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

Launch Lab

Launch Lab: Structure hunt
// Inside and outside structures of plants and animals
⏱ about 15 min

Launch Lab: Structure hunt

Raven hands out paper bags and a checklist at the park gate. "Structure hunt! We look, we sketch, we do not pick."

Rocket already spots a bumblebee on clover. "Wings! External! Function: flying!"

"Nice," Raven says. "What do you notice about the clover it is visiting?"

Nova floats above the path. "My hint," she says. "For every structure you find, name its job too."

  1. Living things are built from structures, and each has a function.
  2. External structures are outside. Internal structures are inside.
  3. Roots take up water. Stems carry it. Leaves make food from sunlight.
  4. Quills and shells protect animals. Hearts, lungs and stomachs work inside.
  5. A scientific argument has a claim, evidence and reasoning.
◇ STRUCTURE HUNT
Walk through a park or yard together.
Find three plant structures and three animal structures.
Sketch each one. Write its function next to it.
Pick one and make a claim with evidence about it.
Safety first
Look but do not touch thorns, spines, insects or wild animals.
Do not pick or eat any plants.
Wash your hands when you get home.
For a grown-up
Ask: What did you notice? What would you change?
Ask your child to explain one structure's function using a claim and evidence.
A bee's wings help it ____.
A plant's roots take up ____ from the soil.
StatementTrue or false?
Bark protects a tree.?
A turtle's shell is made from fused ribs and backbone.?
Stems carry water down from the leaves to the roots.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEStems carry water up to the leaves.
The part of an argument that explains how evidence supports a claim is the ____.
WHY THIS EXERCISEReasoning connects the evidence to the claim.

Week 9 complete! Next week we learn how animals sense the world and respond.

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