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Budding Botanists
Teachers’ Pre-Visit Packet
The staff at Crissy Field Center is pleased that your class will be participating in
Budding Botanists, an urban environmental education program. This packet contains
logistical information about your program as well as resources for you and your
students. Among these resources are activities that you may find useful in preparing
your class for their visit and follow-up activities for use after the program. Please feel
free to use only the activities you feel are most appropriate and convenient for your
class and curriculum schedule.
Thank you again for participating in our education programs, and we look forward to
seeing you and working with your class!
What is a botanist?
Botany: the study of plants.
Botanists study and have a lot of knowledge about plants.
There are many kinds of botanists. Some botanists work in the field, while
some work in a lab. Some botanists do research to increase and improve
our supply of plant products. Others are conservationists who use their
knowledge to manage parks, forests, and wilderness areas. Botanists may
use their knowledge to solve pollution problems.
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Table of Contents
What to Expect .......................................................................................... 4
A summary of the logistics and expectations for the day.
Schedule for the Day ................................................................................ 5
Approximate times for your program activities.
Resources for Teachers .......................................................................... 7
Background information ....................................................................... 9
General information about plant identification and ecology.
Vocabulary ........................................................................................ 10
Vocabulary words printed in bold will be used during your program.
Activity 1: Setting the Stage ................................................................ 11
Some questions to help your students start thinking more deeply
about plants and their relationship to animals and people.
Activity 2: Learning About Plants and Their Seeds ................................ 12
In this activity, students compare seeds from different kinds of fruit.
This lesson is a good introduction to the plant dissections we will do
during your program.
Extensions for Activity 2: .................................................................... 14
Two additional activities exploring plant parts.
Activity 3: Building a Food Web ........................................................... 15
An activity to help students understand the role of plants in their
environment. It can be used before or after your program.
Extensions for Activity 3: .................................................................... 16
Two activities that further demonstrate the concept of food webs.
Activity 4: Brainstorming Solutions...................................................... 17
A lesson on protecting plant habitats, suggested for use after your
program.
Activity 5: Letter to a Developer ........................................................... 18
An activity encouraging students to express their thoughts and take
action. This is an excellent follow-up to Activity 4.
Resources for Students ......................................................................... 19
Plant Diagrams .................................................................................. 21
Illustrations of two flowering plants which students can label.
Budding Botanists Word Search .......................................................... 25
A word search using botanical vocabulary.
Is it a Fruit or a Vegetable?.................................................................. 26
A handout that helps students recognize common foods as plant parts.
Plants in Our World: Crossword Puzzle ................................................ 28
A puzzle that uses vocabulary that students may encounter during
their program.
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What To Expect…
This program includes indoor and outdoor components. We will spend the first part of
the program dissecting flowers and learning about leaf identification. Then we’ll use our
skills to identify and describe plants around the Crissy Field marsh. We’ll complete the
day by making miniature field guides for students to take home. The class will work in
pairs during the lab portion of the program and then be divided into three groups for the
outdoor portion; if you prefer, you may designate the pairs before you arrive. Please ask
students to dress appropriately for walking outdoors and getting messy and to be
prepared for all kinds of weather.
 Arrival
Staff from the Crissy Field Center will greet you at the entrance. We will
happily provide nametags for your students, but you can save time by giving
them nametags before you arrive. Your students will have the chance to use
the restrooms and put away their lunches and backpacks before the program
begins.
 Lunch
Please have your students bring bag lunches. There will be a scheduled
lunch break during which your class will eat outside on the plaza in front of
the Center. If it is raining or cold, we will provide an indoor space for your
lunch.
 Chaperones
The active assistance of adult chaperones can help to make your program
even more successful. We will ask chaperones to spread themselves out
among the students to help answer questions, distribute supplies, and
manage safety (particularly when crossing the street).
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Program Schedule – all times are approximate
Total Program Time: 3 hours
Arrive and settle in: 5 minutes
Students will have the chance to take a bathroom break and receive nametags for
the day. We will provide a place to store lunches, backpacks, jackets, and other
items.
Welcome and introduction: 10 minutes
Students are introduced to the park and to botany.
Leaf characteristics: 20 minutes
Students examine leaves to learn about plant structure and function as well as the
botanical vocabulary used to describe plant parts.
Field Botany: 60 minutes
The teacher divides the class into three groups. The groups hike to Crissy Field
marsh to observe and document the local plants of the area. They practice using
botanical terms to describe the plants to their classmates.
Students discover plants used by the people of the Presidio. Students design their
own plant cards to be used in Plant ID Cards activity.
Lunch: 20 minutes
Students should bring a bag lunch. Unless it is raining, your class will eat outside.
Plant ID Cards: 40 minutes
Students complete their plant research in their groups. Students will then share their
knowledge with the class through small presentations.
Budding Botanists Trivia: 15 minutes
Students review what they have learned.
Closing: 10 minutes
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Resources
For Teachers
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Background Information About Plants
Plant Identification:
Although it is helpful to know a variety of botanical terms when describing plants, it is equally
important simply to have the skills to make detailed observations. Here are some of the first
things botanists look for when attempting to identify a plant:
Size, shape, and habit: Is it a small, herbaceous plant or a woody shrub? Does it creep
along the ground like a vine, or is it upright? What is its typical size and form? Where is
the plant growing?
Leaf shape and arrangement: What shape are the leaves? What does the surface of the
leaf look and feel like? Are the edges of the leaves smooth, jagged (serrated) or lobed?
What pattern do the veins make? How are the leaves arranged on the stem – opposite,
alternate or whorled? Are the leaves in groups or single?
Flower: What color is the flower? What size? What kind of shape is it? Is it symmetrical?
Does it have petals and/or sepals? How many? How many stamens does it have and how
are they arranged? Is the ovary above or below the meeting of the petals? How and where
are the flowers growing on the plant?
Other: What does the fruit or seed look like? The stem? The root? Other unusual parts?
Plants as Producers:
Plants perform a number of different services for us, from providing medicine and clothing, to
making the oxygen we breathe. However, the most important function they serve may be as
producers, the foundation of the food chain.
A producer is an organism that makes its own food out of inorganic matter (also called an
autotroph). Through photosynthesis, plants use energy from the sun (sunlight), along with water
and carbon dioxide, to make food for themselves in the form of sugars. Higher up on the food
chain are animals, including humans, which rely on plants (or other animals that eat plants) for
their food. We are called consumers, because we get our food from organic matter such as plants
and other animals. Thus, plants provide the essential step of capturing the sun’s energy and
putting it into a form that other animals can access and use.
Indigenous vs. Exotic:
We often distinguish between plants that are native, or indigenous, to an area and those that are
exotic (also called introduced or non-native). Indigenous plants are those that grow naturally in
an area and were not brought there intentionally or unintentionally by humans. Exotic species -having evolved under different environmental conditions than indigenous plants -- may use more
or less of particular resources, have different predators, and be susceptible to different diseases;
they have different effects on the local environment. They may be beneficial or harmful,
depending on the species and the ecosystem to which they were introduced. Tomatoes are a good
example of an exotic plant that most of us greatly appreciate. However, some exotic species
disrupt or harm their new environments; we call these invasive species. Invasives can outcompete local species, alter the local microclimate, and affect human culture and economics. The
impacts of these changes are often widespread and long lasting and are sometimes devastating to
ecosystems. During Budding Botanists, we will focus on plants that are indigenous to the Bay
Area.
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Vocabulary
flower:
the reproductive structure of a plant, often showy, colorful, or fragrant
fruit:
a ripened ovary of a plant; the part that holds the seed(s)
indigenous: occurring naturally in an area; not brought by people; native
leaf:
the part of a plant that takes in the light and the air that a plant needs
light:
provides the energy that plants need to make food
nutrients:
things that are necessary for life and growth, such as food
plant:
a living thing that can make food using energy from the sun
roots:
the part of a plant that holds it in place and takes in water and nutrients
stem:
the part of a plant that carries water and nutrients from the roots to the
leaves
bud:
a small growth on a stem that can develop into a flower or a new stem
carnivore:
an animal that eats meat
consumer:
an organism that eats other living things or things that were once alive
decomposer: a type of consumer that recycles nutrients by eating or breaking down
dead things
food chain:
how energy is transferred from one living thing to another
herbivore:
an animal that eats plants
omnivore:
an animal that eats plants and meat
producer:
a living thing that creates its own food and makes up the base of the food
chain
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Activity #1: Setting the Stage
You may want to discuss the following questions with your students:
What is a botanist?
Why would a botanist want to study plants?
Are plants important in our world?
What kinds of things do plants do for humans?
What kinds of things do we do with plants?
Do animals use plants? How?
What would the world be like if there weren’t any plants?
Can we do things to impact plants and their habitats? Negative? Positive?
Is it important to protect plants?
Is there anything you can think of that you already do to protect plants?
Encourage students to come up with 2-3 questions that they have about plants or about botany. If
you like, you can bring them with you on your visit to Crissy Field Center and ask us!
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Activity #2: Learning About Plants and Their Seeds
This activity introduces students to seeds and their function. Students will practice data
gathering.
Materials:
Plates
A variety of fruits (apples, cucumbers, oranges, pears, plums, peas, etc.)
Experience chart (page 11)
Pictures of produce (optional)
Procedure:
1. Cut open two pieces of produce. Ask the students: What is inside both of these that is the
same? (seeds)
2. Discuss with the class that a new plant will grow from a seed. Seeds are found in the fruit of
the plant.
3. Cut open the rest of the items. Place each different fruit’s seed(s) on a plate labeled with the
name and/or picture of that fruit.
4. Ask the students to tell you about each seed's color. Have them record it on the experience
chart.
5. Repeat for the size (big, small), the shape (flat, round), and the feel of the covering (smooth,
rough). Have the students record their responses on the experience chart.
6. Have small groups of students work together to sort and classify the seeds into various
groupings.
7. Optional: Count the number of seeds for each fruit that has been examined and make a bar
graph and/or plant some of the seeds. Homework: Have students bring in seeds from other
food items.
Discussion:
In what ways are seeds different from one another?
What advantages are there to different seed shapes, sizes, etc.?
Why do some plants make more seeds than other plants?
Activity adapted from “How Are Seeds the Same and Different?” at www.askeric.org, lesson plan #AELPAGR0013, submitted by Lisa Ventura.
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Fruit and Seed Experience Chart
Name of fruit
Seed
Color
Seed Size
(big/small)
Seed Shape
(flat/round)
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Seed Feel
(smooth/rough)
Extension #1 for Learning About Plants and Their Seeds:
Plant Parts We Love to Eat
People and animals eat the fruits of some plants, the seeds of some, the leaves of others, and
sometimes even the flowers (like broccoli). Chart on the whiteboard the different parts of plants
that people can eat. Have the students fill in as many foods that they can. Imagine a world
without plants. What would we eat? Have the students write a story about a world without plants.
*This activity connects well with the handout “Is it a Fruit or a Vegetable?” provided on pages
26 and 27 of this packet.
Extension #2 for Learning About Plants and Their Seeds:
Lima Bean Dissection
Soak lima beans in water overnight. Have the students use a hand lenses to examine the outsides
of the seeds. Have them try to peel off the seed covering. Ask them to split the seed in half. Ask
the students to draw the lima bean. Can they find a tiny plant inside?
Activity adapted from “From Seed to Plant” at www.askeric.org, lesson plan #AELP-AGR0010, written by Marcia
Goudie (1998).
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Activity #3: Building a Food Web
This activity introduces students to food webs and their components (producers and consumers)
and teaches the central role that plants play in the food chain. It also introduces students to four
different types of consumers: carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and decomposers.
Materials:
Food web cards depicting a variety of plants and animals (producers, carnivores, omnivores,
herbivores and decomposers)
Whiteboard or poster board (This activity can be done as a poster or on a whiteboard.)
Markers
Procedure:
1. Place the following diagram on your whiteboard or poster board:
producers:
consumers:
carnivores: omnivores: herbivores: decomposers:
2. Go through the food web cards and have students decide where each card should be put on
the diagram. If necessary, go over vocabulary beforehand.
3. Have students, one at a time, draw in lines to show the connections between the different
organisms.
4. Lead a discussion about what would happen if the plants (producers) were taken away.
Activity adapted from Living Lightly In The City: An Environmental Education Guidebook, National Audubon
Society, Maura O’Connor and Kathy McGlauflin, illustrated by Nancy Chenery (1992).
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Extension #1 for Building a Food Web:
Play a Game!
Materials:
Ball of yarn
Enough space to stand comfortably in a circle
Masking tape and a pen to label the students
Procudure:
1. Label the students as specific plants, animals or parts of an ecosystem. (You can include
abiotic elements, like sun and soil, in addition to the living things.)
2. Give one of the students the ball of yarn and ask him or her to toss the yarn to someone else
to whom he or she is connected. (For example, if the first person is a bird, he or she may
want to pass the yarn to a fish because the bird eats the fish.) The person tossing the ball of
yarn must keep holding onto an end of the yarn. Have the second student with the yarn toss
the ball to a third student to whom he or she is connected. Continue until all the students have
been tossed the yarn. At the end of the game, there will be a web of yarn in the center of the
circle.
3. After you’ve constructed the web, introduce the following scenario to see what happens:
Scenario: A hotel has been built. Plants were removed to make way for it. (The
students who represent the plants will let go of the string.) Who else will be
affected? (The next person lets go). This will continue until most of the students
let go of the string. The web will be visibly damaged.
Discussion:
What happened when the hotel was built? Who was affected by it?
Were any humans affected by the hotel?
What would happen if we removed the hotel? Do you think the ecosystem could be repaired?
Extension #2 for Building a Food Web:
Discussion
Discuss food chains involving the students. What did they eat for breakfast? Did they eat a
producer, an herbivore, a carnivore, or more than one? Where did the thing they ate get its
energy? Where was it in the food chain? Where are the students in the food chain?
Activity adapted from “Cooperative Lesson: Create a Food Web” at www.Teachnet.com, contributed by Barbara
Baxton, Teacher Librarian.
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Activity #4: Brainstorming Solutions
This activity can be used before or after your program.
Materials:
Paper for a poster or individual sheets of paper for each student
Colored markers and/or colored pencils
Procedure:
1. Have students brainstorm ideas of how people can protect plant habitats. You can do this as a
mind map, an outline, or any way that is convenient. Generate three to five strong ideas (litter
control, getting rid of pesticides, oil recycling, driving less, etc.).
2. Divide students into groups and have them draw a picture depicting one of the ideas and
describe it in a few sentences.
3. You can do this activity as a poster project and then put the posters up around the school.
You can also have each student do his/her own and put them up around the classroom.
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Activity # 4: A Letter to the Developer
This is a good activity to do after your Budding Botanists program. In this activity, students will
write letters to a developer explaining what the developer’s actions will mean to a plant habitat
and suggesting that he or she take steps to protect the habitat. Students should be encouraged to
offer solutions or alternative plans to the developer.
Materials:
Paper
Lots of ideas
Procedure:
1. Give the students an introduction, explaining how an area might be developed. You may
want to create your own scenario based on an actual development or an area that is relevant
to them. For example:
Hotel Atlantic has announced their intention to build a resort hotel
on 2,000 acres fronting San Pablo Bay. This is a known habitat for
endangered species, such as the salt marsh harvest mouse, and the
plants these animals depend on.
2. Have students write letters to the developer, explaining their concerns, the effects
development may have on the habitat, and possible solutions they have to offer.
3. Have students share their letters in groups or in front of the whole class. If applicable, you
can even send them to the developer!
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Resources
For Students
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Label the parts of this plant. Include roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and any other parts
or information that you know. You may want to color it in when you’re done.
DAFFODIL
(not indigenous to California)
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Label the parts of this plant. Include roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and any other parts
or information that you know. You may want to color it in when you’re done.
POPPY
(indigenous to California)
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Flowers
~ contain reproductive parts
Stem
Leaves
~ holds up flowers
(with parallel veins)
~ make food for the plant
through photosynthesis
Leaves arranged basally
(coming from base of stem)
Bulb (Storage leaves)
~ stores food for the plant in the form of
carbohydrates
Roots
~ take up water and nutrients
from the soil
DAFFODIL: key
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Petals
Flower
~ attract pollinators
~ contains
reproductive parts
Sepals
~ protect the flower bud
Stem
~ holds up leaves and
flowers
Flower Bud
Leaves
(lobed,
pinnate veins,
arranged
alternately)
Leaf
~ makes food for the plant through
photosynthesis
Roots
~ take up water and nutrients
from the soil
POPPY: key
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Is it a Fruit or Vegetable?
Write the name of the plant part next to its picture (fruit, root, leaf, etc). The first one is
done for you as an example.
Celery: Stem
Cucumber: __________
Bell pepper: _________
Artichoke: __________
Carrot: ___________
Rhubarb: ___________
Lettuce: __________
Pumpkin: ___________
Broccoli: __________
Beet: ____________
Peas: __________
Chard: __________
Onion: __________
Potato: __________
Peanut: __________
Tomato: __________
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Is it a Fruit or Vegetable?
Answers
Celery: Stem
Cucumber: Fruit
Bell pepper: Fruit
Artichoke: Flower
A fruit is anything
that contains seeds
Carrots: Root
Rhubarb: Stem
Lettuce: Leaf
Pumpkin: Fruit
Broccoli: Flower
Beets: Root
Peas: Fruit
Chard: Leaf
Onions: Leaf
Potato: Tuber
An onion bulb is actually a
group of storage “leaves”
that do not photosynthesize
A tuber is a type of modified
underground stem that does
not take up water or nutrients
but stores food for the plant
Peanuts: Fruit
Tomato: Fruit
The nuts that we eat are
seeds of the peanut plant!
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Plants in our World
ACROSS:
DOWN:
2) The female part of the flower
3) The part of the plant that contains the reproductive
parts
5) Something we make from plants
6) The basis of the food chain and an important
resource for people
8) A type of leaf edge that is like a bread knife
9) Another thing we make from plants
11) Occurring naturally in a place; not brought by
humans
13) The process that is necessary for a flower to make
fruit
1) The male parts of the flower
2) A process that happens inside of plant cells, where a
plant uses sunlight and carbon dioxide to make food in
the form of sugars
4) The part of the plant that takes up water and
nutrients from the soil
7) What holds the plant up
10) Another thing we make from plants
12) The part of the plant that makes food through
photosynthesis
14) A type of leaf arrangement where pairs of leaves
grow out of either side of the same point on the stem
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Crossword Puzzle
Vocabulary List
Use the vocabulary list to help you with the crossword puzzle but watch out
-- not every word on the vocabulary list is used in the puzzle.
ALTERNATE
BOTANY
CARNIVORES
CLOTHING
DECOMPOSITION
FLOWER
FOOD
INSECT
INTRODUCED
LEAVES
LOBED
MEDICINE
NATIVE