Plants have small hairs on their leaves and stems called trichomes.These structures are important for defense from herbivory and protection from cold, heat and drought. Students will investigate leaf hairs of many different plants in the schoolyard using an inquiry based activity.Two hypotheses will be made,one about whether or not all plants have leaf hairs, and whether most plants are highly pubescent (hairy) or modestly pubescent.Leaves will be collected and classified into three categories.Students will create a data table and bar graph from their data and present this to the rest of the class.The teacher will conclude with some ideas about why plants have leaf hairs and try to stimulate future questions from the students about the topic.
At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Conduct a basic scientific investigation to support predictions
- Explain why plants are pubescent and have small hairs called trichomes
- Explain that not all plants or leaves of the same plant have the same number or type of trichomes
Resources:
Lesson created by Brook Wilke