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Activity: Know your numbers – Your body as a linear scale for plant species identification and description, by Lena Struwe

In identification keys and species descriptions around the world, measurements are usually in the metric system, the universal system for scientific measurements. US students often do not have…

Activity: Toxic plants in the emergency room – fast and furious botanical role play, by Lena Struwe

Emergency Room (ER) toxic plant role play for Botany classes Developed by Dr. Lena Struwe (lena.struwe@rutgers.edu) This is the activity I presented at the Botany 2018 meeting as…

Video: “Incredible pollen storm” from single pine tree

There is a great little video from a local news station in New Jersey, USA, filmed by Jennifer Henderson when her husband hit the tree with his backhoe,…

Activity & Book: Shanleya’s Quest – A Botany Adventure for Kids Ages 9 to 99, by Thomas Elpel

This innovative book and its 52 playing cards with flowers and families on them comes with instructions for 5 different card games to enhance learning of major family…

Book: ‘Botany in a Day’, by Thomas Elpel

The new 6th edition of this well-known book by Thomas Elpel follows the APG system (a phylogenetic classification system now used worldwide) and provides easy to access information…

Activity: Fitting the Earth’s timeline onto your body, by Lena Struwe

Key concept: Understanding and remembering order of events and time line for Earth’s geological and biological history. This is the handout for an exercise I do in my…

Activity: Morphology Bingo, by Lena Struwe

Get your students to run around outside the classroom and dig through the weeds in the lawns to find examples of obtuse, spinose, calyx, capsule, stamen, trichome, and…

Article: Eat Your Weeds – Edible and Wild Plants in Education, by Lauren Frazee et al.

Weeds are everywhere and people like to taste new things, so why not combine the two?  Here is an article that explains how we did it at Rutgers…

Article: The Making of a Student-Driven Online Campus Flora, by Lena Struwe et al.

Key concept:  Engaging students in the discovering of biodiversity on a campus of a school or university can turn into a solid and valuable research project for years…

Handout: Coloring pages of historical herbals, by Rutgers Libraries

Want to travel back in botanical history with watercolor or coloring pens?  Here are some illustrious handouts for students in many subjects (medicine, gardening, pharmacology, botany, history…), as…

Activity and Article: Market Botany, by Chris Martine

College-level course module exploring the diversity of plant species available for sale at a local grocery store. Survey data are analyzed by calculating measures of species richness and…

Images: Botanical Morphology and Anatomy (Flickr Group)

Looking for good photos to use in class or to learn morphology and anatomy? Scroll through the thousands of photos that have been added to the Flickr group…

Video: Hunting for New Species in the Chihuahuan Desert (15:00), by Chris Martine

Key concepts: 1) New species are continuing to evolve right before our eyes, and 2) Scientists often work across international borders. What do you get when a team…

Video: Restoring Forests on Old Coal Mines (10:00), by Chris Martine

  Key concept: How one coal region community is inspiring recreational vehicle users to help restore forests on lands devastated by mining. Many off-roaders think conservationists are all…

Video: Carnivorous Pitcher Plants (13:16), by Chris Martine

Key concept: How pitcher plants lure, trap, and digest insect prey… with the help of millions of mystery microbes. Guest expert for this episode of “Plants are Cool,…

Video: Hawkmoth Pollination in the Desert (14:43), by Chris Martine

Key concept: Isolated populations of desert wildflowers are kept connected thanks to moths that might carry pollen as much as 18 miles per night. Dr. Krissa Skogen (Chicago…

Video: Skunk Cabbage is Smelly… and Important (8:37), by Chris Martine

Smelling like a dead animal (or a zombie) and having thermogenesis works out well for the plant known as skunk cabbage; and having this plant around works out…

Video: Fossilized Forests (14:59), by Chris Martine

Key concept: Most plant fossils are impressions, but the ones in  Clarkia, Idaho are actual leaves encased in rock for the last 15 millions years… and we might…

Video: Can a Fence Help Solve Hawaii’s Biodiversity Crisis? (7:22), by Chris Martine

Key concept: The first predator-proof management fence installed in the US is helping to prevent species extinction in Hawaii. Dr. Marian Chau and Kim Shay are the guest…

Video: The Last Real Forest in New York (7:04), by Chris Martine

  Key concept: The largest cities on the planet are home to millions of humans, but there is still plenty of nature to discover and appreciate in these…

Video: Extreme Weeds of Parking Lots (8:21), by Chris Martine

  Key concept: Plants that survive in parking lots might be considered “weeds,” but they are also really great examples of extremophiles – organisms that survive, thrive, and…

Manual: 50 most common families in temperate regions, by Lena Struwe

The manual Field identification of the 50 most common plant families in temperate regions by Lena Struwe is available for download below.  (color pdf with images, 60 pages,…

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