I also teach plant-related (and other) workshops and graduate-level
courses for K-12 teachers. I've used Wisconsin Fast Plants extensively
in my teaching, and found them very easy to work with. The soda bottle
and film can growing systems I use are basically no-cost, so teachers
only need to invest in a plant light rack to be able to carry out a wide
range of explorations. With this growing system, students can have
their own individual plant(s), leading to an interest in plant biology
by students who teachers thought wouldn't be interested (such as -
excuse the stereotype - football players). I think that the new
"Exploring with Wisconsin Fast Plants" book (published by Kendall-Hunt)
is better than the older "Wisconsin Fast Plants" manual from Carolina
Biological. Another resource is "Using Fast Plants and Bottle Biology
in the Classroom", published by the National Association of Biology
Teachers. The Fast Plant home page is located at
http://fastplants.cals.wisc.edu/
Another plant web site is Science and Plants for Schools in the UK
http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/
I think someone else mentioned the GrowLab curriculum for elementary
students, which is available from the National Gardening Association
(180 Flynn Ave., Burlington, VT 05401; 802-863-1308;
http://www.garden.org). Their "Growing Ideas" newsletter also has good
ideas, as does the "Growing Partnerships: GrowLab Professional
Development" newsletter for workshop presenters, etc.
I've taught several papermaking workshops for elementary and middle
school teachers. Papermaking is a wonderfully interdisciplinary topic
which can be used as a starting place for exploring plant anatomy,
morphology, and physiology, chemistry, ecology, history, math, art and
multicultural studies. In my workshop we've made recycled paper as well
as paper using grocery store vegetables and yard plants.
I've also taught a Forensic Botany workshop for teachers using as a
resource "Identifying Plant Food Cells in Gastric Contents for Use in
Forensic Investigations: A Laboratory Manual", by J.H. Bock, M.A. Lane
and D.O. Norris. This manual was developed for the U.S. Department of
Justice by University of Colorado faculty and is used by forensic
scientists around the country. The forensic aspect leads to a greater
student interest in plant anatomy.
Louisa Stark, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
UCB Hughes Initiative
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0347
LINDA HEATH, BIOLOGY wrote in part:
>> Hello all! I'm new to the list and teach week long Plant
> Workshops for K-12 teachers - so I like to hear about
> programs for schools using plants. Please share any you
> know about.
>
