• Plants
  • Classification of plants
  • Safety precautions when handling harmful plants
  • Importance of flowering plants
• Fungi
  • Safety precautions when handling fungi.
  • Importance of fungi to human beings
  • Economic importance of fungi to the environment.
• Animals
  
  • Vertebrates
    • Characteristics of mammals
    • Characteristics of birds
    • Characteristics of fish
    • Characteristics of reptiles
    • Characteristics of Amphibians

Plants

Classification of plants

• Plants are living things
• Classifications - is the act or the process of dividing plants in groups, according to the given features.
• In grade 5 plants are groups into two categories which include
  1. Flowering plants – these are plants that produce flowers for examples maize, pawpaw and beans.
  2. Non – flowering plants - these are plants that do not produce flowers for examples mosses, fern and algae.

Safety precautions when handling harmful plants

Precautions – are measures taken in advance to prevent harm to the learners when carrying out different
activities. They include

• Wearing protective cloths
• Washing hands after handling plants
• Not eating or tasting or smelling poisonous plants

Importance of flowering plants

• Flowering plants are very useful
  1. They give food
  2. They give shelter
  3. They give medicine
  4. They add beauty to the environment

Fungi

• They are neither plants nor animals
•  They grow on dead and decaying plants and obtain their food from them
•  They include bread mould, yeast and mushroom
• The black or green patches on the slice of bread are called mould
• Fungi grow on soil and water. They also grow on decaying food or rotting plants,

Safety precautions when handling fungi.

• Precautions – these are measures taken in advance to prevent harm to the learners when carrying out
  different activities. They include;
  1. Wearing protective gears
  2. Washing hands after handling plants
  3. No eating or tasting or smelling poisonous plants

Importance of fungi to human beings

• Fungi are useful.
  1. Some fungi are used as food e.g. Mushrooms
  2. Some fungi are used in the process of cooking e.g yeast. It is used in the baking industries .
  3. Some fungi are used in making medicines
  4. Some are use in the processing some beverages e.g in fermenting milk

Economic importance of fungi to the environment.

1. It’s a source of food
2. Yeast used in baking
3. Pesticides used in controlling insect and pest
4. Mushrooms farming is both for food and for export

Animals

Vertebrates

• Animals are divided into two groups, vertebrates and invertebrates
• Vertebrates have vertebral column also called backbone. The backbone runs from the skull, joining the upper limbs and the ribcage to the lower limbs
• There are 5 classes of animals in the vertebrates groups
  1. Mammals
  2.  Birds
  3. Fish
  4. Reptiles
  5. Amphibians
• Mammals and birds are warm blooded, meaning their body temperatures are constant
• Fish and reptiles and amphibians are cold blooded meaning their body temperature changes according to the surrounding

Characteristics of mammals

1. They have memory glands
2. They range in different sizes
3. They have backbones
4. They give birth to young on while other lay eggs e. the duck bill platypus and spiny ant eater.
5. They live in land
6. Body covered with far or hairs
7. They are warm blooded

Characteristics of birds

• These are animals with have feathers and can fly, however some do not fly e.g ostrich which can just run fast.
• They have the following characteristics
  1. They are warm blooded
  2. They have backbone
  3. Body covered with feathers
  4. Birds lay eggs
  5. They have wings

Characteristics of fish

1. These are animals which live in water
2. They have backbones
3. They live in water
4. They are cold blooded
5. They breathe through gills
6. Move by swimming
7. Their bodies are covered with scales

Characteristics of reptiles

1. They have backbones
2. They are cold blooded
3. Their bodies are covered with scales
4. They breathe through lungs
5. Most reptiles lay eggs

Characteristics of Amphibians

• These are animals that spend their lives in water and on land
• They have the following characteristics;
  1. They have backbones
  2. They have moist skins
  3. Live partly in water and partly on land
  4. They breathe through gills when young and through lungs when mature
  5. They are cold blooded
  6. Most amphibians lay eggs

• Parts of a Plant
  • Flower
  • Male parts
  • Female Parts
• Pollination
  • Types of Pollination
• Germination
  • Types of Germination
  • Parts of a Seed

Parts of a Plant

Main parts of a plant are;

• Roots
• Stem
• Leaves

Flower

The main reproductive part of a plant is a flower.

Parts of a flower include;

• Male part
• Female part

Functions of Different Parts;

Male Parts

• Anthers; produce pollen grain(male cells)
• Filament; it supports the anthers

Female Parts

• Stigma; receives the pollen grains
• Style; holds the stigma
  Allow the development of pollen tube
• Ovary; holds the ovules
  Develops in a fruit
• Ovule; female cell
  Develops into seeds

Pollination

It is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the
stigma of the same kind

Agents of pollination include;

• Wind
• Insects
• water

Types of Pollination

There are two types;

• Self pollination-it is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma of the same plant.
• Cross pollination-it is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma in different plants of the same type.

Characteristics of insect pollinated flowers

• They have nectar
• Brightly coloured
• Have big petals
• Sticky stigma
• Small amount of pollen grains

Characteristics of wind pollinated flowers

• Small in size
• Dull in colour
• Powderly pollen grains
• Produce large amount of pollen grains
• Loosely attached filaments

Germination

It is the change of the seed into a seedling

Conditions necessary for germination

• Air (oxygen)
• Moisture(water)
• Warmth(temperature)

Types of Germination

Epigeal germination; the seed comes out of the soil during germination e.g. Beans
Hypogeal germination; the seed remains in the soil during germination e.g. maize

Parts of a Seed

• Testa
• Helum
• Micropyle
• Cotyledon
• Radical
• Plumule.

• Interdependence
• Food Chain
• Crop Pest
  • Types of Pest
  • Crop pest and their Effects on Plant
  • Pest Control Measures

Interdependence

This is the dependence of one person on another;or one living thing upon another.

Plants depends on animals in the following ways:

• Carbon dioxide
• Pollination
• Animal waste
• Nutrients

Animals depends on plants in the following ways:

• Food
• Shelter
• Medicine
• Oxygen

Plants depends on other plants for the following ways:

• Support
• Shade
• Habitat

Animals depends on other animals in the following ways:

• Transport
• Food

Examples of Insectivorous plants

• Venus flytrap
• Cobra lily
• Sundew
• Bladderwort
• Butterwort
• Picher plant.

Food Chain.

A food chain is a relationship in which living things depends a feed on one another directly.

Examples of a food chain:

1. Grass   ---->    Grasshopper     ---->      Chicken          ---->        Hawk
   (Producer). (Primary cosumer).       (Secondary consumer).    (Tertiary consumer)
2. Algae---->Small fish----->Big fish---->King fish
   NB:Learners are always asked what happen if one group is exempted:
   Example:
   What will happen if all chicken died because of a disease kin the first example;
   
   • Grasshopper will increase since what feeds on them are dead
   • Grass will reduce since grasshoppers are more in number
   • Hawk will decrease since their food is not there

Crop Pest.

A pest is a troublesome or harmful thing,animal or insect.

They damage crops

Types of Pest

Pests are classified into two ie

1. Field Pests
   • cutworms
   • Aphids
   • Stalk borer
   • Weaver birds
2. Storage pests
   • Weevils
   • Termites
   • Rat
   • Mole

Crop Pest and their Effects on Plant

Pest Control Measures

• Scaring .
• Trapping .
• Hand picking.
• Weeding.
• Spraying.
• Prunning.

• Adaptations of plants to their environment.
  • Plants adapted to dry area.
  • Plants adapted to wet areas.
  • Adaptations to normal soil and water conditions.

Adaptations of plants to their environment.

Adaptations are mechanisms that enable a plant to survive in a habitat. Plants habitats include:-

• Dry areas
• Wet areas.
• Normal soil and water condition

Plants adapted to dry area.

Plants that are able to survive in dry area are called xerophytes.

Examples include: Cactus, acacia, euphorbia, baobab, sisal, marram grass, pricky pears, desert
shrubs, sun dune grass, jacaranda, thorn tree, cassava, casuarinas and candelabra.

Characteristics of xerophytes.

1. They have deep and widespread root system to obtain waterfrom a wider area.
2. They have stemsthat can store water; their stems are thick, fleshy and succulent. They also have waxy cuticle to reflect sunlight which may cause overheating.
3. They have needle-like leaves which reduces water loss by transpiration and evaporation.
4. Some have few leaves to reduce water losslike acacia.
5. Some shed leaves in dry seasonsto reduce water loss eg jacaranda.
6. Some fold their leaves to trap moisture for the plant eg sun dune grass.
7. Some are covered with a thick waxy cuticle which reduces water loss through evaporation eg sisal.
8. Some become inactive during dry seasons.
9. Some have sunken stomata that are hidden in small depression.
10. Some have reversed stomatal rhythm i.e. open their stomata during the night and close during the day.
11. Some have more stomata on the lowersurface than on the upper surface to reduce water loss through evaporation.

Plants adapted to wet areas.

They are called hydrophytes.

Most they grow in equatorial forests, swamps, marshes, lakes and rivers.

They include: water lily, butter cup, mangroves, bladderwort, water lettuce, duck weed, aquatic
ferns, rice plants and water hyacinth.

Adaptations of hydrophytes.

1. They have broad or wide flat leaves which enables them to float on water and encourages water loss by transpiration eg water lily
2. They have shallow roots which reduce the rate of absorption
3. They have leafy shoots which encourages water loss by transpiration, they also have more stomatas on the upper surface than on the lowersurface
4. They have numerous stomata which remain open to allow gas absorption for photosynthesis.
5. They have flexible stemsthat cannot be broken by water currents.
6. They have thin cuticle to encourage water loss through transpiration.
7. They have air sacs to enable them to float on water.
8. They have waxy and hairy leaf surface to prevent water from standing on the leaf surface.
9. They have floating flowers to allow for the cross pollination by small animals.

Adaptations to normal soil and water conditions.

Plants which grow in normal soil and water conditions are called mesophytes.

They includes maize, beans, potatoes and bananas.

Signs of unhealthy crops.

1. Leaf discoloration.
2. Stunted or stranded growth.
3. Curled leaves.
4. Spots or streaks
5. Wilting.

Effects of crop diseases.

1. Lower yields.
2. Reduces quality of produce.
3. Reducesincome or economic loss.