Crystal Cuadra-Cutler
Lesson Title: Botany Investigator
Grade Level: 5th
Subject Areas: Science and Visual Art
Time: Three 40 minute sessions
Lesson Overview: Students will learn about and examine local plant life by collecting
specimens from their local neighborhoods. Students will learn how to make contour and gesture
drawings of their specimens.
Materials:
4 sandwich bags per student
pencils
Illustrated Field guide or Internet access
Samples of local plants
Specimen Collection Worksheet
Procedure:
1. Ask students if they know what plants grow in their neighborhood or locally. Using an
illustrated field guide for your area from the library or bookstore or looking on the internet, share
with the students some of the common local plants. The teacher should bring in examples of
small local plants obtained from a local nursery or garden supply.
2. Break the students up into groups and give each group a plant. Introduce students to the
concept of contour drawing. Ask students to use a pencil and draw the plant specimen or one
aspect of them such as a flower or leaf in their journals.
3. Get outside. If your school campus has plants, take the students outside with the field guide
and have them break into groups and identify some of the plants. If the campus is lacking in
plant life, take a short walk with the class to a local area if permitted by school rules.
4. Have the students go home and collect 4 specimens of different plants, and place each one in a
separate plastic bag. Students should fill out the specimen collection worksheet and affix the
labeled samples to the worksheet.
5. Students share their collections in groups. Students should select their favorite specimen of
the group. Students will be introduced to the concept of gesture drawings. Students will then be
asked to make a gesture drawing in their journals.
Vocabulary:
Contour drawing, gesture drawing.
Habitat, local habitats
Standards Addressed:
Science:
6.a. Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with appropriate criteria.
g. Record data by using appropriate graphic representations (including charts, graphs, and
labeled diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.
Visual Art:
2.2 Create gesture and contour observational drawings.
Student Learning Objectives:
Students will learn to work cooperatively in groups to arrive at a consensus.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed through a checklist that includes their journal work, collections,
drawings, and group work.
Extension or Collaboration:
Include information about conservation and take a trip to De Anza College where they can visit
the Kirsch Center and the Cheeseman Environmental Study Area. Students can do theirplant
identification at this location.
Students can use their samples in the laboratory to examine them under a microscope as part of
an extension into learning about plants at the cellular level.
Attachments:
Specimen Collection Worksheet
Assessment Checklist
Resources:
Go On a Backyard Botany Hunt!
http://www.education.com/activity/article/Backyard_Botany_fifth/
Online Fine Art Instruction in Contour Line Drawing of Human Figure and Objects
http://www.ndoylefineart.com/drawexercise1.html
Free Art Lesson Plans: Contour Line Drawing
http://www.teachartathome.com/ContourLineDrawing.html
Gesture Drawing as a Learning Skill Part 1: Introduction
http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/gesturedrawing.html
Specimen Collection Worksheet
Directions: Collect four specimens of plants from your local neighborhood. If you have many
trees around, take a leaf from each. If not, mix it up with weeds, flowers, and leaves from bushes
and shrubs. Make sure to only take one leaf or flower, and to be gentle. Ask permission first if
you want to collect specimens from a neighbor's garden or other private property.
Take your botanical specimens back to home base! To begin classifying your finds, number the
bags with a pen and fill in what you can of the chart below. Describe each plant using descriptive
language. Don't forget to mention height, leaf shape, color, and any other physical qualities you
can see. For the “Habitat” column, find out what sort of soil and sun exposure your plant likes.
Does it need a wet, cool environment, or a dry, hot one? In class, find out the name of each of
your four plant specimens, using your field guide or Internet research. Under “Notes,” write
down anything else you'd like to include about your plant.
Specimen Name
Plant 1
Plant 2
Plant 3
Plant 4
Description Habitat
Notes
Student’s Name: ___________________________
Assessment Check off Sheet
Yes
No
Contour drawing completed
Four specimens were collected
Collection worksheet
completed
Gesture drawing completed
Works well with group
Additional Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________