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Why don't trees blow down in the wind?
Plant Superpowers Unit | Lesson 2 of 3

Why don't trees blow down in the wind?

Plant Superpowers Unit | Lesson 2 of 3
Lesson narration:
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DISCUSS:

Why do you think the umbrellas blew away, but other things on the beach did not?

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DISCUSS:

Why do you think trees don’t get blown down by the wind, but umbrellas do?

To help us figure it out, let’s pretend to be trees blowing in the wind. Maybe that will give us some ideas! Go to the next slide to begin.

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DISCUSS:

What ideas do trees give you, for making an umbrella that won’t blow down in the wind?

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Anchor Connection In the past lesson, you looked at trees and umbrellas. The leaves of a tree and the fabric of an umbrella can’t stay up on their own. Discuss. What do you see that holds up the leaves on the tree? And what holds up the fabric on an umbrella?
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Trees have branches that hold up the leaves. And umbrellas have sticks that hold up the fabric. Those sticks in an umbrella are called ribs. Without branches, the leaves would flop down. And without ribs, the umbrella fabric would flop down, too.
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Even when a whole person sits on a giant water lily leaf, the leaf is strong enough to hold its shape. Discuss. What do you think holds up the giant water lily leaves and makes them so strong? Why do you think that?
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The leaves are held up by two things: the water and the veins. The veins are thick and strong and help hold the leaf in its shape. The veins are like the ribs of the umbrella. Without the veins and the water holding up the leaves, the leaves would just flop down.
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Get your See-Think-Wonder Chart. Are there any new things that you saw? Are there any new things that you think? Are there any new things that you wonder? Record all of those things in your chart.
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A building designer in the 1800s studied these giant lily leaves. These huge, strong leaves gave him an idea for how to build a huge, strong building. On the next slide, you can see pictures of that building.
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This building is called the Crystal Palace. Look, then discuss. Do you see ribs that hold up this building, sort of like the veins that hold up the giant lily leaves?
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This is an actual picture from inside the Crystal Palace. The veins of the giant water lily leaves helped give people the idea for this design, just like how trees helped give you ideas for designing your umbrella.
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Save your See-Think-Wonder Chart. You will come back to it after the next lesson.
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tree


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a type of plant that has a trunk and branches
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root


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a part of a plant that is usually under the ground
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trunk


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the thick middle part of a tree
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branch


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a part of a tree the grows out from the trunk and usually has leaves
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leaf


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a part of a plant that is often flat and green
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shade


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a dark, cool place that is not directly in the sunlight
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umbrella


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a cover that protects from rain or sunlight
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wind


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moving air
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structure


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the specific form and shape of something
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engineer


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a person who uses science to come up with solutions to problems
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design


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to make a plan for creating or doing something
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invent


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to create something new, often an object or a way of doing something
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🎉 That’s it for this lesson! How did it go?
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Lesson narration:

Grade 1

Plant Traits & Survival

Plant Survival & Engineering

1-LS1-1, K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3

5942 reviews

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students examine structures like roots, branches, and leaves that keep trees from blowing down. In the activity, Wind-Proof Umbrella, they use their observations to create their own tree-inspired umbrellas that stay up in the wind.
Preview activity

Exploration

18 mins

Grade 1

Plant Traits & Survival

Plant Survival & Engineering

1-LS1-1, K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3

5942 reviews
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