Have you wanted to get your students out in nature to learn the classifications of plants, but don’t know what to do with them? I have just the idea for you! Keep reading for this fun and FREE activity!
Classifications of Plants
Our school is super fortunate to have a nature center that is beautiful, but even if your school doesn’t have one, you can still get your students outside for this activity. This idea came to me during the last few weeks of school when my students were getting antsy and we were learning about classification and kingdoms. I wanted to take them on a “field trip” if you will without having to leave campus. I created this activity to take advantage of the time we had in school and the nature center. All students needed to do ahead of time was to download a free app on their phones to use for the assignment. If students weren’t able to download the app or didn’t have a device, I allowed them to work with another student.
How Are Plant Classified
The app that I have students download is called Seek by iNaturalist. It is totally FREE and available on Apple and Android devices. I ask them the day before to download the app and I also tell them to dress accordingly for walking outside for about 45 minutes.
On the day of the assignment, I go over what it is and what they are doing. We then head outside for them to start. They will open up the app and can start scanning. The app will start to detect the plant species and once it has been identified, then students take a picture. It will then prompt them to view the species for more information. This is where they will start to fill out the information on their handout.
How Are Plants Categorized
After about 45 minutes, students have had time to wander around and identify 5 different plant species. If they haven’t completed the taxon levels, the great thing is the app stores the pictures. When we get back to class, they can complete the taxonomic categories for their 5 plant species if they didn’t finish outside. There is also an additional section called further research. Students use their devices to look up additional information about each species. They must find out if the plant has vascular tissues and if they produce seeds. They must also find out if they have flowers or cones and whether or not they produce pollen. This part took the rest of the block. Since we are on 90-minute blocks, half the time we spent outside and the other half we spent back in class finishing up the research.
Differentiating the Classifications of Plants Assignment
I wanted to offer some suggestions on how you could differentiate this assignment. If you do not have long blocks, you could break this activity into 2 – 45 minutes periods. One day you could spend outside collecting pictures of plants and the next finish up the assignment with the research portion.
If you have even more limited time, you could simply have a group of 3-5 students work together and each of them do the research on a plant that they have identified. This would decrease the workload for each student as they could collectively share their results.
My students really enjoyed this activity for several reasons. One, it got them out of their seats and out of the classroom. They liked being able to go outside and have fun while still being able to learn. I will continue to do this activity each semester because it is a perfect mesh between using technology in real-world applications.
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3 Responses
Thank you for this post- such a great idea! I’m teaching a Bio class at our homeschool co-op. This activity was a great addition to our chapter on plants- something beyond the “grow a bean seed” was appreciated by all! We only have a field next to the building but there were still plenty of plants to complete the worksheet. Fresh spring day and a unique science activity for the win. Thank you!!
Hey Megan! Thanks for the comment and I am so happy it went well!!