Investigating the Life Cycle of a Fern and Moss — How do they change over time?
Read Alouds:
Materials:
- Science journal or blank paper
- Pencil
- Colored pencils (optional)
- Clipboard or something hard to write on outside
- Something to sit on (such as a cushion, log, carpet square, etc.) (optional)
- Internet or other field guides
- An adult or someone in your family to help
What to do:
- Head outside and find a fern or moss that you would like to study.
- You can typically find ferns or mosses:
- In shady places
- On the forest floor- they are often ground cover
- Near trees – at their base
- Things you should take with you:
- Science Journal
- Pencil
- Colored pencils
- Clip board
- Cushion or something to sit on
- A drink and a snack
- Set up a sit-spot where you can come once a week to look at your plant.聽聽
- Label a page in your Science Journal with the date and draw what you see.
- Be sure to pay attention to details!
- Look close to the ground; is there anything growing that is very small?
- What different parts of the plant can you find?
- Come back to your fern next week and add a new page to your journal.聽 Draw what is new to your plant.
- Visit your plant throughout the summer and into the fall.聽
- What changes do you see happening?聽聽
- What stages of the plant life cycle do you think you discovered?
- How do you think this plant reproduces?
- Post pictures of your Science Journal on Facebook and tag us @黑料不打烊.VT!
- You can typically find ferns or mosses:
Resource for parents:
- (VT State Park Guide)
- (color photos on iNaturalist)
- (USDA Forest Service)
- (Blog, She Wrote)
颁辞苍迟补肠迟听education@vinsweb.org聽with questions or comments.