Botany
Botany for Kids from the NBII Botany Page
Find links to kid-friendly background materials, project ideas, fun activities, and teaching materials related to botany at NBII's Botany page.
From the National Gardening Association, this site includes resources for starting a school greenhouse; stories from their Digging Deeper newsletter about successful projects in the classroom; grant-writing opportunities and guidelines; a wealth of classroom gardening activities; and international classroom projects that can link your students to other budding botanists around the world.
School Gardens from KinderGarden
From Texas A&M's Department of Horticulture, this resource introduces young children to botany through the building and maintenance of an onsite garden. Materials include resources, activities, and garden plans for outdoor and indoor gardens.
A comprehensive, annotated collection of links culled by Arizona State University, this site points users to online resources for a range of age groups.
Aliens Explore Earth: Plants, Trees, & Forests
Created by three teachers, Alien Explorer is a collection of references and activities for a variety of science topics. The plants module includes information about plant growth, seed dispersal, types of plants, and lichens.
From the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network, this site provides students with a comprehensive, clear, and well-illustrated introduction to botany. Included are a sections devoted to plant anatomy and biological processes; plant growth from seed to seedling; invasive and endangered plants; science experiments with plants; a hyperlinked glossary of terms; a quiz; and a directory of related links. Although the site has a Canadian slant, it nevertheless includes many species also found in the U.S., and is a useful resource for teaching basic botanical principles and processes.
Botany for Kids from the NBII Botany Page
Find links to kid-friendly background materials, project ideas, fun activities, and teaching materials related to botany at NBII's Botany page.
This simple experiment uses celery, water, and food coloring to demonstrate the principle of capillary action.
Classification of Plants & Animals
Introduce your students to basic taxonomic principles using this set of classroom exercises with everyday materials, developed by the Franklin Institute Online.
From the Mad Scientist Network, this experiment uses basic food coloring to demonstrate transpiration in a cut flower.
Fun Botanical Science Fair Projects
Hosted by AccessExcellence, this article, written by popular kids' science writer Janice Van Cleeve, offers useful tips on helping students select and pursue a project topic. Included is a sample project on plant fragmentation, which is also used as a model to show teachers how to change project parameters for different results.
Learn about lichens and their role in the ecosystem at this site from Oregon State University, loaded with photographs. The site is divided into twomajor areas: "Lichens: A Friendly Alliance," suitable for grades 4-7, and "LichenLand," appropriate for grades 8 and up.
Join Bud the Carrot and his friend Sprout as they journey into the world of plants with Detective LePlant to help solve a mystery. Choose from six different cases to solve, get the plant facts for the case, and do a fun activity after you solve the mystery. A linked glossary of terms is provided within the case files, and a teacher's guide is also included. This site was developed by the University of Illinois Extension Division.
From the National Gardening Association, this site includes resources for starting a school greenhouse; stories from their Digging Deeper newsletter about successful projects in the classroom; grant-writing opportunities and guidelines; a wealth of classroom gardening activities; and international classroom projects that can link your students to other budding botanists around the world.
Missouri Botanical Gardens Education Division
Thid world-reknowned institution offers professional development and instructional materials for teachers, as well as "Tropical Feast," a Web resource that explores the fruits and vegetables of the tropics.
Plants & Animals: Partners in Pollination
The lessons in this Smithsonian Institution online unit explore the theme of the National Zoo's "Pollinarium" exhibit: how plants & animals interact to accomplish pollination. Activities explore the mechanism of pollination, the link between pollination and food production, and the symbiotic relationship between plants and their pollinators.
This outstanding site from the Smithsonian Institution presents a botanical history of the world through an examination of food production. See what the world was like from an agricultural standpoint in 1492; learn what grew where; find out how the opening of trade routes changed the world's agricultural supply; discover different cultures through fun activities; and participate in four seasons of gardening activities.
A comprehensive, annotated collection of links culled by Arizona State University, this site points users to online resources for a range of age groups.
A Year of Trees: 18 Activities
Ideal for fall or spring as a unit study for the semester, or as a year-long unit, this curriculum illustrates the benefits of trees, tree structure, and the tree life cycle.
Aliens Explore Earth: Plants, Trees, & Forests
Created by three teachers, Alien Explorer is a collection of references and activities for a variety of science topics. The plants module includes information about plant growth, seed dispersal, types of plants, and lichens.
From the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network, this site provides students with a comprehensive, clear, and well-illustrated introduction to botany. Included are a sections devoted to plant anatomy and biological processes; plant growth from seed to seedling; invasive and endangered plants; science experiments with plants; a hyperlinked glossary of terms; a quiz; and a directory of related links. Although the site has a Canadian slant, it nevertheless includes many species also found in the U.S., and is a useful resource for teaching basic botanical principles and processes.
Botany for Kids from the NBII Botany Page
Find links to kid-friendly background materials, project ideas, fun activities, and teaching materials related to botany at NBII's Botany page.
This simple experiment uses celery, water, and food coloring to demonstrate the principle of capillary action.
Classification of Plants & Animals
Introduce your students to basic taxonomic principles using this set of classroom exercises with everyday materials, developed by the Franklin Institute Online.
From the Mad Scientist Network, this experiment uses basic food coloring to demonstrate transpiration in a cut flower.
Learn about lichens and their role in the ecosystem at this site from Oregon State University, loaded with photographs. The site is divided into two major areas: "Lichens: A Friendly Alliance," suitable for grades 4-7, and "LichenLand," appropriate for grades 8 and up.
Join Bud the Carrot and his friend Sprout as they journey into the world of plants with Detective LePlant to help solve a mystery. Choose from six different cases to solve, get the plant facts for the case, and do a fun activity after you solve the mystery. A linked glossary of terms is provided within the case files, and a teacher's guide is also included. This site was developed by the University of Illinois Extension Division.
From the National Gardening Association, this site includes resources for starting a school greenhouse; stories from their Digging Deeper newsletter about successful projects in the classroom; grant-writing opportunities and guidelines; a wealth of classroom gardening activities; and international classroom projects that can link your students to other budding botanists around the world.
Missouri Botanical Gardens Education Division
Thid world-reknowned institution offers professional development and instructional materials for teachers, as well as "Tropical Feast," a Web resource that explores the fruits and vegetables of the tropics.
Plants & Animals: Partners in Pollination
The lessons in this Smithsonian Institution online unit explore the theme of the National Zoo's "Pollinarium" exhibit: how plants & animals interact to accomplish pollination. Activities explore the mechanism of pollination, the link between pollination and food production, and the symbiotic relationship between plants and their pollinators.
This outstanding site from the Smithsonian Institution presents a botanical history of the world through an examination of food production. See what the world was like from an agricultural standpoint in 1492; learn what grew where; find out how the opening of trade routes changed the world's agricultural supply; discover different cultures through fun activities; and participate in four seasons of gardening activities.
A comprehensive, annotated collection of links culled by Arizona State University, this site points users to online resources for a range of age groups.
From the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network, this site provides students with a comprehensive, clear, and well-illustrated introduction to botany. Included are a sections devoted to plant anatomy and biological processes; plant growth from seed to seedling; invasive and endangered plants; science experiments with plants; a hyperlinked glossary of terms; a quiz; and a directory of related links. Although the site has a Canadian slant, it nevertheless includes many species also found in the U.S., and is a useful resource for teaching basic botanical principles and processes. (Appropriate for basic biology coursework).
Created by teacher John Norton for Access Excellence, this page gives students an overview of ethnobotany and plant classification, provides articles about revolutionary discoveries of plant benefits for humanity, and outlines a challenging and stimulating classroom project to help students learn more about the potentials of plants in their own regions.
A comprehensive, annotated index to online resources, the NBII Botany area features hundreds of links to information on Plant Biology, Online References & Databases, Taxonomy, Gardening, Species Information, Collections, Organizations, and Botany for Kids. A useful resource for both hobbyists and researchers.
A subsection of the Bureau of Land Management's Environmental Education Page, "Noxious Weeds" provides a good introduction to the serious and escalating problem of non-native invasive species in North America. Included are discussions of the environmental and economic impacts of invasive weeds, mechanisms for their spread and propagation, and suggestions for classroom discussions and activities for investigating this important environmental issue.
Scott Russell of the Department of Botany & Microbiology at the University of Oklahoma maintains this site, which provides high school and college educators with links to botanical information resources on the Web.
This study presents examples of the diversity of the major plant groups, and is designed so that the user can browse all, or specific, plant descriptions. A good introduction to plant taxonomy.
A comprehensive, annotated collection of links culled by Arizona State University, this site points users to online resources for a range of age groups.
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