• Home
  • About

ArtPlantae Today

Connecting artists, naturalists, and educators

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« ‘Visual Voyages’ exhibition explores Latin American art, science, and nature
‘Nature’s Beloved Son’ at Hi-Desert Nature Museum »

Assessing children’s awareness of plants

October 6, 2017 by Tania Marien

We often assume that everyone can distinguish between a tree, bush, and herbaceous flowering plant but this is not always the case, especially when it comes to young learners.

Do you know how your youngest students think about plants?

If you’re not sure, consider using the “Is it a plant?” formative assessment probe presented in Uncovering Young Children’s Concept of a Plant, an article written by science education consultant and author, Page Keeley.

In her article, Keeley discusses how this probe was created “to elicit primary students’ initial ideas about plants and the characteristics they use to decide if something is a plant.”

The “Is it a plant?” assessment involves a single sheet of paper featuring simple illustrations of nine plant types — cactus, tree, grass, weed, bush, dandelion, water lily, vine, and fern. Students are asked to view the sheet and to select which of the illustrations represent a plant. They are then asked to share the reasons why they made the choices that they did. This probe leads to conversations between teachers and students about what a plant is and isn’t and provides educators with an opportunity to customize learning experiences that will expand their students’ understanding of plants.

View this assessment and find out how you can administer it yourself by purchasing Keeley’s article online from the journal Science and Children (99¢).


Literature Cited

Keeley, Page. (2017). Uncovering young children’s concept of a plant. Science and Children. 55(2): 20-22.



Related

    Drawings reveal children’s conceptual knowledge of plants

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Teaching & Learning |

  • I’m curious about…

  • What Readers Are Reading Now

    • California
    • Henry R. Mockel Paints California's Desert Wildflowers
    • Washington DC
    • Classes Near You!
    • 'A Botanist's Vocabulary' is illustrated introduction to the plant sciences
  • Plants & You

  • Featured Guests

    Wendy Hollender (interview)

    Wendy Hollender

    Gilly Shaeffer

    Today’s Botanical Artists

    Society of Botanical Artists

    Billy Showell (interview)

    Billy Showell

    Sarah Simblet (webinar)

    Robin Brickman

    Mark Granlund

    Wendy Hollender (webinar)

    Diane Cardaci

    Katie Lee (webinar)

    Bruce L. Cunningham (webinar)

    Jane LaFazio (interview)

    Jane LaFazio

    Mally Francis (interview)

    Kandis Elliot

    Anne-Marie Evans

    Margaret Best

    Elaine Searle

    Mindy Lighthipe

    Niki Simpson

    Anna (Knights) Mason

    Helen Allen

    Birmingham Society of
    Botanical Artists

    Hazel West-Sherring

    John Muir Laws

    Martin J. Allen

    Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration

    Mairi Gillies

    Georgius Everhardus Rumphius

    Liz Leech

    Valerie Littlewood

    Heeyoung Kim

    Anna Laurent

    Linda Ann Vorobik

    Shawn Sheehy

    Gary Hoyle

    Katie Zimmerman

    Mariella Baldwin

    Anita Walsmit Sachs

    Ruth Ava Lyons

    Katie Zimmerman

    Kellie Cox-Brady

    Jennifer Landin

    Laurence Hill

    Gretchen Kai Halpert

    Susan Leopold

    Tina Scopa

  • Global Impact

    Botanists and illustrators strive to document conifers around the world.

  • Nature Near You

    Global Directory of Botanical Gardens
    Botanic Gardens Conservation International
    Search for a Garden

    National Park Service
    Search for national parks at the National Park Service website.www.nps.gov

    National Environmental Education Foundation's Nature Center Guide.
    Find Your Nature Center

    Rails-to-Trails
    Find a trail for hiking, walking, cycling or inline skating. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and its volunteers work to convert unused railroads into trails for healthful outdoor activities.
    Search their national TrailLink database to locate a trail near you.

    Sierra Club Trails
    Locate trails for hiking, cycling, climbing, and many other outdoor activities.
    Search Sierra Club Trails

  • © 2007-2022 by Tania Marien. All rights reserved.
    Contact Tania

    Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Artists retain the copyright to their work.

    The ArtPlantae® logo is a registered trademark.

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • ArtPlantae Today
    • Join 1,788 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • ArtPlantae Today
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: