How to Teach Plant Classification

Teaching plant classification will enrich your students' understanding of the different plant types in nature.

Teaching plant classification offers a way to incorporate specific hands-on learning for the fields of botany and horticulture, and to reinforce general skills such as direction following and cooperation. Because plant classification is best learned through field experience and research, teaching plant classification provides an opportunity to move your classroom to the outdoors, giving your students an opportunity to understand what many working scientists do on a daily basis. An effective way to teach plant classification through hands-on experience is to lead your class on a directed nature walk in which you identify and classify plants along your path. Constructing a lesson on plant classification requires the scaffolding of directed instruction, cooperative practice and reinforcing assessment.

Things You'll Need

• 8 to 10 plant types
• Plant classification guide
• Pen or pencil
• Paper

Instructions

1. Select a natural habitat in which to take a walking tour. The natural habitat should have moderate diversity in terms of plant life. This will enable you to pick out specific plant types to classify on your walking tour. If your school does not have access to such a habitat you can secure plant samples to show in your classroom.

2. Select three different plants to classify on your walking tour or in the classroom. The plants should differ in specific ways such as seed-bearing versus spore-producing, flowering versus nonflowering, monocots versus dicots, seasonal versus yearly growth, leaf type and vascular versus nonvascular.

3. Provide your students with an Audubon Society Plant Classification guide or a similar resource they can use as a reference to classify the plants on the walking tour or in the classroom. Students may classify plants according to kingdom, division, spermatophyta, angiospermae, sub-class, order, family, genus and species.

4. Lead your students on the walking tour, pointing out each of the pre-selected plants you will classify with the class as a group or take back to the classroom.

5. Direct your students to explore the habitat for a set amount of time so they can classify an additional five plants using the classification guide and techniques you demonstrated at the beginning of the walking tour. If you are completing this activity in a classroom you should provide a set of five to 10 plants that can circulate throughout the room or be set up in stations so as to give your students enough diversity in this classification activity.

6. Quiz your students by providing them two or three different plants to classify individually while using the classification guide.

References

• Florida Department of Environmental Protection: Classifying Plants: Plant Types
• Texas Tech University Plant and Soil Science: Major Reasons for Classifying Plants

Resources

• Audubon Guides: Names and Classification