The Brick-Eating Ivy Mystery 1ba6n

What Is This Video? 4iw2k

Attack of the Killer Ivy! is the Blorbians’ all-time favorite Earth movie. But it makes them worried for Earth, too. CAN an ivy plant really gobble up brick and destroy an entire building? On a mission from Plum, Gabi and Oliver travel to the city to find out!

Conversation Starters r711v

Ask: 1q2o3d
  • How is ivy harmful to the building? (Ivy traps water that eats away at brick.)

  • Are the buildings of Earth doomed? Will ivy crush them? (Not for a very long time [100 years] and only if people let ivy take over the buildings.)

  • How does the ivy help animals? (It provides a home and a place to hide for birds, mice, and other creatures.)

  • How do the animals help the ivy? (The birds leave droppings that fertilize the ivy.)

Explore Some More 425s40

Life on a Plant 5l4k56

Find a wall of ivy or another vine or plant in a park and stand quietly near it, with a magnifying lens if you have one. Observe how animals use the vine or plant. Look for birds, squirrels, ants, lizards, butterflies, spiders, caterpillars, and other creatures. Do you see animal homes—nests, holes, or webs? Any evidence of animals feeding? (Partly chewed leaves or fruits, squirrels collecting nuts, sawdust from beetles or termites eating bark, bees drinking nectar from flowers, and so on.) Any moss, lichens, or fungi (such as mushrooms)? How might the vine and the other creatures you see depend on one another? Draw or write what you see in a notebook and revisit “your” ivy or tree once a month or so to observe changes.

Curriculum Topics 3h6b2b

ecosystems, plants, animals

Activity Type 281n38

indoor and outdoor

Standards 1d6044

Next Generation Science Standards 1r3g61

Disciplinary Core Ideas 3w6w50
Science and Engineering Practices 1r2b40
Crosscutting Concepts 14y2l