Week 1: Biological Sciences
Expert Group Member One:
Stacey Germanotta
Stacey Germanotta
Animals
Amphibians vs Reptiles
There are many different classifications for animals including Aves, Amphibians, reptiles, Mammals and Fish - Bony and Cartilaginous.
Here a comparison of Reptiles and Amphibians is undertaken.
Amphibians vs Reptiles
There are many different classifications for animals including Aves, Amphibians, reptiles, Mammals and Fish - Bony and Cartilaginous.
Here a comparison of Reptiles and Amphibians is undertaken.
EXAMPLES OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
Reptiles:
Reptiles (meaning "to creep stealthily under cover of darkness") are a group of animals that have scales (or modified scales), breathe air, and usually lay eggs. Most reptiles live on land and reproduce by laying eggs. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all examples of reptiles. (http://www.diffen.com/difference/Amphibian_vs_Reptile)
Amphibians:
Amphibians live "double lives" — one in water with gills and the other on land by growing lungs as they age. They are vertebrates and cold blooded (ectothermic). Early amphibians, a crucial link from fish to terrestrial reptiles, were the first animals to leave the sea and venture onto the land. Frog, toad, newts, salamanders are all examples of amphibians. (http://www.diffen.com/difference/Amphibian_vs_Reptile)
Reptiles:
Reptiles (meaning "to creep stealthily under cover of darkness") are a group of animals that have scales (or modified scales), breathe air, and usually lay eggs. Most reptiles live on land and reproduce by laying eggs. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all examples of reptiles. (http://www.diffen.com/difference/Amphibian_vs_Reptile)
Amphibians:
Amphibians live "double lives" — one in water with gills and the other on land by growing lungs as they age. They are vertebrates and cold blooded (ectothermic). Early amphibians, a crucial link from fish to terrestrial reptiles, were the first animals to leave the sea and venture onto the land. Frog, toad, newts, salamanders are all examples of amphibians. (http://www.diffen.com/difference/Amphibian_vs_Reptile)
CURRICULUM LINKS
Classification of animals relates to a number of areas in the Science Curriculum. These include but are not limited to (Scootle):-
Science / 3 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things
Elaborations
Science / 1 / Science Inquiry Skills / Evaluating
Curriculum content descriptions
Compare observations with those of others
Elaborations
Science / 1 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables
Elaborations
Science / 2 / Science Inquiry Skills / Evaluating
Curriculum content descriptions
Compare observations with those of others
Elaborations
Science / 2 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables
Elaborations
Science / 3 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to represent data and to identify patterns and trends
Elaborations
Science / 4 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to represent data and to identify patterns and trends
Elaborations
Science / 2 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves
Elaborations
Science / 4 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things have life cycles
Elaborations
Science / 3 / Science Inquiry Skills / Questioning and predicting
Curriculum content descriptions
With guidance, identify questions in familiar contexts that can be investigated scientifically and predict what might happen based on prior knowledge
Elaborations
Classification of animals relates to a number of areas in the Science Curriculum. These include but are not limited to (Scootle):-
Science / 3 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things
Elaborations
- recognising characteristics of living things such as growing, moving, sensitivity and reproducing
- recognising the range of different living things
- sorting living and non-living things based on characteristics
- exploring differences between living, once living and products of living things
Science / 1 / Science Inquiry Skills / Evaluating
Curriculum content descriptions
Compare observations with those of others
Elaborations
- discussing observations as a whole class to identify similarities and differences in their observations
Science / 1 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables
Elaborations
- using matching activities, including identifying similar things, odd-one-out and opposites
- exploring ways of recording and sharing information through class discussion
- jointly constructing simple column graphs and picture graphs to represent class investigations
Science / 2 / Science Inquiry Skills / Evaluating
Curriculum content descriptions
Compare observations with those of others
Elaborations
- discussing observations with other students to see similarities and differences in results
Science / 2 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables
Elaborations
- constructing column and picture graphs with teacher guidance to record gathered information
- sorting information in provided tables or graphic organisers
Science / 3 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to represent data and to identify patterns and trends
Elaborations
- using provided tables to organise materials and objects based on observable properties
- discussing how to graph data presented in a table
- identifying and discussing numerical and visual patterns in data collected from students' own investigations and from secondary sources
Science / 4 / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and information
Curriculum content descriptions
Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to represent data and to identify patterns and trends
Elaborations
- identifying and discussing numerical and visual patterns in data collected from students' investigations and from other sources
- using provided graphic organisers to sort and represent information
- discussing with teacher guidance which graphic organisers will be most useful in sorting or organising data arising from investigations
Science / 2 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves
Elaborations
- representing personal growth and changes from birth
- recognising that living things have predictable characteristics at different stages of development
- exploring different characteristics of life stages in animals such as egg, caterpillar and butterfly
- observing that all animals have offspring, usually with two parents
Science / 4 / Science Understanding / Biological sciences
Curriculum content descriptions
Living things have life cycles
Elaborations
- making and recording observations of living things as they develop through their life cycles
- describing the stages of life cycles of different living things such as insects, birds, frogs and flowering plants
- comparing life cycles of animals and plants
- recognising that environmental factors can affect life cycles such as fire and seed germination
Science / 3 / Science Inquiry Skills / Questioning and predicting
Curriculum content descriptions
With guidance, identify questions in familiar contexts that can be investigated scientifically and predict what might happen based on prior knowledge
Elaborations
- choosing questions to investigate from a list of possibilities
- jointly constructing questions that may form the basis for investigation
- listing shared experiences as a whole class and identifying possible investigations
- working in groups to discuss things that might happen during an investigation
SCOOTLE RESOURCES
Animal Groups at the Zoo:2
Animal Search: Is it a Reptile?
Animal Search: Is it an Amphibian?
Animal Search (this encompasses the above classifications as well as mammals and fish)
Animal Groups at the Zoo:2
Animal Search: Is it a Reptile?
Animal Search: Is it an Amphibian?
Animal Search (this encompasses the above classifications as well as mammals and fish)
Expert Group Member Two:
Kylie Norton
Differences Between Ferns and Flowers:
Ferns
· Ferns reproduce from spores but flowering plants reproduce from seeds. Ferns reproduce differently from the conifers and flowering plants. It all has to do with moisture. Not just the moisture that allows the plant to live where it does, but the moisture that allows it to reproduce there. The reproduction process itself requires moisture.
· They were thriving on Earth for two hundred million years before the flowering plants evolved.
· Ferns are leafy plants that grow in moist areas under the forest canopy.
· Ferns are (relatively) delicate plants that only grow in areas where there are suitably moist conditions. They favour sheltered areas under the forest canopy, along creeks and streams and other sources of permanent moisture. They cannot grow readily in hot dry areas like flowering plants and conifers.
· The spores are equipped with both male and female sex cells, and when blown to a new area can fertilize and begin growing immediately.
· The fern family is ancient.
· In moist, low-light conditions, such as a rainforest floor, ferns have the advantage over flowering plants because they can survive with less light.
Ferns
· Ferns reproduce from spores but flowering plants reproduce from seeds. Ferns reproduce differently from the conifers and flowering plants. It all has to do with moisture. Not just the moisture that allows the plant to live where it does, but the moisture that allows it to reproduce there. The reproduction process itself requires moisture.
· They were thriving on Earth for two hundred million years before the flowering plants evolved.
· Ferns are leafy plants that grow in moist areas under the forest canopy.
· Ferns are (relatively) delicate plants that only grow in areas where there are suitably moist conditions. They favour sheltered areas under the forest canopy, along creeks and streams and other sources of permanent moisture. They cannot grow readily in hot dry areas like flowering plants and conifers.
· The spores are equipped with both male and female sex cells, and when blown to a new area can fertilize and begin growing immediately.
· The fern family is ancient.
· In moist, low-light conditions, such as a rainforest floor, ferns have the advantage over flowering plants because they can survive with less light.
Flowering Plants
· Flowering plants (and conifers) reproduce when pollen from a male flower - carried by wind, insect or other vector - fertilises the female flower.
· These plants are also the only ones to reproduce sexually, by cross-pollination with other plants of the same species.
· This has proven to be a successful design change and in fact there are as many as 260,000 identified species of flowering plants, making this arguably the most diverse plant group on the planet.
· Flowering plant family, called angiosperms, is a more recent evolutionary development.
· Seeds have enabled flowering plants to spread to different climate conditions that are not moist enough to enable fern reproduction.
· Flowering plants (and conifers) reproduce when pollen from a male flower - carried by wind, insect or other vector - fertilises the female flower.
· These plants are also the only ones to reproduce sexually, by cross-pollination with other plants of the same species.
· This has proven to be a successful design change and in fact there are as many as 260,000 identified species of flowering plants, making this arguably the most diverse plant group on the planet.
· Flowering plant family, called angiosperms, is a more recent evolutionary development.
· Seeds have enabled flowering plants to spread to different climate conditions that are not moist enough to enable fern reproduction.
Similarities
· Both are classified under vascular plants due to the presence of vascular tissue in the form of xylem and phloem
· Both vascular plants.
· Vascular plants can grow tall because their vascular tissue provides an effective way of transporting materials throughout the plant. The strong tube-like structures in vascular plants give the plants strength and stability.
· Like all plants, ferns have evolved to suit their environment. Some can tolerate extreme drought and heat, others only live in the deepest rainforest.
· Both ferns and flowering plants turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen.
· Flowering plants and ferns both go through a phase where male and female are separated into a sperm and egg, then reunited with fertilization.
· Both are classified under vascular plants due to the presence of vascular tissue in the form of xylem and phloem
· Both vascular plants.
· Vascular plants can grow tall because their vascular tissue provides an effective way of transporting materials throughout the plant. The strong tube-like structures in vascular plants give the plants strength and stability.
· Like all plants, ferns have evolved to suit their environment. Some can tolerate extreme drought and heat, others only live in the deepest rainforest.
· Both ferns and flowering plants turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen.
· Flowering plants and ferns both go through a phase where male and female are separated into a sperm and egg, then reunited with fertilization.
Youtube clip explaining comprehensive details about Plant Pollination methods. |
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Intriguing vision of fern spores under a microscope. |
Expert Group Member Three:
Faith Gray
What is Asexual and Sexual Reproduction and how are they different?
Asexual Reproduction is;
Faith Gray
What is Asexual and Sexual Reproduction and how are they different?
Asexual Reproduction is;
- Medical Dictionary: Reproduction occurring without the sexual union of male and female gametes.
- Cultural Dictionary:The kind of reproduction in which it is not necessary to have two parents to produce offspring. The reproduction of single-celled organisms through fission, and the production of spores in some plants and plant like organisms, is examples of asexual reproduction.
- Medical Dictionary: Reproduction by the union of male and female gametes
to form a zygote.
- Cultural Dictionary: The production of a new living thing by two parent organisms, with each parent contributing half the material in the DNA of the offspring. The young, genetically different from either parent, can rapidly adapt to their environment by means of natural selection.
How are they different? Asexual Reproduction requires only one parent for the plant or animal to reproduce. Sexual Reproduction requires the sexual union of both male and female parents for the plant or animal to reproduce.
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All definitions above sourced from; http://dictionary.reference.com/
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What is the difference between Asexual and Sexual Reproduction in Plants?
Example of an Sexually Reproducing Animal;
Monarch Butterfly
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Sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHiVA9J_YIM
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Sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyZjCw5Rl2Y
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Example of an Sexually Reproducing Animal;
Bird
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Differences
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Similarities
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This website would come in handy when teaching younger students about life cycles. It has a movie that explains the different type of life cycles and games where students can test what they've learnt from the video. Thought I'd share, given that it may come in handy in the future.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/index.htm
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/index.htm