Science Olympiads come in a variety of shapes and sizes to meet your specific requirements. Try a School connect online Science Olympiad program at the school level, which can take the form of a competitive tournament, a hands-on science Fun Day, or an expert-filled Science Olympiad Fun Night. Science Olympiad in grades 1-12 is similar to a football or soccer team in that it requires year-round preparation, commitment, coaching, and practice. The National Science Olympiad (NSO) exam is a global Olympiad competition in which students from various schools around the world can compete. It provides a platform for aspiring talent to put their skills to the test. These exams prepare students for both national and international competitions. This article is all about Science Chapter 1 For Class 3: Animals and Plants.
Plants
Plants abound in our world. All plants share certain parts and characteristics. The plant kingdom is also astoundingly diverse. This unit assists students in understanding plant parts and their functions. Photosynthesis is defined as the process by which plants produce their own food. It also describes how and why plants reproduce and grow, such as pollination, fertilization, seed dispersal, and germination. The unit explains some of the most important plant-animal relationships. It also discusses some of the various ways people use plants for food and materials.
Plant Adaptations Examples of inherited plant characteristics that can vary and change over time
These are characteristics that the plant retains from year to year.
- Form of a leaf (points to shed water)
- Rate of growth (alpine plants grow quickly)
- Poisonous substance (milkweed-goat, red maple-horse)
- the thickness of the bark (dry vs. wet)
- Poor taste (greens, acorns, walnuts)
- Form of a seed cover (for travel)
- Leaf wax coating (wet vs. dry)
- Leaf fall (northern climates)
- Flower color and shape (pollinators)
Examples of non-inherited plant characteristics that vary depending on the year’s environmental conditions (how much sunlight, minerals, and water are available)
- Leaf size
- Fruit size
- Total plant size
- Fruit amount
- Growth rate
- Total plant shape (think trees)
Recognize plant characteristics
Tropisms are plant behaviors. These are the reactions of plants to their surroundings. The following is a list of plant tropisms. You may or may not use this term. Plant behavior is appropriate for third grade.
Geotropism – Gravitational response- Plant roots grow in the direction of gravity, while plant stems grow in the opposite direction.
Phototropism – light response – Plant leaves and stems grow in the direction of the brightest light.
Chemotropism – chemical response – Plant roots will grow toward minerals that they require and away from those that are harmful, such as salt.
Thigmotropism – Thigmotropism is a touch response. Some plants, such as the Venus flytrap, morning glory, pea, and squash family tendrils, can respond to touch (when they touch something they grow in that direction and grab on to it).
The plant’s life cycle
Plants have their own life cycle. It goes like this:
- Seed
- Seedling – germination is the name of this process
- Adult plant
- Flowering – pollination occurs here
- Seeds form
- Seed
Parts of plants
- Roots
- Stems
- Phloem- carries the food (sap) (2-way flow) – living tissue
- Xylem – carries the water (one-way flow – up) – dead tissue (inside of the stem)
- Leaves
- Flower
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a difficult concept for children (and adults) to grasp, but the gist is that plants use sunlight to produce sugar from CO2 and water. Plants use sunlight to generate energy in the same way that we use heat to transform cake batter into a cake (or sugar cookie batter into a sugar cookie)
Chloroplasts are structures found in the cells of leaves. Chloroplasts contain the chemical chlorophyll, which converts sunlight into an unstable chemical form of energy via a complicated process. This chemical (ATP) is then used to rearrange water and carbon dioxide into glucose or sugar, which the plant uses for energy (eaten if you will). Sugar can be stored for a long time and, more importantly, animals can eat it. (As a result, we are all consuming different types of sunlight!)
Almost all food chains on Earth begin with this trick. It is truly an amazing feat that should fill students with awe. You can pique a student’s interest by asking how plants digest food. What happened to their mouth? How does it obtain food? Once you’ve determined that plants can produce their own food, you can explain that if they could, instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch, we’d all march outside, lay down in the sun, and prepare our own. Then our bodies would store all of the food we would require.
To conclude
- Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce food.
- This is the starting point for almost all food chains on Earth.
- All of our food is derived from plant photosynthesis.
Animals
Animals are found all over the world. There are different types of animals such as Insects, Birds, Reptiles, and Mammals. They require food, water, and shelter to survive. Animals that live with humans are referred to as pets. Wild animals include lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants, and bears that live in forests. Domestic Animals are animals that are useful to humans, such as cows, hens, and sheep.
Your third grader will enjoy learning about animals — the various species, the habitats in which they live, how they live, what they eat, and how they move!
Your child can study the following topics.
Habitats for animals
Do sharks live in trees and build nests? Maybe. Perhaps not.
Your child will connect each animal to its natural habitat in this chapter.
How animals adapt to their surroundings
How has the dormouse adapted to its new environment? And what about the mole?
Your child will look at drawings and read synopses of four animals in this science chapter. Then they will consider and draw conclusions about how those animals adapt to their various environments.
What makes it move?
Animals can move independently but in different ways.
Your child will connect each animal to the word that describes how it moves in this chapter, such as swim, crawl, or fly.
Animal species
What animal, reptile, bird, or fish? There are many different kinds of animals, and some of them are related.
This science chapter teaches your child that common characteristics help identify different types of animals, such as mammals.
Benefits of Science Olympiad
- Science Olympiad exams can help a child reach his or her full potential. They assist them in better comprehending scientific concepts.
- Science Olympiad challenges are more difficult and intellectual in nature, allowing students to gain a better understanding of the subject matter.
- The Science Olympiad encourages students to think analytically.
- The content and preparation for these tests are centered on application-oriented learning, which will be extremely beneficial in the long run.
- Another important advantage is that the child learns to respond in a variety of ways.
Prepare for your Olympiad coaching with the School Connect Olympiad by interacting with one of the greatest educators from IIT, NIT, and other institutions!
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