LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Plant Adaptations
Fibrous vs. Tap Roots
ENGAGE (5 – 10 minutes)
 Review expectations of working in the outdoor classroom.
 Ask students to record some quick weather observations in their
journal.
 Ask students to explain which plants in their outdoor classroom
are considered weeds (plants growing where humans don’t want
them to grow).
 Students should explain to a partner what they believe makes a
weed a weed. Why is it difficult to keep weeds out of a garden?
Grade
3rd
Timeframe
45 – 60 minutes
Materials
 Student journals/pencils
 Hand trowels, one per
student
 Clear packaging tape (tearby-hand)
EXPLORE (15 minutes)
 Bring students to a section of the garden that needs to be
weeded.
 Tell students that they’ll spend some time pulling out the weeds,
paying attention to what characteristics of the weeds make them difficult to pull out of the soil.
 Model how to use a hand trowel (the combination of a wedge and a lever) to make the work of pulling
the weeds easier. Provide each student with a hand trowel, if available, being clear about how to
handle safely.
 Emphasize the importance of pulling out the entire weed, including the roots.
 After every student has pulled at least 2-3 weeds, bring them back to a central gathering area where
they can compare their weeds and sort them by their common traits.
EXPLAIN (10 minutes)
 Have students share some of the traits that they see that the weeds have in common. If no one makes
this suggestion, lead them to see that there are two types of roots: fibrous and tap. (Some roots are
hairy-looking (fibrous) and others are long and thick like a carrot (tap).
 As a class, discuss how these two types of roots serve as an adaptation for the plant. How do the
different types of roots help the plant to survive?
o Tap roots can reach water deeper underground during periods of low water. They also have
enough energy stored in the tap root that a new plant can sprout from the root even if the top
is removed.
o Fibrous roots can absorb a lot of water at the surface, competing with other surrounding plants.
Fibrous roots are also good at holding onto the surrounding soil, making it difficult to remove
them.
 Create a T-chart that everyone can see and label the two categories fibrous and tap. Students should
draw this T-chart in their journal and make some notes about how each type of root serves as an
adaptation that allows the plant to survive.
 Students should tape an example of each kind of root into their journal under the correct heading
(fibrous or tap).
Copyright  2014 REAL School Gardens
www.realschoolgardens.org
ELABORATE (10 minutes)
 Allow students to return to the outdoor classroom to look for other examples of fibrous or tap roots.
They should tape these examples in their journal.
 Alternatively, have students explore other weeds in the outdoor classroom and identify some of the
plants’ adaptations (i.e. different ways to disperse seeds, low growing or tall, ability to climb up other
plants, etc.)
EVALUATE (flexible)
 Check students’ journals for understanding.
 Provide students with pictures or real examples of other plants. Have students identify the type of
root each plant has, and describe how that root serves as an adaptation to help the plant survive.
OBJECTIVES
Science
3.10 A explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in a particular
environment
3.10 B explore that some characteristics of organisms are inherited such as the number of limbs on an
animal or flower color and recognize that some behaviors are learned in response to living in a certain
environment such as animals using tools to get food
Copyright  2014 REAL School Gardens
www.realschoolgardens.org