The Brick-Eating Ivy Mystery 405c36

What Is This Video? 4a3q4h

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 w2y4f

Ask: 1eh2n
  • 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 2623q

Life on a Plant 6k1d6w

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 625a39

ecosystems, plants, animals

Activity Type 3663v

indoor and outdoor

Standards 3n4s66

Next Generation Science Standards 6i536r

Disciplinary Core Ideas 1c2d2g
Science and Engineering Practices 8235k
Crosscutting Concepts gn57