Student Exploration: Fast Plants​®​ 1 – Growth and Genetics Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Note to teachers and students: The ​Fast Plants​®​ ​Gizmo was created in collaboration with the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These lessons can be used independently or in conjunction with classroom Fast Plants experiments. Vocabulary​:​ allele, dominant allele, Fast Plants, gene, genetics, genotype, heterozygous, homozygous, offspring, phenotype, pollen, pollinate, Punnett square, recessive allele, trait Prior Knowledge Questions ​(Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) Gizmo Warm-up Several common vegetables, including Bok choy, napa cabbage, and turnips, are varieties of a plant called ​Brassica rapa​. ​Fast plants​ are a rapid-cycling variety of ​Brassica rapa ​that was developed at the University of Wisconsin. These plants have short growing cycles and are ideal for classroom use. In the ​Fast Plants​®​ 1 – Growth and Genetics​ Gizmo, you will learn about the life cycle and genetic traits of Fast Plants. In the Gizmo, drag seed packet ​A​ to container 1 and seed packet ​B​ to container 2. Click ​Play​ ( ), and then ​Pause​ ( ) after about 10 simulated days. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved Name: Date: 1. What do plants need to survive? sun light, water, food, space 2. How do plants reproduce? Asexual reprodction pollination 1. A plant's ​traits​ are its characteristics. Drag the ​magnifying glass over container 1. Describe the traits of these plants. What do plants need to survive? The plants seem very purpley and unsuccessful. They need light, water, and oxygen. 2. Drag the magnifier over container 2. How do these plants differ from the container 1 plants? The plant stems are far greener and seem to be healthier than container 1´s plants.Introduction:​ Fast Plants​®​ are grown in wicking systems, typically made of nested plastic containers. The larger container is the water reservoir. Water from the reservoir travels through the wick into the soil, where roots draw the water into stems and leaves. Question: How do Fast Plants grow and reproduce? 1. Grow​: With seeds ​A ​in container 1, click ​Play​. Click ​Pause ​on day 17. 2. Pollinate​:​ ​The ​bee stick​ should be active at the bottom of the Gizmo. A bee stick is a dead bee glued on a toothpick. Drag the bee stick through the flowers. A. What happens to the appearance of the bee stick as it is dragged through the flowers? The bee’s hairy thorax (middle section) is covered in ​pollen​. Pollen is produced by male reproductive organs in the flower. Each grain of pollen contains a sperm cell. B. What happens to the flowers? The orange color represents flowers that are ​pollinated​, or fertilized. (In reality, pollinated flowers do not turn orange. This is done to show pollination in the Gizmo.) 3. Grow​: Turn on ​Auto-watering​. This will keep the containers full of water automatically. Click ​Play​, and then ​Pause ​around day 24. Use the ​magnifier​ to observe the plants. A. What do you notice happening at the top of the plants? Pollinated flowers develop into long, thin seedpods. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved Activity A: The Fast Plants​® life cycle Get the Gizmo ready​: ● Click ​Reset​ ( ). Plant seeds ​A​ in container 1. ● Turn on ​Show hints​. A. Is the container full of water? No If not, drag the ​water bottle​ to the container. B. Do the plants look like they are too crowded? yes If so, use the ​tweezers​ to pull out a few plants and discard them in the waste hole. It got yellower The flowers got orange On the top of the plants new flowers are ready to bloom and the color also looks a little more brown. And the yellow flowers are crowded towards the top.This is not a mistake. At this time, the auto-watering system turns off so the plants can dry out and the seeds do not rot. 4. Harvest​: Click ​Play​ and let the simulation run until it ends on day 44. Fast Plants​®​ are unique because they have very quick life cycles, going from seed to mature seedpod in only six weeks. Grab an empty ​seed bag and place it on the counter. Then, use the ​tweezers​ to carefully grab one seedpod from the dried plants. (This may take a few tries.) Release the seedpod over the empty bag. The seed bag now contains seeds that are the ​offspring​ of the parent A seeds. 5. Compare​: Plant the ​A​ seeds in container 1 and the offspring seeds in container 2. Click ​Play ​and then Pause​ after 10-15 days. Use the magnifier to observe the plants in each container. 6. Experiment​: The Gizmo allows you to see how several different factors influence the growth of the plants. For example, you can click on the light to try low-light or no-light conditions. You can also try growing the plants with and without water or in normal or crowded conditions. Using the Gizmo, see how each of these factors affects the growth of the plants. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved B. Click ​Play​, and then ​Pause ​at day 38. Is the container filled with water? No A. What happens? The seeds fall in to the bag and the used seedpod falls in to the trash B. Click on the seed bag. Type a two-letter label for the seed bag and write a description. Congratulations! You have completed the life cycle of a Fast plant.What happens? A. How do the offspring plants compare to the parent plants? Mostly the same but not all of them are as quite mature B. Do all of the offspring plants have the same traits