DNA field trip OCT 26

We will visit the michael smith building to do the PCR experiment. consent form here.

Reviewing Kingdom Plantae

Today will
1.  have a brief lecture reviewing the Kingdom Plantae notes here
2.  we will do the following assignment for handing in.  Create a collage using real plants on big 11 by 17 pieces of paper and tape:  

1. find an example of the land plants on the school grounds.  Bring back a tiny example:    Put 

them in evolutionary order.  

2. draw the alternation of generation of mosses and ferns and use a real example of a moss or fern, 

Use this diagram to help you learn structures of the gametophyte and sporophytes of mosses and ferns

3.  students will quiz one another to become ready for a plantae quiz next period on the same subject

Ravine Park: botanizing

We did a site walk in Ravine Park today to start off our Ravine project and collected a sample of tree and understory specimens for later study.

Students collected and positively identified the following plants:  Bracken fern, Sword fern, English ivy, Vinca, Cedar, Laurel, Douglas Fir, Vine Maple, Salmonberry.  There are other plants (potential birch, alder, and aspen - but we need to check these with tree guides).   We will dry the leaves and press them in books.

We found a coyote scat that looked like it had hair in it.  And I thought I saw a Cascara tree - it looked so much like the one in Camosun bog, but I was mistaken.  We picked a sample, and after returning to school, and seeing the pattern in the stem, I think it is more likely a really young horse chestnut.   We'll know for sure if we can observe the flower and fruit.

For your field notes, take a note of your samples and classify them as bryophyte, tracheophyte, and then gymnosperm and angiosperm and identify the characteristics that support your classification.

Evolution of Plantae

Today we examined specimens that represented Bryophytes and Tracheophytes.  Tracheophytes included sphenophyta (horsetail) , pterophyta (fern), spermophyta (seed plants) . Of the spermophyta, we looked at gymnosperm and angiosperm samples.   We also observed a sundew in action (Drosera rotundifolia) after a few students captured a small spider and let it walk on the sundew.  Images of Shelob from Lord of the Rings comes to mind.... We also passed around a fuzzy and soft Stachys byzantina leaf: or lamb's ear.

Our notes today were the Kingdom Plantae notes here on alternation of Generation and the evolution of plants.