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1 Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, Lexile, and Reading Recovery are provided in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide. Life Science Many Plants, Many Places Genre Expository nonfiction Comprehension Skills and Strategy Fact and Opinion Sequence Ask Questions Text Features Captions Table of Contents Glossary Scott Foresman Reading Street ì<(sk$m)=bdcicj< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U ISBN by Cynthia Clampitt

2 Many Plants, Many Places by Cynthia Clampitt Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois Parsippany, New Jersey New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts Duluth, Georgia Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas Sacramento, California Mesa, Arizona

3 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: 4 Plants for Each Place CHAPTER 2: 8 Living in Wet Places CHAPTER 3: 11 Living in Dry Places Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) CHAPTER 4: 14 Living with Animals Now Try This 18 Glossary 20 Opener: (T) DK Images, (B) Getty Images; 1 DK Images; 4 Getty Images; 6 Ross M. Horowitz/Getty Images; 7 Andrew Brown; Ecoscene/Corbis; 8 DK Images; 10 Getty Images; 11 DK Images; 12 James Randklev/Getty Images; 13 (BR) Dr. John D. Cunningham/Visuals Unlimited, (TL) Robert & Jean Pollack/Visuals Unlimited; 15 DK Images; 16 Ron Sanford/Corbis; 17 Corbis ISBN: Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois V

4 Chapter 1: Plants for Each Place Almost anywhere you go on Earth, you will see many kinds of plants. There are some places where the climate is so harsh that no plants grow there. You won t find plants living at the South Pole, for example, but most places support a variety of plant life. Climate is one of the things that determine which plants grow in an area. Some places are warm all year, while some places have cold winters. Annual rainfall is another element of climate that affects plants. Over thousands of years, plants slowly adapted to changing conditions. As wet places got drier or warm places got colder, small changes would help one plant survive, while another might not. In time, these small differences led to the growth of plants perfectly suited to very different climates. 4 5

5 Rain or snow, temperature, and the change of seasons help determine the types of plants that are successful in an area. Landforms and waterways also help determine which plants grow in an area. For example, mountains have very different plants than lakeshores. In the United States, we have many different landforms and climate zones. The pictures below show the Northeast and the Southwest regions of the country. The Northeast has warm summers and cold winters. Plenty of rain falls there. Most of the Southwest has warm winters and hot summers, and little rain falls in much of this region. Look at the two pictures. What differences do you notice? Where are plants greener? What clues show that there is less rain in the Southwest? Each place has plants that are perfect for its climate. Northeast Southwest 6 7

6 Chapter 2: Living in Wet Places Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, and Oceans Salt would kill most land plants, but plants in the ocean are suited to living in salt water. Giant kelp, found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, can grow as much as 14 inches per day. Giant kelp grows up to 100 feet long before it dies each winter. Water lilies, shown below, live in fresh water, and are found in lakes, ponds, and rivers. Water lilies are suited to living in water. They have tough, waxy leaves that float and long stems that grow up from the soft mud below. Because water lily leaves and flowers float, the stems do not have to hold them up. Instead, the stems are flexible, so they can move easily in water currents. Reeds and rushes are water plants that grow near the water s edge. Only their roots and parts of their stems are under water. Some water plants do not have roots at all. They get their nutrients, or food, directly from the water. 8 9

7 10 Rain Forests Some places have wet climates, with heavy rainfall. Forests that grow in these places are called rain forests. Washington s Olympic National Park rain forest often gets more than one hundred inches of rain in a year. The trees grow close together, so they grow tall to reach up to the sunlight. Mosses and ferns are also suited to the rain forest. They are adapted for growing in the shade. Ferns and mosses grow beneath the trees and even on the trees. Red cedars and Douglas firs grow tall and close together in Olympic National Park rain forest. Chapter 3: Living in Dry Places Deserts Deserts are places that get less than ten inches of annual rainfall. Some deserts are cold, some are hot, but all are dry. Because rain is rare and often comes in short, heavy bursts, desert plants have to be able to either save water or grow quickly when water is available. Some desert plants have spines, which are like thorns, instead of leaves. A cactus has its spines in starlike clusters. A spine has less surface area from which water can evaporate, or dry up. Desert plants also have stomata, or tiny openings on leaves or stems, that can close to keep water from evaporating. The barrel cactus can expand to store water. 11

8 Mountains Mountains can be difficult places for plants to grow. High mountains can stop clouds, so all the rain falls on one side of the mountain. The other side may get very little rain, creating a dry climate. This effect is known as a rain shadow. Strong winds may blow, which also dries a mountain s soil. The winds affect plants in other ways too. Many high mountains are cold as well as dry. Of course, the higher up a mountain you go, the harsher the conditions. There are often great forests on the lower slopes of mountains, but the plants change as you climb. Some mountain plants grow in clusters, that is, their stems grow close together. This traps heat and water. Often, plants grow close to the ground, which protects them from strong winds. Some plants, such as lichens, grow right on the rocks. Mountains in very hot regions may have many of the same plants you find in deserts. Tree shaped by wind Lichens growing on rock 12 13

9 Chapter 4: Living with Animals Animals as Food Plants that live in places where the soil has few nutrients get what they need in other ways. Some of these plants actually eat insects and other small creatures! The leaves of sundew plants have hairs that make a kind of glue. First, an insect gets stuck in the glue. Then, the leaf folds over the insect and traps it. The pitcher plant has leaves that form tubes that are filled with liquid. The surface at the mouth of the tube is slippery. Insects slip and fall into the liquid and are digested by the plant. Some consider the Venus sflytrap to be the most interesting of the meat-eating plants. The Venus sflytrap has leaves that are hinged in the middle. When an insect lands on one of the leaves, the leaf closes up, trapping the insect. Pitcher plant 14 The Venus s-flytrap can trap and digest insects, such as this dragonfly, to get the nutrients it needs. 15

10 Friends and Enemies More common than plants eating animals is animals eating plants. For some plants, such as grass, the plant survives by growing back after the animal has moved on. However, many plants have thorns to protect them from animals. Others have leaves that taste bad or are poisonous. Plants and animals are not always enemies, however. Many plants need animals to help with their life cycles. Juicy berries or other types of fruit attract bats, birds, monkeys, and other animals, which then spread the seeds far from the original plant. Beautiful flowers attract insects, which then spread pollen from one flower to another. Just as different plants are specially suited to the climates in which they live, so too they are suited to the animals with which they live. Birds help spread seeds. 16 Thorns protect plants from animals. 17

11 Now Try This Plants need sunlight. Adaptations make it possible for plants to get the sunlight they need. This experiment will show you one of these adaptations. You ll need: two small planting containers planting soil a shoebox two seeds (beans, corn, or other seeds) a small wedge or block Here s How to Do It! 1. Put some soil in each container. 2. Plant a seed in each container. 3. Water both seeds a little. 4. Turn the shoebox on its side. Set the containers inside the shoebox. 5. Place the shoebox on a window sill, with the open side facing the window. 6. Put a block or a wedge under one of the containers. The container should be tilted away from the window. 7. Water the containers for a week or two. 8. Watch the seeds grow. Why do the stems grow differently? How does this help the plant get sunlight? 18 19

12 Glossary adapted v. to change to fit surroundings or conditions. annual adj. in a year or for a year. climate n. the kind of weather a place has year after year. currents n. flow of water or air. nutrients n. food needed by living things. stomata n. small openings or pores in a plant or animal. Reader Response 1. Read page 14 again. What opinion is included on the page? Do you agree with the opinion? Why or why not? 2. What questions did you have when you read the heading Animals as Food? Use a chart like the one below to brainstorm your questions. Did the text answer these questions? Questions Answers 3. What are nutrients? What nutrients do you need to live? 4. How can the table of contents in a chapter book help you locate information in a book such as this one? 20