Unit 3 – Kingdoms of Life
Lesson 3 – Plant Advertisements
Now that we have completed the animal pamphlets, it’s time to learn how to make an advertisement. We will be advertising what makes plants so important. I will be doing a whole unit on plants in the future! The cool thing about this activity is you can do it twice! Once now, in this brief plant survey lesson and again as the final project for the plant unit. Repeating a project may seem slightly counterproductive. However, doing the same activity can measure growth, learning, skills, and knowledge without the stress of a test. Think about it, how many times have you done a project and a week later learned something super useful that could have helped with that project? When we repeat a project, we can compare and contrast the same project. I will be posting a free student self-evaluation form so students can see their personal growth (and learn about self-reflection). Sign up for my email list to get notified when I launch it these upcoming freebees!
Supplies:
- Plant script or reading
- Poster board or whiteboard
- Medium to create ads
(I used magazine clippings to make a bulletin board)
Plants script or reading:
Did you know plants came before animals? To understand how plants existed before animals, we need to understand plants. Plants do not have lungs the way other animals do because they do not breathe oxygen. They “breathe” in carbon dioxide and “breathe” out oxygen. Oxygen is the substance in the air that all animals, including humans, need to stay alive. When the world first started, it contained mostly carbon dioxide, making it impossible for animals to live on Earth. When plants began to start evolving and growing on the Earth, the plants took most of the carbon dioxide and turned it into oxygen. It only took a couple thousands of years. Eventually, animals were able to evolve and breathe oxygen! In short, without plants, the Earth would have no oxygen, and any animal that breathes oxygen (all of them) would not be able to survive.
Plants use sunlight, soil, and water for food. Plants turn sunlight into food using photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process that takes sunlight and converts the sunlight into food for the plants. Most plants only need these three resources to survive, but some plants are carnivorous. Carnivorous plants, like the Venus Flytrap, eat meat!! These plants use different techniques to lure insects and other small animals (including rodents, birds, reptiles, and amphibians).
While most animals need another animal (usually one male and one female) to reproduce, most plants can reproduce independently (on their own). Unlike animals who reproduce with live birth or an egg, plants use seeds.
Plants also give humans and other animals numerous (many) services. Plants feed everything on the planet, even animals that only eat meat. For example, carnivorous animals often eat herbivorous animals (an animal that only eats plants). If the prey did not have plants, then the prey would quickly die. All the prey dying would be incredible for the carnivores at first (it’d be a free buffet!). The carnivores would eat all the animals that were weak and starving, but once the herbivores were all gone, the predators will have nothing to eat. If there is no food for the predators, then they will also become weak and starve. So if all the plants die, anything that eats plants or animals will also die.
Plants provide homes for animals. Birds, squirrels, monkeys, sloths, and other animals live in trees. Insects and small rodents hide under smaller plants (like bushes). You can use plants to make tools like rope, soap, medicine, food, and houses!!! I mean, even wood comes from trees! Every material we use to build or create comes from the Earth.
Plants can also help the soil stay in one spot, preventing avalanches and riverbanks from collapsing. Soil and dirt will start to slide if it is not held in place. Plants’ roots go straight into the ground to help hold the soil in place and to feed off the nutrients into the soil. Plants also help by shielding soil from rain, wind, snow, and other weather conditions that may cause the soil to slide. The process of soil sliding or moving out of place is called erosion, and it’s dangerous for humans (especially if you are under an avalanche, ahhhhh). Erosion can also hurt animals (not just from rocks and dirt sliding on them). Erosion is harmful to animals that live in the water. Some aquatic animals (animals that live in water) can only live in clear waters, extra substances in the water can cause health problems for the animals. For example, if an aquatic animal lays its egg in the water and those eggs get covered with soil or rocks, there is a chance the eggs will not be able to get oxygen, and then they will never be able to hatch. If there are other plants inside of the water, and they become covered with soil, then those plants might not be able to get sunlight anymore and would then die. WOW! Soil erosion can be dangerous, and plants are incredibly helpful in preventing it.
Activity:
- Start the day off by reading the script to the students or printing it out and having them read it allowed to you.
- Go over what makes a fantastic advertisement. Pull out your poster board or whiteboard and brainstorm together. It should resemble the model below.
|
What makes an Ad Amazing? o Clear o Captures your attention o Interesting o Includes product name o Makes you think o Makes you want the product o Includes product description/use o Makes the product look good o Rememberable (easy to remember)/catchy o Easy to understand
|
Please email me and send me some of your student’s responses. I’d love to add them to my list!
- On the other side of the poster board or the bottom of th whiteboard, brainstorm different styles of ads and how they work with this chart. I have also included a blank copy of this for students to fill out.
|
Type of Ads |
Description |
Qualities |
|
Jingle |
Small catchy song |
Rhymes Has melody Short Catchy |
|
Bulletin |
Square or rectangular-shaped picture ad |
Pictures and words Interesting looking Neat Easy to read |
|
Commercial |
Small video (or skit) presenting your product |
Tells a story Easy to hear Easy to remember |
|
Infomercial |
Information commercial or radio ad that explains the product |
Easy to understand Filled with Facts Leaves you feeling informed |
|
Radio |
A spoken ad that cannot be seen but explains the ad |
Easy to hear Clearly spoken Not annoying |
Feel free to use your own student’s descriptions and qualities.
- Using the requirements listed above, have students create an ad for the benefits of plants. Record any live-action ones so that you can compare it to the later project.
- Post ads in the Facebook Group!
