass and more clover —said one. —And in the shady places there are more little yellow flowers —said another. —Then maybe the grass and the clover like to live in the sun and the yellow flower likes to live in the shade —said the skinny one.

—Very well!—the professor encouraged them— Although all plants need the same basic elements to live, some like the sun more than others, some need much more water or more quantity of some nutrient than others, some even like to live in extreme conditions of cold or heat, such as those found at the top of the mountain range or in the desert or the southern zone of Chile... And what else can we see in the graphs?

—That the nettle and the soil without plants have more or less the same amount in the sun and in the shade, —said Violeta.

—But yesterday there was much more nettle, I even pricked myself when I went to get the ball —said a little lady.

—Yes, and in the afternoon, I saw the gardener taking out the nettle right where we took the data, —Clara said— and in the place where we had to measure, there was bare soil with the remains of nettle leaves and branches.

—Yes, we saw the same thing where we measured, —said the good guy for the ball.

—We also! —said a little curly..

—But it seems that he didn't finish removing it because there are two places where there were nettles, —added the professor.

—Rays! Then what we did is useless! —one murmured disappointed.

—Don't worry, everything we've done is good for us, and a lot. Thanks to his observations of the nettle, we have discovered that in addition to light or shadow there are other factors different from the basic elements to live that make a plant be or not in a place, in this case we have the gardener factor that made the amount of nettle in the sunny places was almost the same as in the shady places —explained the professor— perhaps all the bare soil in the sunny places was occupied by nettle... and what can we see in the Venn diagram?

— That there is no round leaf in sunny places, it only lives in shady places —Violeta said. —And that the other plants live in both places, with the sun and with the shade —Mateo said..

—Good! But remember that we can only say that for the places we investigated in the schoolyard and at the time we did the study, who knows, maybe somewhere where the temperature or the soil is different, or in another season of the year. , the round leaf does live in the sun —explained the teacher— In any case, I can tell you that there are some plants that only live under very special conditions and are found in very specific places, perhaps the round leaf is one of them, and there are others They can live in a variety of environments.

At that time it was almost time to go out for recess, so the teacher congratulated them on their good work and gave them the task of answering the following questions to continue reflecting. You try it too.

* Besides the amount of light and the gardener, what other factors could make plants live in some places and not in others? (Think about factors like temperature, wind, humidity, nutrients, predators, competitors, etc.)

* Will there be something in the way of carrying out the research, that is, in the study procedure, that has influenced the results obtained? Is this the best way to conduct the investigation? If you think not, how would you do it?

* Will the same thing happen in other places and times? Have you seen in natural places, such as on the slopes of streams, differences in the type and number of plants? If not, do some research and imagine what it could be like and when you visit one, see what it really is like.

* From this experience, what new questions are going through your head?