Teaching People Plant Collecting

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SUPERVISED PRACTICE OF PLANT
AND DATA COLLECTING

OBJECTIVE: Students will apply the information they learned about collecting plants and recording data to at least five different plants collected in the field. They may write the plant collecting data directly on the margins of the newspaper the plant is pressed in, or they may use the Plant Collecting Data Form and place it in with the pressed plant. Plants may be pressed in the field or may be taken back to the classroom to be pressed. Remember, it is extremely important that the collecting data be kept with each individual plant collected.

INSTRUCTIONS: Students need a practice run at collecting plants, recording the collection data and pressing the specimens. These skills are easily learned, but they do require some practice. The plants collected will be the first of many that will make up their formal collection.

Some students may not want to carry their plant press out to the study site. In some ways it is easier to place the specimens in the plant press in the classroom. A paper bag is a convenient way to carry plants back to the classroom. Make sure students record the collecting data for each plant specimen when it is collected. This data must be attached to each specimen so that it can be placed in the press with the plant.

Cut plant material does not last long and must be pressed as soon a possible. Good botanical specimens need to be pressed within an hour of being collected. If there is insufficient time to go to the study site, collect plants, record data and return to the classroom to press the plants, an alternate approach should to be devised. There may be desert plants right outside the classroom that can be collected. Or, the teacher may bring enough plant material into the classroom for students to share. The teacher can then take students through the various steps of preparing and pressing the specimens.

Pruning shears are a help in cutting through woody plant stems. Inexpensive pruning shears are available at hardware stores. Some school districts have warehouse catalogs that list them under janitorial or groundskeeping equipment. It is recommended that each group of students have a pair of pruning shears.