l The class was centered around the big heading of Adaptation. The students had already learned about adaptation in animals and now it was time to explore adaptation in plants, specifically desert plants.

课程围绕着“适应”这一大主题展开，同学们已经了解了动物的适应，现在是时候探索植物，特别是沙漠植物的适应了。

The class began with this scenario. “What if you are staying in the desert. It’s hot and it’s dry, so dry you are desperate for a drink of water, but you don’t know when the next rain will be. You will have to do something in the meantime to survive. What would you do?”

课堂伊始，Allanie老师精心创设教学情境。“如果你待在沙漠里怎么办？天气又热又干，干得让你非常想喝水，但你不知道下一场雨什么时候会下。在此期间，你必须做点什么才能生存。你会怎么办？”

Adaptation is any characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment. There are two main types of adaptation, structural and behavioral. Many plants, such as roses and cacti have thorns or spines on their stems. These modified leaves protect the plant from herbivores. Some plants have specific structural adaptations to different environments. For example, rain-forest plants like the orchid, have adaptations that help them survive wet, hot temperatures. They have storage organs that store water for the plant, and the leaves will drain any excess water should there be any.

适应是指有助于生物体在其环境中生存的任何特征。适应主要有两种类型，结构适应和行为适应。许多植物，如玫瑰和仙人掌，茎上都有刺或刺。这些经过改良的叶子保护植物免受食草动物的侵害。一些植物对不同的环境具有特定的结构适应能力。例如，像兰花这样的雨林植物具有适应能力，可以帮助它们在湿热的温度下生存。它们有为植物储存水分的储存器官，如果有多余的水分，叶子会排出。

But what about the desert plants?

They are in hot and dry environments so they many may have thick, waxy stems to prevent water loss. They may have vey dense, shallow roots to soak up the water quickly after a shower of rain. It is important that desert plants are capable of adapting so that they will survive. Here are some adaptations of the desert plants.

沙漠植物会是什么样的情况呢？

它们生活在炎热干燥的环境中，因此许多植物可能有厚厚的蜡质茎以防止水分流失。它们可能有非常稠密、浅的根，可以在阵雨后迅速吸收水分。重要的是，沙漠植物能够适应，这样它们才能生存。以下是一些沙漠植物的适应性。

One adaptation is the thickness of the leaves of some desert plants, so that it can store water for the plants survival to demonstrate this we conducted a simple experiment.

实验1

一种适应是一些沙漠植物的叶子厚度，沙漠植物通过肥厚或多汁的茎、叶或根等贮水组织，来储存大量的水分，在干旱时期可以利用。为了证明这一点，我们进行了一个简单的实验。

Experiment 1 (Thick stems/leaves vs. thin stems/leaves)

• Using 1 thin and 1 thick sponge

• Put each on a dis

• Pour equal amounts of water on each sponge.

• Squeeze each sponge into a cup.

Compare. Which sponge held more water?

实验1(粗茎/叶与细茎/叶）

• 准备1块薄海绵和1块厚海绵

• 把每个放在一个盘子里

• 在每块海绵上倒入等量的水

• 把每一块海绵挤到杯子里

比较哪块海绵能容纳更多的水？

Another adaptation is the presence of a waxy coat to prevent excessive water loss by transpiration. To demonstrate this we conducted a simple experiment

实验2

另一种适应是植物的蜡质层，植物的蜡质层可以防止蒸腾作用造成的过度水分损失。为了证明这一点，我们进行了一个简单的实验

Experiment 2 (Waxy coating vs. non-waxy coating) 

• 2 sponges (the same size)

• Place each on a dish

• Pour the same amount of water over each sponge

• Place 1 of the sponges in a zip-lock bag

• Squeeze each sponge into a cup

Compare. Which sponge held more water? 

实验2（含蜡涂层与非含蜡涂层）

• 2块海绵（大小相同）

• 把每个放在一个盘子里

• 在每块海绵上倒入等量的水

• 将其中一块海绵放入一个拉链袋中

• 把每一块海绵挤到杯子里

Different plants have different adaptation best suited for their environment. Similarly we do varying things and have structures best suited for where we are and what we will be doing. Let’s appreciate how wonderful nature is and do our best to learn life lessons from it. The students were able to review the concept of adaptation, the types of adaptations and attribute them to plants in the desert.

总结

不同的植物中有不同的适应能力和适应方法，植物门寻求最佳方式来适应它们生存的环境。

同样，我们人类做不同的事情，用最适合我们现在和将来的结构去适应不同的环境。让我们赞叹大自然的奇妙，并尽最大努力从中学习高度适应性的生命教育。同时，同学们能够回顾适应的概念、适应的类型，并了解沙漠中植物的如何适应环境。