Boggin' away
Description:
Explore and discover the bog and find plants that have special adaptations
to this water-filled desert.
Theme:
This bog has many specialized plants that have made many adaptations to survive
in bog conditions.
Objectives:
Students will be able to explore the bog and:
- Recognize the importance of the
bog in their own lives.
- Describe at least three adaptations that the
pitcher plant has to the bog (color, hairs, pitcher shape, insect eating).
- Explore the taste of cranberries and find out the adaptation that the leaves
have to protect the plant from the sun.
- List sphagnum moss adaptation as
well as the human adaptations and uses of the moss (diapers, insulation,
band aids). Explain how the sphagnum moss mat grows through out the bog.
- Find
one adaptation of the leather leaf.
- “Uncover” the sundew and realize the
adaptations it has to the bog.
- Discover the adaptations that all the plants
have made to the acidic water that has few nutrients, and how it is like
a desert because of inability of roots to bring in water.
- Determine what adaptations
that humans have made to their own environment that is similar to how the
plants in the bog adapted.
Introduction:
Ask if any student has ever been to a bog before. In this bog there are several
plants that have made many adaptations in order to live in the bog. Do you
know what an adaptation is? We are going to see these plants and their adaptations.
- Change
into “Boggin shoes”
- Explain that the plants in the bog are very fragile
so no more than two people can step in the same place, and try to avoid
stepping on any obvious plants.
In this bag there are several clues to the plants in this bog and their adaptations.
Who would like to choose the first clue? Have them choose the clues and describe
them—a sponge, pitcher, leather hiking book, carmex, and honey. Now we are
ready to start boggin' away. Follow me!
Body:
Pitcher plant — Pitcher and vitamins
- Carnivorous eats insects for nutrition,
needs the nutrients since the bog doesn't supply them.
- Attracted to color,
insects fall in the pitcher and can't crawl out because of the direction
the hairs grow. The insect then falls into the water in the bottom and
drowns, plant enzymes digest the insect.
- Stick finger in a plant to feel
the hairs, break apart one dead pitcher plant to see insect remains.
Sphagnum Moss — Sponge
- Let them jump and felt the vibrations
- Can absorb 25 times its own weight—100
lb kid would be able to carry 2500 lbs (that's 10, 250 lb dads)
- Used for diapers by Native Americans
- Band-aids—sterile moss
- Insulation in log cabins—ask how. Explain how water
is very cold below the moss—it insulates—stick hands down to see the
change.
Leather Leaf — Rain coat
- Adapted to desert conditions—hot in day, always cold beneath. Roots can't
function well in the cold, so conservation of water is important. Waxy
leaf, curled to prevent loss of water.
- Evergreens—conserve nutrients, late
year photosynthesis
Bog Cranberry
- Can grow in acidic conditions—taste cranberries
Sundew — Honey
- “Tentacles” have sticky substance that attracts insects. The insects land
in the center and the sundew closes on them.
Conclusion and Questions:
Review the adaptations of the bog plants. What adaptations do humans make
to their environment? What adaptation did we make to come into the bog today?
This bog has changed a great deal throughout time and through people like you
who set up this National park. How important is it to you? What can you do
to make sure that it continues to be here? What about other bog areas and their
protection?
Materials:
- Bag
- Sponge
- Pitcher
- Carmex
- Honey
- Bog Shoes