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Marie Brett
Inge Buenning
Melanie Graves
Lynn Murphy
JoAnn Staiti
Tara Thieme
An Ethnobotanical Survey of Plants in the Schoolyard
(What to Do with Weeds)
Type of Entry:
Lesson/class activity
Type of Activity:
- Hands on
- Inquiry lab
- Group/cooperative learning
Target Audience:
- Biology
- Advanced/AP Biology
- Integrated science
- Environmental Science/Ecology
Abstract:
In this open-ended multicultural lab activity, teachers can design an outdoor laboratory exercise that combines the fields of ethnobotany and ecology. The objective of this study would be to conduct a survey of
useful plants (medicinal, edible or otherwise) found in the schoolyard or other easily accessible weedy areas. Learning scientific background, folklore and economic uses behind the common herbs, shrubs, and trees
that students see on a regular basis will hopefully make the study of these plants much more meaningful. In the process, students will create a class herbarium -- a collection of dried, mounted plant specimens that
can be used as a teaching tool. This study can be combined with the ethnobotanical interviews that students conduct at home or in their community to learn about traditional plant use in their own culture.
The project may consist of four main sections:
- Ten common schoolyard weeds and their cultural importance;
- The botanical survey (plant collection and identification);
- The ecological survey (making systematic measurements to characterize the schoolyard habitats in ecological terms);
- Developing and carrying out an inquiry project.
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