Lesson to Grow Monocots and Dicots
Description In this lesson students set up a side-by-side germination Grade Level: 3-8 experiment of monocot and dicot seeds. They will observe differences and similarities of these two types of flowering Essential Skills: 1, 4, 5, 9 plants at the germination level, specifically the number of cotyledons. Students can record their findings daily. This is a NGSS: 3-LS4-2, 4-LS1-1, MS- great way to begin a flowering plant unit. LS4-2 Background: Flowering plants or angiosperms are divided into two Time: 30 minutes to set groups, monocotyledon and dicotyledon (also called up experiment with daily monocot and dicot). A cotyledon (“seed leaf”) is the observations for about two embryonic leaf-like structure within the seed that provides weeks. food for germination. The very basic distinction between monocots and dicots is the number of cotyledons it Materials: produces upon germination: one cotyledon makes a plant a Monocots and Dicots Kit* monocot, and two cotyledons makes a plant a dicot. There Per Student: are four other differences between these two plant types. • 8-10 Grass Seeds* Attached is a worksheet template. • 8-10 Wheat Seeds* • 2 Bean Seeds* Did You Know? • Snack-sized zip lock Monocots comprise a quarter of all flowering plant species. bag* This include lilies, orchids, agaves and grasses. Monocots • 3 cotton balls* range from tiny duckweeds to large palms and climbing • Water vines. Economically, monocots are perhaps the most • Observation worksheet important plants grown. Corn, rice, wheat and barley all
come from monocots. Bamboo and palms are a primary *Kit available from source of building materials and fibers in many tropical Oregon Agriculture countries. Sugar cane, pineapples, dates, bananas and in the Classroom’s many familiar tropical fruits come from monocots. Lending Library.
Additional AITC Resources: Directions: Books: Straight Forward 1) Begin the lesson by providing students with a brief discussion on the two types of flowering Science: Plant Life (3-8) plants - monocots and dicots - and how at their most basic, the difference is the number of Seed, Soil, Sun (1-4) cotyledons they have. Use the student fact and observation sheet attached to help explain a cotyledon. Ecology Field Card Sets: 2) Break students into pairs and provide each group with a bag, seeds and three cotton balls. Douglas-fir Forests; Oak Woodlands; 3) Students moisten the cotton balls with water until they are wet, but not dripping. Riparian Bottomland Forests 4) Students then put the seeds on a cotton ball and place it in the bag. Note: Each type of seeds are on a separate cotton ball. Don’t mix them. When they are all done, students seal the bag so moisture won’t escape. Using a sharpie marker they write the first letter of each seed type on the bag to help them track their observations. 5) Students record the seeds’ germination process and try and determine which of the seeds are monocots and dicots, and how they can tell the difference. 9/19
oregonaitc.org . Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation . 541-737-1318 Activity Page
Monocots & Dicots
Directions: Record the germination process of the seeds you are using in words and drawings. Using the monocot and dicot fact sheet, which seeds do you think are monocots and which are dicots? How can you tell the difference? Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw
Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw
Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw
Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw
Observation Log Day: ______Observation Log Day: ______Draw Draw
Conclusion: Which seeds are monocots and which are dicots? Support your conclusion. Activity Page
6 Ways to Identify Monocots and Dicots
Angiosperms is the scientific name for flowering plants. Flower plants are divided into two groups called monocotyledon and dicotyledon. They are also called monocots and dicots. There are six ways to identify if a plant is a monocot or a dicot. Monocots Dicots 1)Cotyledon: Also called a seed leaf, it is the leaf of the embryo of a seed plant. When it germinates it either remains in the seed or emerges, enlarges and becomes green. Monocotyledons , or Dicotyledons, or dicots, have monocots, have just one of two first leaves. these first leaves. di = two mono = one cotyledons = seed leaf cotyledons = seed leaf
2)Number of Petals:
Monocots have petals in multiples of Dicots have petals in multiples of four or three (3,6,9). five (4,8,12 or 5,10).
3)Leaves: The veins in leaves are usually visible either on the top of a leaf or on the bottom or both. They look like lines that are a bit darker or lighter than the rest of the leaf.
Monocots have straight or parallel veins Dicots have branching veins in their in their leaves. leaves. Lots of times they make the shape of a V. 4)Stems: Plants get food and water up and down their stems through a vascular system (like tubes) called xylem (ZAYH-luhm) and phloem (FLOH-em).
In monocots the xylem and phloem are For dicots the xylem and phloem are randomly arranged. spaced evenly in a circle around the center of the stem. 5)Root Systems: In monocots the roots are fibrous with For dicots there is a main root or taproot no main root. (e.g. a carrot).
6)Secondary Growth: This refers to branches coming off of the main stem or trunk of a plant. Monocots are like palm trees. They basically have Dicots have lots of branches coming off of the main one main stem or trunk and they might have just a stem or trunk. An example would be oak trees. couple of leaves coming off that.