Welcome! The Explorer Team. Dear Teacher:

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1 Welcome! Dear Teacher: Thank you for planning a field study to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The tour you have selected, Nature and Me, is designed to teach students about the importance of plants and animals in our lives and to inspire a lifetime appreciation of nature. Your visit will include a guided walking tour through the Garden during which students will participate in many hands-on investigations, including a visit to our tropical butterfly conservatory, Wings of the Tropics. Lunch will be followed by a plant propagation lesson. Each student will leave with a botanical souvenir. This packet of activities contains pre- and post-visit resource materials to support the learning experience. We strongly encourage you to review and use these materials to make the most of your students field study at Fairchild. The activities correlate to state and national academic standards for grades K to 2. Please be sure that each teacher attending the field study receives an activity packet. Feel free to make additional copies of this packet as needed, or visit to view the activities online. The word list provided is especially important for students to study prior to their visit. An understanding of the vocabulary will be a great asset in comprehending the concepts discussed during the field study. We look forward to your visit to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and hope that you and your students will have an exciting and educational adventure. Kind Regards, The Explorer Team Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden All visitors to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and participants in Fairchild programs or events consent to the unrestricted fairchild use of any photographs tropical or audio/visual recordings botanic in which they appear. garden Fairchild must be notified in writing of any exceptions.

2 Rules You will be visiting our Wings of the Tropics Exhibit in The Clinton Family Conservatory, home to hundreds of exotic butterflies and several hummingbirds in 10,000 square feet of tropical paradise. Please help us keep our butterflies and hummingbirds safe by following these important rules: Do not touch or feed animals. Food and drink are not permitted in the conservatory. Watch your step! (Butterflies sometimes land on the ground) Do not run. Do not yell. Stay on the path. Do not pick plants. Check your clothing and belongings before exiting the conservatory to ensure no butterflies leave with you. What to expect while you are in the butterfly conservatory: Before entering the conservatory, you will be asked to form a single file line outside of the building. A volunteer at the door will give important instructions; please be sure to listen carefully and follow all directions. A maximum of 5 people will be allowed to enter and exit the building at a time due to the strict USDA containment rules. Groups will be able to meet up once through the doors of the conservatory. For this reason, it is very important to follow the required 1:10 child to adult ratio. There will be hundreds of butterflies in the building, therefore they may be flying in close proximity. If any student is scared or uncomfortable, please notify a staff person or volunteer guide as soon as possible and ask the student not to panic; butterflies are not harmful. Volunteers will be with your group as well as inside of the conservatory to give you important information and answer questions about the exhibit. Please listen to them carefully to ensure a safe learning experience. Thank you in advance for your attention to this information, and we look forward to your visit to the Wings of the Tropics in the Clinton Family Conservatory! All visitors to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and participants in Fairchild programs or events consent to the unrestricted fairchild use of any photographs tropical or audio/visual recordings botanic in which they appear. garden Fairchild must be notified in writing of any exceptions.

3 Table of Contents Introduction... 4 Words for a Day at Fairchild... 5 Pre-visit Activities: Living and Non-living: Bear vs. Teddy Bear... 6 Is it Living? Worksheet... 8 Plant Parts... 9 Papaya Tree Worksheet Post-visit Activities: Things We Get From Plants From a Plant/Not From a Plant Worksheet Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? Worksheet Suggested Reading

4 Introduction This unit has been prepared to help you and your students optimize the learning experience during your field study at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. During the field study program, your students will learn about animals, plants and their interactions, and how such interactions are essential for us. These multidisciplinary activities were designed for students in kindergarten through second grade and are aligned to state and national academic standards. Let s use our imaginations and pretend we live in a world without plants or animals. Imagine a world without the grass we love to run through, the trees we love to sit under, or the flowers we love to touch and smell. Imagine a world without some of our favorite things to eat like strawberries, french fries, chocolate, pizza or hamburgers. Imagine a world without any milk or orange juice to drink when we re thirsty. Imagine a world without the T-shirts and socks we wear every day. Imagine a world without chairs to sit on, beds to sleep in, books to read, or pencils and paper for writing. Now imagine a world without the medicine we need to make us feel better or the oxygen we need to breathe! It s hard to believe, but without animals and plants, there wouldn t be any you or me. Plants, humans, animals and all other living things are connected to each other like a web, and what happens to one group affects all the others. That s why it is so important for people to learn all about nature and how to take care of it. The people at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, and other botanical gardens like it, are busy working to protect and care for nature, especially plants, because they are such an important part of our environment. 4

5 Words for a Day at Fairchild Animal-plant interaction a relationship between a plant and an animal that is essential for the survival of both species. Botanical garden - a place where plants are protected, studied and displayed. Ecosystem - a community of plants and animals that live together and depend upon each other for survival. Flower - the blossom of a plant, whose purpose is to attract a pollinator. Fruit - the plant part that develops from a flower and contains seeds. Habitat - the area where a plant or animal is naturally found. Interdependence - having to rely or depend upon other organisms for survival. Leaf - the plant part that absorbs sunlight and produces sugar ( plant food ). Life cycle a series of stages a living being goes through, returning to the starting stage as an adult to reproduce, beginning the cycle again. Living thing a being that is alive. Living beings feed, move internally, breathe or respire, remove waste from their body, grow, are sensible to external stimulus and reproduce. Non-living thing an object that is not and has never been alive. Non-living being can present one or two of the seven characteristics of living things, but they will still be non-living. Oxygen - part of the air we breathe; plants release oxygen during photosynthesis. Photosynthesis - process by which plants make their food using sunlight, water, and air. Plant - a living multi-celled organism that produces its own food through photosynthesis. Pollination process by which pollen from one flower is transferred to another flower. Pollination is necessary for a fruit to develop. Pollinator an animal that moves pollen from flower to flower, such as bees and butterflies. Root - the plant part that holds the plant in place and takes in water and nutrients from the soil. Seed - the first stage in a plant s life cycle; from a seed, the plant will germinate and mature. Seed dispersal transporting seeds away from the plant that produced them. Animals disperse seeds when they eat fruit. Stem/Trunk - the plant part that carries water and nutrients throughout the plant. 5

6 Pre-visit Activity: Living and Non-living: Bear vs. Teddy Bear Objective Students will understand the differences between living and non-living things. State Academic Standards: SC.K.L.14.2, SC.K.N.1.2, SC.K.N.1.5, SC.1.E.6.1, SC.1.L.14.1, SC.1.L.14.3, SC.1.L.17.1, SC.2.L.17.1, SC.2.N.1.3, LAFS.K.L.3.5, LAFS.K.L.3.6, LAFS.K.SL.1.3, LAFS.K.SL.2.4, LAFS.K.SL.2.6, LAFS.1.L.3.5, LAFS.1.SL.1.3, LAFS.1.SL.2.4, LAFS.1.SL.2.6, LAFS.2.L.3.5, LAFS.2.L.3.6, LAFS.2.SL.1.3, LAFS.2.SL.2.6, LAFS.2.W.3.8, SS.K.E.1.4 Vocabulary Characteristics Living Non-living Basic needs Materials Poster board or white board Picture of a bear Teddy bear Procedure 1. Draw on the board two circles that overlap in the middle. Name one of the circles Bear, the second circle Teddy bear and write Both above the intersection. 2. Explain to the students that you will be comparing the characteristics of a real bear with those of a teddy bear. Comparing characteristics will be done by listing their similarities and differences. 3. Pass around the pictures of a real bear and the teddy bear. Ask students to observe their similarities and differences as they pass the objects around the classroom. 4. Once the objects have been inspected by all students, ask them if they both look alike. 5. Ask students if the bear and the teddy bear are different. 6. Ask students to name physical characteristics of both bears and teddy bears and write them in the circles. 7. Point out that even if you only have a picture of a bear, bears are live animals. Teddy bears are non-living objects. 8. Explain that a real bears have needs such as ours. They need to eat, breathe air, a place to live at, etc. 9. Ask students to name needs of both bears and teddy bears and write them in the circles. 6

7 Example of the Graphic: Bear Both Teddy bear -eat and drink -walk, run, jump -climb -breathe -growl -have babies fur head arms ears tail nose mouth -don t eat and drink -don t walk, run, jump or climb -don t go to the bathroom -don t have babies 7

8 Name Nature and Me Is it Living? Date We all know that a dog is a living thing, and we also know that a tree is living. Why do we call them living, but we say a rock is non-living? Let s look at it closely. All living things do all of these things: - Grow -Reproduce -Move -Get energy (food) -Breathe -React to things -Produce waste Use checkmarks to fill in the chart to see if these things are living. Questions Dog Tree Rock You Can it grow? Can it get energy? Can it produce waste? Will it be able to reproduce? Can it move? Can it breathe? Can it react to things? 8

9 Pre-visit Activity: Plant Parts Objective Students will identify the basic parts of a plant and their functions. State Academic Standards: SC.K.N.1.4, SC.K.N.1.5, SC.1.L.14.2, SC.1.L.16.1, SC.1.L.17.1, SC.2.L.17.1, LAFS.K.L.3.5, LAFS.K.L.3.6, LAFS.K.SL.1.3, LAFS.1.L.3.5, LAFS.2.L.3.5 Vocabulary Leaf Stem/trunk Flower Fruit Seed Seedling Materials The Parts of a Tree handout (page 9) Flowering plant (in the garden, a potted plant or pictures with a flower) Crayons/markers Procedure 1. This activity works best outside. Gather the students around a plant in the schoolyard. You may also take a potted plant inside the classroom, or print various pictures of plants that students can look at. 2. Ask the students to begin identifying the different parts of the plant. 3. Complete the Parts of a Tree handout. 4. Have each student draw a plant with a stem, leaves, roots, flowers, and fruit. Label each part on the drawing. This could be an imaginary plant, or their favorite plant from home or school. 5. Draw a tree on the board. Cover up a part of the plant, such as the leaves. Ask the students if the plant could survive if it did not have this part. For example, the tree could not make its own food without the leaves. Without flowers, the tree may survive, but could not make seeds to produce any offspring. 9

10 Name Date Nature and Me Parts of a Tree: Papaya Tree Color the drawing of the Papaya Tree, and then draw an arrow from each box to the correct part of the tree. Leaf Fruit Flower Seed Trunk Seedling 10

11 Post-visit Activity: Things We Get From Plants Objective Students will recognize our dependence on plants and plant products. Students will understand that people use plants to produce items such as food, medicine, shelter, and clothing. State Academic Standards: SC.K.N.1.5, SC.1.L.14.3, SC.2.P.9.1, SC.2.L.17.1, LAFS.K.L.3.5, LAFS.K.L.3.6, LAFS.K.SL.1.3, LAFS.1.L.3.5, LAFS.2.L.3.5 Vocabulary Oxygen Medicine Clothes Food Materials From a Plant/Not From a Plant handouts (pages 11 &12) Scissors Glue Crayons/markers Procedure 1. Ask the students if they think they could live without plants. 2. Have the students identify some of the things they enjoy that come from plants. For example, students may list plants they ate for breakfast or lunch. 3. Discuss how our basic needs for oxygen, food, and shelter are fulfilled by plants. Plants also provide us with medicines, clothing, and many other things like musical instruments, books and perfume. 4. Complete the From a Plant/Not From a Plant handout by pasting each object in the appropriate column. Extension-I Spy Have the students look around the classroom to try to identify more objects that are made from plants. These may include wooden desks, cork boards, pencils and rubber bands. 11

12 Name Date Nature and Me From a Plant/Not From a Plant From a Plant Not From a Plant 12

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14 Post-visit Activity: Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? Objective Students will learn that flowers come in a variety of colors. Students will match these different colors to the animals that are attracted to them. State Academic Standards: SC.K.N.1.5, SC.1.L.14.3, SC.2.P.9.1, SC.2.L.17.1, LAFS.K.L.3.5, LAFS.K.L.3.6, LAFS.K.SL.1.3, LAFS.1.L.3.5, LAFS.2.L.3.5 Vocabulary Plant Animal-plant interactions Interdependence Needs Materials Poster board or white board Why are Plant and Animals Important to Me? Worksheet Scissors Glue Coloring pencils or crayons Procedure 1. Ask students why are animals and plants important to us. Make a list of their answers on the board. 2. Elaborate on the answers establishing relationships between animals and plants. You can draw connecting lines between the different answers written on the board to make the interactions clear. 3. Review together the definition of interdepence and animal-plant interactions. 4. Ask students to give more examples of animal-plant interactions. 5. Complete the Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? worksheet by cutting out and arranging the objects following the direction of the arrows. For example: Flower - pollinator - fruit. Use the keywords on the worksheet as a guide to find the connections between the objects. 14

15 Name Date Nature and Me Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? Cut out the object and arrange them following the direction of the arrows. For example: Flower - pollinator - fruit. Use the keywords on the boxes as a guide to find the connections between the objects. Once they are in the right place, glue them to your worksheet. Flower in bloom Flower being pollinated Seed pod Cow eating grass Farmer milking cow Milk Sheep eating grass Sheep wool Wool socks 15

16 Name Date Nature and Me Why are Plants and Animals Important to Me? 16

17 Suggested Reading For Students Are Trees Alive? Debbie S. Miller A Seed is Sleepy Dianna Hutts Aston Brother Eagle, Sister Sky Susan Jeffers Miss Rumphius Barbara Cooney Plantzilla Jerdine Nolen In the Trees, Honeybees Lori Mortensen The Lorax Dr. Seuss Monarch and Milkweed Helen Frost Tops and Bottoms Janet Stevens Weslandia Paul Fleischman For Teachers Growing Food Pamela Koch, et al. Ecology for Every Kid Janice VanCleave Edible Schoolyard Alice Waters Hands-On Nature Jenepher Lingelbach Wildlife Gardener Junior Master Gardener Series Math in the Garden Jennifer White, et. al Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots Sharon Lovejoy The Growing Classroom Roberta Jaffe 17