Botanically Inclined: Elementary Students’ Knowledge of
Plant Structures and Their Functions Captured in Drawings
Emilie Oesterlin
Master of Science in Teaching Thesis Defense
Thursday, June 30, 1:00 p.m.
Murray Hall Room 106 and via Zoom
Abstract
The experiential nature of outdoor learning as defined by Priest (1986) lends itself to constructivist epistemology. Garden-based learning is a common type of experiential learning. The educational opportunities provided by a school garden are numerous and many elementary schools in Maine are supporting this nature-based learning experience. According to a survey distributed by the Maine School Garden Network in 2019, there are approximately 129 school gardens in Maine. However, this survey does not include the impact that school gardens have on academic learning. Working in a garden can provide students with a hands-on learning experience for a variety of disciplines and in particular, the subject of plants. This research aimed to investigate student plant knowledge at a school with a garden and explore the impact that time spent in a garden has on their knowledge of plants.
Thirty-three fifth-grade students from Old Town Elementary School in Maine completed a plant activity that asked students to draw a plant, label the different structures, and explain the functions of those structures. Other questions on the activity sheet asked students about their experiences in a garden and learning about plants. The activity addressed a fourth-grade standard from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that focuses on identifying plant structures and how they function to support growth, survival and reproduction. Plant activity responses were analyzed using a coding checklist and rubric, and responses were assigned to different levels of understanding of plant structure and function.
The results of this study show that student conceptualizations of plants are typically flowers, 64% of students drew flowers when asked to draw a plant. On average, students that drew flowers received higher rubric scores for their understanding of plant reproduction compared to students that drew either trees or other plants. The larger variability in scores for the reproduction section of the rubric as compared to scores for the growth and survival section highlights the impact that students’ reproductive plant knowledge has on their overall understanding of plant structure and function. In terms of overall understanding of plants, most students fell into either the emerging (16) or expected (10) level of understanding. Students who reported spending time in a garden occasionally received the highest scores, on average, for overall understanding of plants.
This research affirms prior conclusions that in students’ concepts of plants are generally flowers. This result along with the finding that students tended to have less reproductive knowledge of plants could help inform teaching in the context of a garden. Additionally, while it does not appear that there is a direct relationship between the amount of time spent in a garden and student plant knowledge, at least some time in a garden seems beneficial and could be effective in teaching students about plants if targeted towards academic learning and addressing misconceptions. Further work on this topic could involve deeper research into how students are learning about plants and more specifically, how much of their learning relates to reproductive processes versus plant growth.
Thursday, June 30, 1:00 pm
Murray Hall Room 106 and via Zoom
https://maine.zoom.us/j/85785484720?pwd=UYvHGMhpB0wAWKoSp6TWxBFHrhjkMn.1
Password: 888740