As a high school or undergraduateBiological Sciences teacher, you can use this set of computer-based tools to help you in teaching the phenology of plants, and phenological events in plants such as leaf-out.
This lesson plan allows students to understand phenology and phenological events in plants and animals. Further, the activities help students to determine the possible relationship between climate and phenological events such as leaf-out in plants. The exercises stimulate thinking about the possible impact of climate change on these periodic life-cycle events.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in the Biological Sciences.
Questions
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
1. What is phenology?
2. Name some phenological events in plants and animals.
3. What are the climate-related factors that may affect leaf-out in plants?
4. Which phenological events in plants could be affected by a change in the average spring temperature?
A classroom/laboratory activity to explore the possible role of climate-related environmental factors in the timing of leaf-out in plants (specifically, red maple leaf-out in New England).
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
1.Introduce the topic by using a reading
• Introduce the topic of phenology, its significance, and the link between plant phenology and climate by using the reading, “About Phenology” from Budburst, a project of Chicago Botanic Garden.
• Discuss a few phenological events (periodic life-cycle events) in plants and animals.
2. Discuss using an online reading
• Explore the topic further by conducting a hands-on activity, “The Timing of Red Maple Leaf-out”, from Signs of the Seasons: A New England Phenology Program, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
• In this activity, students will create and analyze graphs by using data for the timing of red maple leaf-out in New England. They will discuss the potential role of environmental factors such as climate change on leaf-out.
All the teaching tools and images in our collated list are owned by the corresponding creators/authors/organizations as listed on their websites. Please view the individual copyright and ownership details for each tool by following the individual links provided. We have selected and analyzed the tools that align with the overall objective of our project and have provided the corresponding links. We do not claim ownership of or responsibility/liability for any of the listed tools.
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