Educational Activity: Botany
Children are an endless font of curiosity! It’s an endearing trait though it can be hard to keep up with at times. Most of the time when my daughter asks me about something, I have at least some idea of the answer to her question. But when it comes to plants, I’m completely in the dark. I have very little knowledge of plants, I’m seriously really bad at keeping them alive… I killed a blackberry plant I was trying to keep alive! But my daughter loves to know about the few things growing in our yard, especially whether or not she can play with any flowers she finds. What to do? Well, I devised this activity and she loves it!
What you’ll need:
- Smartphone
- Paper
- Pencils
For this activity you’ll need a smart-phone with an internet connection and to download one of the numerous free plant or mushroom identification apps. We’ve tried a few of them and they all seem similar enough that I won’t make a specific suggestion as to which.
Now, send your budding botanist into the garden, armed with said phone. Remind them that the photos need to be close up to the plant and clear, so maybe try a few practice photos with them to make sure your plant pictures won’t be blurry.
Now you and your garden enthusiast can sit down with their photos, and using the plant identification app, can try to determine what each plant is.
Next, have them write down a short report about each plant, what its name is, where it grows in your yard, and a few facts about it. Maybe a short physical description, it’s preferred growing conditions, whether or not it’s toxic if eaten, and whether it is perennial or evergreen, etc.
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Learning While having Fun
My daughter had so much fun with this activity that we have plans to expand it and repeat it with plants that grow in the local public gardens!
My daughter also enjoyed using the rock identifier apps and repeating this activity with a bag of mixed tumbled crystals we have.
