ESPAÑOL ABAJO
Interview a Plant (K-8th)
Based on Beetles Project’s Interview an Organism (which is the Middle School in-depth version).This activity can be made as simple or as complex as you like. Have students pick a plant or tree:
Can be a tree in their neighborhood, and identify using the Seek by iNaturalist App
Or students could research a plant from the Los Angeles page on iNaturalist.
Then have students make up questions that they would like to ask that particular plant or tree. Some prompts could include adaptations, age, habitat, who they are “friends” with (ie which animals or organisms live nearby).
Students then research and answer their own questions.
This free app is used by naturalists worldwide to identify plants and collect data. It is a fantastic community science resource for learning about flora and fauna, and for identifying species in your backyard or neighborhood. Teachers can use the app to encourage their students to identify and collect data, or to research particular plants. Seek can be utilized as a parallel resource for nature journaling, too.
Tree People have created some great, simple videos, for students to learn all about trees. They encourage (in Spanish & English) students to make a Tree Buddy Profile, sing songs, and get involved in local community gardening. They have more topics coming soon, too.
Read with Ranger Jenny at Calaveras Big Trees State Park about what plants and trees need to survive. This California State Parks PORTS Youtube channel also has plenty of ways to connect your children (Pre-K-12) with our California State Parks. These videos are the sessions that have already taken place. Check out their upcoming program here.
This Padlet has lots of resources to help teach your children about Giant Sequoias, including videos, posters, articles and lesson plans.
Global Guardian Project has made all of their lessons free, although you need to register an email address. The Plant Power course guides students through the importance of plants to our ecosystems, and how they survive and thrive.
The California Science Center is releasing daily Stuck at Home Science experiments and activities to conduct with materials found around the house. All of the activity guides are in English and Spanish, and most are aimed at elementary students. This particular experiment helps students conceptualize how capillary action helps trees to get the water they need.
Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge are closed to the public, but their education team have released some great resources to learn about gardens, plants, and pollinators, in both English and Spanish. On their YouTube channel, you can take virtual tours of the gardens, like the Ancient Forest, and see the wildlife that visits the park while people aren’t around.
Big Green’s Lesson Plans can be adapted for learning at home by encouraging students to find plants in their garden or neighborhood, instead of in their school garden. The first portion of the lesson is particularly useful in helping students understand the needs of plants with the acronym “LAWNS”. Find the lesson plans here: PLANT NEEDS | Kindergarten through 2nd Grade and PLANT NEEDS | 3rd through 5th Grade.
Using the journal template by Grassroots Ecology, have students observe a specific area or plant. This encourages students to focus on patterns and causation, and to draw links from prior learning about seasons, weather and water.
The Outdoor Exploration Guide from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is a similar activity for K-2.
This lesson plan from The Edible Schoolyard Project has been adapted for students to use at home. It doesn’t require students to do any planting or growing of their own (however if you do have the materials and space to do this, it’s a fun project).
Here are two books read by celebrities that discuss pollination and plant needs. They’re relatively short, but will
be good discussion starters for little ones who can follow along. Here is Rashida Jones reading “Please Please the Bees” and Rami Malek reading “The Empty Pot”.
TreePeople han creado unos videos geniales y sencillos para que sus estudiantes aprendan todo sobre los árboles. AnÍman a los estudiantes (en español e inglés) a hacer un perfil de Tree Buddy, cantar canciones, e involucrarse en la jardinería comunitaria local. Tienen más temas por venir.
Los jardines de Descanso en La Cañada Flintridge están cerrados al público, pero su equipo educativo han lanzado unos recursos excelentes para aprender sobre jardines, plantas y polinizadores, tanto en inglés como en español. En su canal de YouTube, puede realizar recorridos virtuales por los jardines, como el Bosque Antiguo, y ver la vida silvestre que visita el parque mientras que la gente no este cerca.
El Centro de Ciencias de California está publicando experimentos y actividades de Ciencia Stuck at Home para llevar a cabo con materiales encontrados en la casa. Todas las guías de actividades están en inglés y español, y la mayoría están dirigidas a estudiantes de primaria. Este experimento particular ayuda a los estudiantes a conceptualizar cómo la acción capilar ayuda a los árboles a obtener el agua que necesitan (espanol esta en el la segunda página)
Esta applicacion gratuita es utilizado por los naturalistas de todo el mundo para identificar plantas y recopilar datos. Es un recurso fantástico de ciencia comunitaria para aprender sobre flora y fauna, y para identificar especies en su patio o vecindario. Los maestros pueden usar la aplicación para alentar a sus alumnos a identificar y recopilar datos, o para investigar plantas particulares. ‘Seek’ también se puede utilizar como un recurso paralelo para el diario de la naturaleza.
Until next week! Take care
XOXO,
