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Science Launch G4 / Week 09 / Monday
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Week 09 · Built to Survive

Monday

Parts with a purpose
// Inside and outside structures of plants and animals
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Parts with a purpose

At the botanical garden, Rocket reaches toward a fat green cactus. "It looks like a giant pickle!"

"Careful!" Raven says. Rocket pulls his hand back just before the sharp spines.

"Why would a plant be so pokey?" Rocket asks, shaking out his fingers.

Raven bends down, hands behind her back. "What do you notice about where the spines are?"

Nova scans the cactus from a safe distance. "Here is a clue," she says. "Ask what job those spines might do for the cactus."

Structures and functions

Every living thing is built from parts called structures. Each structure has a job, called its function.

External structures are on the outside, like spines, shells, petals and skin.

Internal structures are on the inside, like the heart, lungs, stomach and brain.

Structures help living things survive, grow, behave and make new living things.

A cactus's spines protect it from hungry and thirsty animals. That is one of their functions.

StructureIs it external (on the outside)?
A turtle's shell?
Your heart?
A flower's petals?
Your lungs?
A cactus's spines?
WHY THIS EXERCISEShells, petals and spines are outside. Hearts and lungs are inside.
STRUCTURE OR FUNCTION?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Spines protect a cactus from animals. Is protecting the structure or the function?
A part of a living thing is called a ____.
WHY THIS EXERCISEScientists study structures to learn how living things survive.

Inside and outside

Scientists sort structures into two groups.

External structures are on the outside, where you can see them.

Internal structures are hidden inside the body.

Both kinds work together to keep a living thing alive.

STRUCTURE SORT
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A flower's petals are which kind of structure?
Your brain is which kind of structure?
What is the function of a cactus's spines?
The job a structure does is its ____.
Structures on the outside of the body are ____.
Structures inside the body are ____.
StatementTrue or false?
Every structure has a function.?
Your lungs are external.?
Structures help living things grow and make new living things.?
Skin is an external structure.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEStructures inside and outside all have jobs that help living things survive.
Try it
Look at your own hand closely.
Name two external structures you can see, like nails or skin.
Write one function for each.

Great observing! Tomorrow we follow water through the structures of a plant.