Convenience back to the school year with an observational activity that teaches children not only to observe plants, but also teaches them to concentrate on details, to record useful observations and practice their knowledge.
Every child needs a pencil, sketchbook and ruler.
Split the children into groups of 2. Then tell them that they will go off themselves, find a specific plant, do a quick sketch of the plant and use words, images and numbers to describe the plant. They are not allowed to write the name of the plant on the page.
Some things they can absorb are the number of petals on flowers, the number of leaves and all unique characteristics, including colors, insects or other damage and shapes.
The aim is for them to exchange sketchbooks with their partner and their partner must find the factory based on the information they receive.
For this exercise they do not have to concentrate on a beautiful drawing, only on providing accurate information that is useful to identify the exact plant they have observed (in contrast to a cluster of the same plant).
They must record instructions on their sketch. They can even record a basic card in a corner to show the general location.
Set a time limit, such as 15 minutes to do their observation motions and then call time and let them change notebooks and search the plants one by one.
If their partner has difficulty finding the plant, the person who made the observation can move them to the general location.
After they had time to find the plants of their partner, let everyone come together again and ask if they were able to find the factory of their partner, what some of the given details were that helped them find it, and what details you wish you had added when your partner tried to find your factory. Other questions would be where there are interesting ideas that your partner used you wish you used on your page and what can you add in the future if you did this again that you left out in this round?
This exercise is a great way to teach observation and communication and can be used as an aid to refer back to when you want to include plants that you will find in your garden, local park or local nature conservation area to visit the whole seasons or years.