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ACTION CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING (ACEL)

PART 1
Superfund Sites

PART 2
Groundwater Contamination

PART 3
Root Examination

PART 4
Plant Transpiration

PART 5
Capillary Action

PART 6
Journal Notes

PART 3: Root Examination

Have each student bring a small plastic bag (inexpensive sandwich type) to class.

1) Instruct students to go outside and find a small weed on the school campus. Extract it from the soil very carefully so as to keep the fragile roots intact. Note: If small weeds are not plentiful, students may gather larger weeds and insert just the root system into the small bags. See Figure 3

2) Place weeds inside the plastic bags to prevent scattering of soil.

3) Return to the classroom and observe the different parts of the plant (primary, secondary roots, trunk, limbs, stems, leaves, color, firmness, etc.).

4) Using the Documentation Journal, record any and all characteristics of plants as in Figure 3.

5) If time permits, students will make a rough sketch of their plant in the Documentation Journal and label each part using the pre-printed diagram as a guide.