Sprouting Seeds
Activity 3 - A Day in the Life of a Plant
Objectives:
- To understand the function of natural wild plants in a natural habitat.
- To learn basic research skills.
- To have practice in creative writing.
Resources & Materials:
- The internet is a great source of information about natural wild plants
-
Plant descriptions
- Paper
- Pens, markers, and pencil crayons
- Scissors, glue, and other craft supplies
- Sample creative writing pieces on the next page
Instructions:
- Share the sample writing pieces.
- Have children research one natural wild plant of interest (either the ones being grown or a co-created list generated with the children). Find out several interesting facts or features of the plant of choice. It may be the story of how it got its name, what it looks like, how it has been used by humans, or its function in a natural habitat.
- Children can then draw a picture of their chosen plant and then write a piece from the perspective of their plant. It may be in the form of a story, descriptive paragraph, a letter, a poem (acrostic, haiku or limerick), or make up a song or rhyme about their plant.
- Have the children share their writing pieces.
Sample Writing Pieces
Haiku
Evening Primrose
Beautiful flowers grow wild;
calls the meadows home
Descriptive Paragraph
A day in the life of a common water plantain
By
Natalie Dawn
I am a common water plantain. Sometimes people call me Alisma plantago-aquatica. I think that name is Latin. Aquatica means I like to live in the water. Other people call me mad-dog weed. I just like to be called mad-dog because it makes me sound tough.
I got the name mad-dog because people thought I could cure rabies. I can't cure rabies but I do like my name. There are lots of things I can do! My leaves can be cooked or eaten in salads. My roots can be used in medicine to cure colds, coughs, asthma and hay fever. My leaves can be used to help heal wounds and rattlesnake bites. I like that I can help people.
