Mr. Kousen is...  Water Man
PLANTS AND PLANT PROCESSES

        Plants come in a great variety.  Some are only a few millimeters high.  Others, like the Giant Redwoods of California, are over 300 feet in height.  These giants are magnificent to behold.  Plants are found everywhere.  Not only do they beautify our yards and parks, but they also produce our food or food for the animals that we eat.  Green plants convert the sun's energy into food molecules that animals depend upon for energy.  They also produce the oxygen that we breath.  Without plants, life on Earth could not exist.

                          I think that I shall never see
                        A poem as lovely as a tree

                        A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
                        Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

                        A tree that looks at God all day,
                       And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

                        A tree that may in Ssummer wear
                        A nest of robins in her hair;

                        Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
                        Who intimately lives with rain.

                        Poems are made by fools like me,
                        But only God can make a tree.

                                                      Joyce Kilmer

        Sometimes we take the plants that are growing around us for granted.  From forests to jungles, in parks and gardens and just about everywhere, we can enjoy the beauty of plants.  Plants are known to exist almost everywhere.  Green plants, along with algae and photosynthesizing protists, produce all of the oxygen in our atmosphere.  Without plants, animals would not have oxygen for cellular respiration.  As oxygen is used by the animals it is constantly replenished by plant photosynthesis.  This interdependence between plants and animals is clearly one of the major factors of life on Earth.

        As you review this unit you will asked to complete a major four week lab investigation on monocot and dicot plant growth, a web quest on Tree Identification, and research several of the links provided on this page as resources for background information.

Identifying Trees of Indiana:  A Web Quest

Monocot/Dicot Plant Project (4 weeks long)

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