Plant Hunters
8 February 2023
|By Katy Parry
Unearth the history of Chelsea Physic Garden and the plant hunters of the past in London’s oldest outdoor classroom. Practise the scientific skills of plant hunter to identify the different parts of a plant, what they need to grow, and the importance of plants to everyday life.
Through exploring the Garden, students will observe plants from different continents and a variety of environments. They will discuss the skills and equipment needed to be a successful plant hunter, and look for examples of useful and edible plants. They will collect parts of plants from around the garden and work scientifically to identify. observe, explore, collect, classify and record their findings.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand and describe parts of a plant
- Consider why people study plants
- Discuss how plants are used by humans
- Identify plants in the garden
- Identify food that comes from plants
- Identify examples of adaptations
- Develop scientific enquiry skills
- Be able to classify parts of plants
- Think of ways to record their collections
National Curriculum Links
Students will be working scientifically during their visit with lots of opportunity for questions and discussion. They will also cover aspects of the following units from the National Curriculum for Science:
- Identify and name a variety of plants in their habitats, including microhabitats
- Identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees
- Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of plants and how they depend on each other
- Find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy
- Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers
- Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant.