Structures of Plants

All plants have basic structures - leaves, roots, flowers and stems.

Look at the picture above again and answer the following questions (some of the answers you will find in the picture and some you will have to find the meaning of or do extra research on - you may ask somebody's help, but first think for yourself and try and find the answer. Do not just give up !!! )

What is a pollinator? Give two examples of pollinators and say why they are important in nature.
What is the part of the flower called that holds the seeds?
What is the function of the fruit?
Which part of the plant has the most stored energy?
What do we call the process in which a plant produces its own food?
What are the openings in the leave called that lets water and gasses in and out.
Name two functions of the stem.
What 3 functions do the roots have?

Watch the video on the parts of the plant

Fun activity

Do some rubbings of different leaves - Choose 5 different leaves, place it on a hard surface so that the veins are pointed towards you, cover it with a white paper and use a crayon and gently colour over the leaf. Repeat this with all the leaves. Now look at the different rubbing and describe what you see - how are the leaves different or similar to one another.

Watch the video if you are not sure what to do

Structures of Animals

The basic structure of an animal is the head, body, tail, limbs (legs) and sensory organs (to see, hear and taste with).

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Each of the different parts of animals has their own functions

Head

Most animals have a part we can call the head and also some sensory organs and feeding structures like the mouth.

Tails

Many animals have tail or tail structures and they can have different functions. Lets have a look at a few functions of tails in different animals

to move or swing in trees - monkeys
to balance themselves- a kangaroo
to kill their prey - crocodiles use their tails to spin themselves around and around to drown their prey
to pat down the earth - beavers will hit the ground with their tails to make it hard
to swim - fish
to steer themselves - fish and dolphins. Bird's tails are also important rudders (used to steer)
to keep them warm - a fox or a squirrel will wrap their tails around them to keep themselves warm
to communicate - a dog will show you it is happy by wagging its tail
to protect - an armadillo has an armoured tail to protect itself. They can roll themselves in a ball and protect themselves
distract their predators - a lizard will drop its tail when it is attacked and the tail will distract the predator and the lizard can get away.

Animal's tails are very important to them - you are going to find a picture or video that shows the different functions of different animal's tails as discussed above.

Bodies

Different animals have different body coverings like scales, or fur or hair. Animals need to cover their bodies in special ways for different reasons

It must protect the animal from scratches and bumps and also their organs and bones and muscles. A nice thick fur protects the Polar Bear from the freezing cold.
An animal need to blend into their environment (it must camouflage itself) so that the predator or the prey do not see them easily
Male animals will use their body coverings to attract a female. A peacock has beautiful tail feathers that he will spread out to attract the female.

Look at the pictures below and say which of the above functions of the body coverings do you see in the picture.

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Make your own list of at least 10 animals and say what type of body covering each animal has.

Limbs

Most animals use their limbs to move and some animals like monkeys or otters can use their front legs to handle objects. Animals can have wings, webbed feet, tentacles, feet, fins, arms and flippers. (can you think of an example of an animals with each of these types of limbs?)

Senses

Some animals have senses (smelling, hearing and tasting) that are much better developed than humans.

Sniffer dogs can help find drugs or people after an earthquake and if a building collapsed.
Birds of prey have very good eyesight and can see a mouse or other little animal from far away.
Elephants and cats and dogs can hear sounds that people cannot hear.
Bats, dolphins and whales send out waves that they can find prey, or each other or not bump into objects. This is called echolocation.
Butterflies and bees and earthworms have special senses to taste through their skin and feet. This is called chemoreceptors.
Animals such as ants and cockroaches has special senses that can senses something move far away.

Watch the interesting video on different animals and their senses

Structures of plants and animals - Natural Science Gr 3-4

Structure means the parts something is made up of . If you look at a house's structure you have a roof, windows, doors, walls and so on.

In the same way plants and animals can be divided into different parts and each part has a specific function.