LIFE SCIENCE UNIT
The first lab in our life science unit required a closer look at how plants absorb materials and send food throughout their systems. Our key words here were vascular plants, xylem, and phloem. Students made observations and drew diagrams illustrating the movement of materials through the plant.
Our follow lab was an amazing success! During this activity we built what were refered to as "leaf-casts". The process required us to paint several layers of clear nail polish onto the underside of a leaf. When the layers dried we peeled off the "cast" and placed it under a microscope. The results were nothing shy of fantastic. Under medium power we could clearly see a large number of stoma. Under high power we were able to detect the parts of an individual stomata. We could see the guard cells and even the chloroplasts! Fun Fun!!!
Our final lab of the unit required the purchase of some elodea plants. These water plants allowed us to see the carbon and oxygen cycle in action!