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- 07-08-11
Ethnobotany Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Ethnobotany educational resource ideas and activities
High schoolers are introduce and discuss Ethnobotany and develop their own research writing. Pupils research plants that have already been identifyed as having medicinal or cultural/historical value around the world. They investigate different sources (i.e. books, journals, video, and internet) for constructing a presentable written and oral report.
Students describe a forest as a living community. They determine members interact, and in many cases, depend on each other for their basic survival needs. They investigate how dependent the Native Americans were on the forest community for survival and that even today we too are dependent on plants for survival.
Students examine the use, costs, and the need for plant gene banks. The rationale for gaining ownership over scientific information and the implications of the developing nations' reliance on biotechnology is explored in this lesson.
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this lesson from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article that might impact their opinions. The lesson would be a good addition to a language arts class, as it focuses on word choice in informational text. The approach could be used in a science or health class as well.
Students explore how Hawaiians shared their island resources long ago. They pretend to be a chief in Hawaii with the responsibility of finding food for their people.
Students investigate how natural dyes from plants was an expression of Native American cultures. They examine objects dyed from natural sources, conduct Internet research, and create their own dyes using various plant sources.
A multicultural science activity, young scholars read a brief biography of Ernest Just and create a talk show in which they will perform an experiment after Just's work. With this activity, students are taught to appreciate the contributions made by minorities and women in the field of science.
Students watch an episode of the "New Explorers" that follows ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin as he travels into the Amazonian rainforest in search of plants that are new to moderen medicine but well known to the indigenous people.
Students compare herbal and pharmaceutical remedies for common ailments.
Twelfth graders research various sources to obtain the information and critically analyze the relevance to specific modern medicines which were discovered by studying natural remedies used by ethnic groups for specific ailments.