Scripture: Genesis 1-2
Learning Objectives:
- Students will review the story of Creation, paying special attention to any mention of plants
- Students will learn various ways to identify plants and why it is important to know if a plant is edible or poisonous
- Students will participate in an activity to help them practice identifying local plants and their possible uses or dangers
Guiding Question: How can you identify local plants and know their possible uses or dangers?
Materials:
Accessible area with a variety of plants (If none are available, photos or parts of plants can be substituted.)
Paper and pencils
Procedure: Review the story of Creation, focusing especially on any mention of plants. Teach and/or review ways to identify various local plants. If it all possibly, take students to an area with a wide variety of plants. Divide the students into pairs. (Remember to caution students not to touch or damage plants.) Give students who are just learning to identify plants a list of plants to find. If students are somewhat comfortable with plant identification, give them a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. Have students sketch or describe and identify as many plants as they can find in a specified time period. (Give them enough time to identify many of the available plants.) Have students compare their findings.
Additional Questions:
- Why might it be useful to learn how to identify plants not native to your area?
- What plants are mentioned in the Bible and how would you identify them?
Supplemental Activity: Have students focus on local poisonous plants. Have them create educational fliers to share with others.