This site helps students see how plants and animals interact to accomplish pollination. Students (Grades 3-8) identify plant and animal parts involved in pollination, connections between pollination and food production, relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, and ways flowers have adapted to encourage pollination.

This YouTube playlist curated by the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program provides an overview and then demonstrates how to pollinate and harvest seeds from Fast Plants.

With a simple list of necessary supplies, science teacher Mrs. Seay gets her class completely involved in the task of identifying and classifying organisms found in local pond water.

An article written for children, this reading explains the role of plants as producers. It is written at a grade 4-5 reading level, and it is a good supplement to the evidence that students can observe and record through experimentation with photosynthesis.

Can you pull a car with cordage made just from a plant? We put it to the test! This clip with Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum's Educator Nate Salzman provides a simple demonstration proving that a cell's microscopic structure affects its macroscopic properties. Included in the video is the very simple method needed to produce and test cordage from yucca leaves on your own.

If you're thinking of using this in a classroom, considering pairing this exploration of cells' structures with an engineering challenge! Yucca fiber can be made without boiling the leaves, if needed: students can either pound/mash leaves to isolate fibers or fibers can be peeled from wet leaves and used while still "green" (any cordage made from green fibers will loosen as it dries, however).

This resource is part of JPPM’s open educational resources project providing education content from our in-house educators, horticulturalists, curators, and conservationists at our 560 acre public park. The grounds have provided a home for different peoples for over 10,000 years and includes extensive archaeological sites, multiple ecosystems, and a 1930s farmstead designed by architect Gertrude Sawyer for the park’s namesake, Jefferson Patterson.

This Educator's Guide provides a unique seed experiment utilizing the materials in the 4-H Honey Bee Project tool kit. 

Short Description:
This particular work is one part of the author’s undergraduate senior capstone project and is one of 11 in the series titled “Controlling the Narrative for Peace of Mind.” Seniors enrolled in Professor Erica Kleinknecht’s capstone seminar in the Spring of 2021 all used a core set of literature as a starting point and then they personalized the content to an area of their choosing. The work here reflects an integration and application of literatures in cognitive, applied cognitive, psycholinguistic fields of study, plus additional topic-specific content.

Word Count: 7400

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an adaptation of KPU HORT 1155 Introduction to Plant Materials Lecture Notes. This first edition supports student achievement of the Level 1 and 2 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2.

Line F Apply Horticultural Practices: F2 - Level 1, 2, 3 and 4

Short Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an adaptation of KPU HORT 1155 Introduction to Plant Materials Lecture Notes. This first edition supports student achievement of the Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2.

Long Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an adaptation of KPU HORT 1155 Introduction to Plant Materials Lecture Notes. It is an editable, open access learning resource with interactive web based experiences customized for horticulture students studying plant identification.

This first edition supports student achievement of the Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2: Identify plant and plant requirements for a range of plants commonly used in horticulture Employ correct naming and plant identification terminology Identify morphological characteristics, growing requirements, use and availability Use a dichotomous key for plant identification Explain plant hardiness Identify weedy and invasive plants Identify plant and plant requirements for a range of woody and non-woody plants Use botanical terms to identify and describe plants Identify and describe plants according to cultural and maintenance requirements Recognize plants suitable for common tropical, floral and interior landscape situations Identify plants suitable for planting in difficult situations Describe native plants common to the horticulture industry Describe seasonal plants common to the horticulture industry in BC Describe plants suitable for green infrastructure projects Describe plants suitable for edible landscapes

Word Count: 24488

Included H5P activities: 94

ISBN: 978-1-77420-083-4

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Line F Apply Horticultural Practices: F2 - Level 3 and 4

Short Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an adaptation of KPU HORT 1155 Introduction to Plant Materials Lecture Notes. This edition supports student achievement of the Level 3 and 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2.

Long Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an editable, open access learning resource with interactive web based experiences customized for horticulture students studying plant identification.

This edition supports student achievement of the Level 3 and Level 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2: Identify plant and plant requirements for a range of woody and non-woody plants Use botanical terms to identify and describe plants Identify and describe plants according to cultural and maintenance requirements Recognize plants suitable for common tropical, floral and interior landscape situations Identify plants suitable for planting in difficult situations Describe native plants common to the horticulture industry Describe seasonal plants common to the horticulture industry in BC Describe plants suitable for green infrastructure projects Describe plants suitable for edible landscapes

Word Count: 10476

Included H5P activities: 72

ISBN: 978-1-989864-18-0

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically as part of a bulk import process by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided. As a result, there may be errors in formatting.)

This an inqiury based activity where students are asked to sequence events that have occurred to a block of wood and justify their answers.

In this field exercise for an introductory environmental science course, students investigate plant cover and type in a riparian area using transects. The final assignment is a lab report that includes a summary data table, a graph of cover types along their transect and an analysis of riparian health.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

The topic of photosynthesis is a fundamental concept in biology, chemistry, and earth science. Educational studies have found that despite classroom presentations, most students retain their naive idea that a plant's mass is mostly derived from the soil, and not from the air. To call students' attention to this misconception, at the beginning of this lesson we will provide a surprising experimental result so that students will confront their mental mistake. Next, we will help students better envision photosynthesis by modeling where the atoms come from in this important process that produces food for the planet. This lesson can be completed in 50-60 minutes, with the students working on in-class activities during 20-25 minutes of the lesson. As a prerequisite, students need an introductory lesson on photosynthesis, something that includes the overall chemical equation. If students have already studied the intracellular photosynthetic process in detail, this video can still be very helpful because students often miss the big picture about photosynthesis. Materials needed include red, white and black LEGO bricks (described in downloadable hand-out) or strips of red, white and black paper plus paper clips (directions provided in downloadable hand-out). In addition to class discussions, the major in-class activity of this video involves the students' modeling with LEGO bricks or colored paper where the atoms come from in photosynthesis.

To facilitate gas exchange between the inner parts of leaves, stems and fruits, plants have a series of openings known as stomata (singular stoma). These openings would allow gas exchange, but at a cost of water loss. Guard cells are bean-shaped cells covering the stomata opening. They regulate exchange of water vapor, oxygen and carbon dioxide through the stoma. 

A very short video introduction to how photosynthesis cycles energy through an ecosystem and a "real-world" application of ratios! Lindsay Hollister, JPPM's horticulturalist, taps a black walnut tree for its sap and park staff boil it down to create syrup. Included in this video are an animated food web showing the directions of energy flow during photosynthesis and when sap is "rising," which can be extended by students to include humans or more parts of their local ecosystem. Use the video as an introduction to activities about sugar and biological storage, and an excuse to sample maple syrup to taste the sugar. Alternatively, research trees nearby students could help tap and witness the biological transfer of energy themselves.

Always be sure you can successfully identify a plant before using it and take precautions to avoid negative reactions.

This resource is part of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s open educational resources project to provide history, ecology, archaeology, and conservation resources related to our 560 acre public park. More of our content can be found here on OER Commons or from our website at jefpat.maryland.gov. JPPM is a part of the Maryland Historical Trust under the Maryland Department of Planning.

This activity is a field-based investigation involving identifying and investigating common trees on the schoolyard and creating a field guide containing pressed leaves.

This performance assessment aligns with NGSS Performance Expectation 4.LS1.1 and is intended to be used as an interim assessment. These assessments can either be used summatively, as an end of learning activity, or formatively, utilizing student responses to identify next instructional steps.

A database of and access to journal articles and book chapters found useful by college and university science students; built from student work at Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, USA. Used in science courses (especially Biology and Psychology courses) at Grinnell College.

An approachable guide to the fundamentals of plant science. Created for horticulture students, gardeners, science teachers, and anyone interested in understanding plants and how they grow. This is the required text for HORT 1001/6001 Plant Propagation at the University of Minnesota Department of Horticultural Science.