Presents a project that allows students to observe and show how quickly pollutants in the air and on the ground destroy plant life. Appropriate for grades four through six. (JRH)

Presents an experiment that provides students with an opportunity to investigate folk medicine and herbal cures and their accompanying claims. Involves isolating some active compounds from plant materials and demonstrating their antibacterial activity. (JRH)

Describes the diversity of flowers with regard to the flower paintings of Pierre-Joseph Redoute, books about flowers, and research in genetic studies. Discusses gardening flowers and flowering strategies and criticizes the fact that biology education has moved steadily away from plants. (KHR)

Describes an alternative to studying plant community composition and dynamics. Suggests that teachers and students collect soil samples containing buried seeds (the seed bank), germinate the seeds in the laboratory, and analyze community dynamics through the composition of the seed bank. (ZWH)

Warns against the unknowing use of dangerous plants in the classroom. Promotes the safe use of plants for instruction and ornamentation. (SR)

Finds that many restoration projects have attempted to replace the native species, but project planners often have an imperfect understanding of the plant communities they are trying to re-create. Argues that when students join these projects, they may receive an inaccurate impression of local ecosystems. (Author/CCM)

Provides information on a 5-year study that tracks children's ideas and attitudes toward science. Follows children's ideas using the topic of photosynthesis. (YDS)

Symbiosis between rhizobia and leguminous plants leads to the formation of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. In the present article, we recommend the use of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) isolated from legume nodules in an experimental class with the purpose of introducing students to the structure of eukaryotic and prokaryotic ribosomes and of…

A simple and fast method, which resolves chlorophyll a and b from spinach leaves on analytical plates while minimizing the appearance of chlorophyll degradation products is shown. An improved mobile phase for the Thin-layer chromatographic analysis of spinach extract that allows for the complete resolution of the common plant pigments found in…

This article argues the need for, and provides, a dichotomous single access key for the identification of common British wild flower families. A minimum of technical vocabulary is used while at the same time retaining most of the recent botanical names of families. The key provides a user-friendly opportunity for school pupils to become familiar…

Students can use seed characteristics to discriminate between the different kinds of legumes using taxonomic classification processes of sorting and ranking, followed by construction of taxonomic keys. The application of the Learning Cycle process to taxonomic principles, hierarchical classification, and construction of keys presents the…

Colors are powerful tools for engaging children, from the youngest years onward. We hang brightly patterned mobiles above their cribs and help them learn the names of colors as they begin to record their own ideas in pictures and words. Colors can also open the door to an invisible world of electromagnetism, even when children can barely imagine…

A modification of the popular C-Fern system, the tropical fern Ceratopteris richardii is developed in which students plate out a genetically mixed set of fern spores and then select for specific mutants. This exercise can provide students with an experience in plant mutant selection and can be used as a platform to expose students to a diverse…

This article describes a variety of opportunities for educational activities that can be found in the complex, yet easy-to-manipulate, trophic relationships between goldenrod plants, insects that induce gall formation, and the natural enemies of these gallmakers. Gall collection, measurement, and observation (exit holes, larval response,…

The "National Science Education Standards" provide a vision and standard of science instruction that includes not only the factual, content-rich history of science but also an understanding of the processes and skills necessary to "do" science. Moreover, the "Standards" provide the framework for science instruction that embodies the use of…