Plant Identification

Emily Roe
10 grade Biology
th

Common Core Standards:

Diversity of Life
Speciation and biological classification based on molecular evidence
Variation of organism
Lesson Summary:
Day 1: Students will first learn the anatomy of a plant with prior knowledge of the process of photosynthesis
Day 2: Students will take iPads or phone outside and explore the area and look at leaves through their iPads
with the LEAFSNAP application. Students will also write notes and details about the tree growth form, color,
bark details, etc.
Day 3/4: Students will use laptops to do research (with a partner) about one of the trees they saw. They will
then create a webpage, PowerPoint, or prezi presentation
Day 5: Students will present projects to class. Students will evaluate their peers.
Estimated Duration:
This lesson will take approximately four 50 minute class periods totaling 200 minutes.
Commentary: We will start the lesson by looking through multiple pictures of plants and trees on the
projector. I will ask them to write down 3 things they all have in common and 3 things that they have
differences in. We will discuss this and I will tell them to get out their smart phones (I will supply ipads if they
do not have one) and download the LeafSnap application. I think this will catch students attention.
Instructional Procedures
Day 1:
15 inutes: Preassessment given with multiple choice and matching questions that is on google forms. Students
will be given an option the get an ipad or use their phone when they are finished.
20 minutes: I will give a powerpoint presentation about plant anatomy, types of plants while students take
guided notes on the school ipad or their personal phones. These notes will be useful during the plant hunt on
day 2.
5 minutes: I will give students directions how to download the LeafSnap app. I will walk through and make
sure everyone successfully does so.
10 minutes: app navigation, discussion, Q&A

Day 2:
50 minutes:
Students will have their smart phones and ipads with white paper and a pencil. I will talk to them about
guidelines and rules, and we will all go outside. Students are to take pictures of leaves, bark, flowers, etc.
They are to take notes on each plant specimen they find.
Day 3 and 4: :
50 minutes:
Students will use laptops to do research (with a partner) about one of the plans they saw. They will then create
a webpage, PowerPoint, or prezi presentation. There will be a rubric to guide them. The project must include
habitat, sunlight requirements, water requirements, soil requirements, geologic location, predators, etc.
This is meant to be project based learning, so it is very open to thoughts and ideas.

Pre-Assessment:
At the beginning of day 1 before the lesson, students will be given a plant anatomy and identification
worksheet. It will be a 25 question matching pre-quiz on google forms. Students will use laptops for this.
I will grade the assessments and give them a piece of paper with their score on it on day 2 of the lesson. The
pre-assessment data will help me understand if students know different anatomy of plants.

Scoring Guidelines:
Scoring for the pre-assessment is very basic correct or incorrect. It will consist of fill in the blank, multiple
choice, and matching questions. Scoring guidelines should reveal whether or not student has met the standard
so that instruction can be modified and targeted to learners accordingly. Google forms has a program that will
automatically grade this quiz.
At the end of the lesson, all student work is compiled and graded. Students will have a brief survey on the
activity on the last day.
Post-Assessment:
The student post-assessment is the final product of the project. The project will either be a prezi, PowerPoint,
or web page about their chosen plant. This must also include at least 2 full paragraphs about the plant with
multiple types of information included.
Scoring Guidelines:
The grading of the student projects will be guided by a rubric grid.
For each of the 5 categories, points range from 0-5 (0 least, 5 most), totaling 25 points for the whole
project
1. Eye appeal
2. Creativity

3. Collaboration
4. Use of technology
5. Resources

Differentiated Instructional Support

Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or accelerated
students:
Since this is a group project, I will pair students up accordingly to help each other.
Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be struggling with the
material:

Extension
http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohios-Learning-Standards/Science/ScienceStandards.pdf.aspx
On page 288 of this form, students will find details of Diversity of life heading. This will help them
understand more information about habitat and ecology.

Homework Options and Home Connections

Students will have to finish their presentations by the end of day 4. They have the option to find plants near
their homes and work on their project independently.

Interdisciplinary Connections
This could be integrated in a STEM class that covers application use and creation.
This could be integrated in a geology or earth science class and could talk about life in certain parts of the
world.

Materials and Resources:

For teachers

Mimio, internet, plant ID app, plant ID book, powerpoint

For students

iPad, smartboard, internet access

Key Vocabulary
Photosynthesis, respiration, leaf, petiole, flower, sepal, stamen, pistil, ovary, pollination, bark, tree, shrub,
bush, angiosperm,
Additional Notes
This is meant to be a very active lesson where students to a lot of project- based learning. This fulfills the
diversity of life curriculum listed in biology standards.