IV.A.1 Palmettos: Old-Timers of the Scrub

Concepts: Adaptations, plant-animal interactions, food webs, predator/prey relationships, microhabitats, diversity of life, and mutualism.
Skills: Observation, cooperative learning, measurement, scientific method, and discussion.
Time needed: Part One: approximately 20 minutes. Part Two: approximately 30 minutes.
Best time of year: anytime
Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.1, LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.1.2.4, LA.A.2.2.1, LA.A.2.2.5, LA.A.2.2.8, LA.B.1.2.3, LA.B.2.2.1, LA.B.2.2.2, LA.B.2.2.3, LA.B.2.2.6, LA.C.1.2.1, LA.C.1.2.3, LA.C.1.2.4, LA.C.1.2.5, LA.C.3.2.2, LA.C.3.2.5, MA.A.1.2.3, MA.A.3.2.3, SC.F.1.2.2, SC.G.1.2.1, SC.G.1.2.2, SC.G.1.2.5, SC.G.1.2.6, SC.G.2.2.1, SC.G.2.2.2, SC.H.1.2.1, SC.H.1.2.2, SC.H.1.2.3, SC.H.1.2.4, SC.H.3.2.2, SC.H.3.2.4.

During Part One of this activity, your class will observe palmettos and animals found on the fronds and stem. Your students will also measure the length of the palmetto stem to help calculate the approximate age of the plant. During Part Two, your class will use data collected to construct a palmetto time line.

IV.A.1 Part One-Collecting Palmetto Data

Materials needed:
Each team of 2-3 students needs:
  • Data sheet
  • Clipboard
  • Pencil
  • String (not too thin) approximately 5 meters long
  • Scissors (or teacher can have)
  • Meter sticks or metric rulers

Teacher needs:
  • Extra pencils or pencil sharpener
  • Flagging to mark palmettos and boundaries (optional)
  • Whistle (optional)
  • Calculator
  • Garden clippers (optional)
Instructions for the teacher:
  1. Locate an area with enough saw palmettos for each team of 2-3 students to have a plant to investigate. Use flagging to mark palmettos or the boundaries, if necessary.


  2. Use the information from the introduction to initiate a palmetto discussion with your class. Talk with students about the two different types of palmettos and how important they are for animals and humans. (Humans have used palmetto fronds, including those from cabbage palms, to thatch roofs, make hats, and to spread on sandy roads to prevent cars from getting stuck. Other parts of the palmetto plant have been used as food and medicine.)


  3. Distribute and review student data sheet: Palmettos: Old-Timers of the Scrub.


  4. Remind your students to observe carefully. Many insects and small animals (tree frogs, lizards, spiders) can be seen on palmettos if the student approaches the plant very slowly and quietly and observes the palmetto before touching the fronds. Wasps will sometimes build nests on palmetto fronds, too, so it is important that they look before charging in.


  5. Divide the class into teams. One student should be the recorder. Take the class outside to look for palmettos.


  6. Instruct students to observe their palmetto and begin answering questions on their data sheets. Spend at least 5-6 minutes looking over the palmetto carefully. Examine the leaf petiole, palmetto stem (trunk), and palm boots that line the stem. Students may want to cut away some of the dead leaves or leaves that prevent them from getting a clear view of the palmetto stem.

    7. If the students see an animal, they should try to watch it without disturbing it and try to decide what the animal is doing. Remember, knowing the correct name of the organism (plant or animal) is not important. Instead, students should give the animal a descriptive name like yellow and black spider, green lizard, or green velvety moss.

  7. When observations are completed, instruct the teams to carefully stretch their piece of string along the palmetto stem from the front growing tip to the very base of the stem. (The growing tip is the point from which the live leaves are growing--not the tip of the leaf.) If the creeping stem is buried under leaf litter, you might want to excavate some of the litter or dirt from around the stem to see where it goes. Instruct students to cut the string at the spot where it touches the base of the palmetto stem.


  8. Instruct students to measure the length of the string and record this information on their data sheets. (This part can be done inside the classroom to keep you from having to take meter sticks out or if you need teams to share meter sticks.)


  9. When you return to the classroom, find the age of each palmetto by dividing the length by 1.2. Students should record the age of their palmettos on their data sheets.


  10. Create a table on the chalkboard or overhead projector using the example below as a guide. Compile student data on the table.


    11. Saw Palmetto Data Team # Age of palmetto Blooming? Fruit? Plants living on stem Evidence of Animals
               


  11. Have a wrap up discussion with your class. Do animals prefer older or younger palmettos? Do older or younger palmettos have more plants growing on them? Why do you think so? Does the stem show evidence of fire? Did you see roots growing out of the stem? Where on the stem? Did you see any evidence of animals feeding on the fruits or leaves?

Palm weevilPalm weevil
IV.A.1-Part 1    Part 2
student data sheet #1    sheet #1-part 2    sheet #1part3-4    time line
IV. PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS
A. Palmettos:    IV.A.1
B. Oak Trees:    IV.B.1
C. Glossary    D. Questions for Student Evaluation