Description: Students choos a plant and its history by creating a timeline.
Intention: Learning about the prehistoric and timeline of species over the years and how its use has changed but is still present.
In part 1 of this Brick, students choose a plant and start investigating it.
In part 2, students draw up a timeline and present their findings to each other.
Find a garden or natural space where there is a variety of plants for the students to choose from.
Choose a plant (10 min)
Go to the schoolgarden/a garden and give students time to wonder around and look at the plants. Then students select a (common) plant that seems interesting to them.
Observe and record (10 min)
Ask students to look closely at the plant’s features ; leaves, stem, flowers, or roots. Note what makes it unique.
Research its history (25 min)
Have students find out where the plant originally comes from and how people have used it through time (as food, medicine, decoration, etc.).
Didactic tips
- Observe before researching.
Give students a minute to closely observe their plant before they start writing or searching for information. It can be helpful to do the Brick Plants over Time – Part 1 sometime beforehand. - Use open-ended questions.
Ask questions like “What do you notice?” or “What do you wonder?” to encourage curiosity and independent thinking. The method Plants over Time – Part 1 can be helpful. - Predict before you discover.
Let students guess the plant’s origin or use first, then compare their ideas with their research findings.