Hobbies And Interests
Spring Greeen Identification
Take your class out into the field just before or as the leaves are budding and give a talk and demonstration on classifying plants at this time of year. Using an actual dichotomous key --- in which plants are identified by a series of choices between alternative characteristics --- might be difficult at this time of year. However, naturally occurring springtime events can be demonstrated to students. Depending on your location, key observations might include the emergence of fiddlehead ferns, the early green growth of wild lilies, the abundant production of pine pollen, trees that flower before their leaves come out, and the skunk cabbage's heat-producing tip, which can melt through snow and ice.
Midsummer Smell Test
Summertime is filled with the aromas of blooming flowers and rapidly growing plants. Flowering plants produce scented flowers, which in turn attract flying insects to aid in pollination. Bring samples of aromatic flowers, green leaves and even conifer cones to see if the students can identify any of these items by smell alone. Simply place samples in a small bowl, then blindfold each student before leading him through the line of smelly samples. Common items for the smell test could include crushed sassafras leaves, honeysuckle blossoms, balsam fir branches with cones, dandelion flower heads, wild leeks and crushed skunk cabbage leaves.
Quiz Teams
Create two opposing teams of at least three contestants on each side. Begin the contest by flipping a coin; the winner goes first. The teams are asked a question about plant taxonomy worth a certain number of points: If they get it right, they're awarded those points; if they get it wrong, they lose the same amount of points. A wrong question may or may not be picked up by the opposing team, but if they do choose to tackle it, the same rules apply. The second question goes to the second team; the same rules apply. Alternate teams until an equal number of original questions has been given to each; questions should get tougher as the game proceeds. The team with the most points wins.
Scavenger Hunt
Plan a scavenger hunt that revolves around certain plants that grow around your house, school or nature preserve. For advanced students, you might want to refer to each item by its Latin name. Be sure to leave clues in places where the selected specimens can be easily distinguished from surrounding vegetation. Because scavenger hunts usually involve riddles, you can use this part of the event to test the overall botanical knowledge of the participants. It's advisable to lay out the clues on the same day that the hunt takes place.