Grasses and Forbs: A Major Difference

Extending the ActivityStudents are now equipped to visit a prairie orprairie reconstruction and identify some of theplants that occur there. The first step is decidingif the plant is a monocot or a dicot. With the aidof a field manual they should be able to identifymany of the most common plants in amidwestern prairie.ConceptThe flowering plants (angiosperms) can bedivided into two groups, monocots and dicots,based on observable characteristics.Safety and Waste DisposalNo dangerous or hazardous materials are used.State Goals11, 12 (Objective 12.7.17)

Student Page 2: General Differences between Monocots and Dicots

Student Page 3: Distinguishing Monocots and DicotsName.Examine the plant your group has been given. Based on the information you have been given, decideif it is a monocot or a dicot. Write its number in the appropriate blank below. Consider the relevantquestions but do not answer them until you have examined at least two plants in each group.DicotsWrite their numbers here: _____ _____ _____1. Why do you think this plant (number ______) is a dicot?2, Inspect the flowers of one of the dicots (number______). What structures do you see? How are thestamens arranged around the flower?3. Inspect the leaves of the plants you have classified as dicots. How would you describe the patternof the veins on the leaves?4. What other external characteristics do you see?Monocots1. Look at one of the plants you have classified as a monocot (number_____). Do you see anyflowers? If so, describe their structure.2. How do the flowers of a monocot differ from the flowers of a dicot?3. Inspect a leaf on a corn plant and compare it to one of the leaves on a sample of big bluestem orother grass. (Your teacher may substiture other plants for those mentioned above.) In what ways arethey similar?How are the veins arranged on a monocot leaf? How does this pattern differ from the leaf vein patternon a dicot?