Botany

Lifelab at UCSC

LifeLab describes how a school can turn a patch of its open space into a living garden for investigating not only botany but also interaction of plants in different kinds of soils. Especially for students who may not have a backyard to grow things this use of school grounds is a wonderful way to level the playing field.

The Great Plant Escape

The Great Plant Escape, appropriate for very young children, is similar to LifeLab's content. Presented as mysteries, a half-dozen experiments, like "Is it dust, dirt, dandruff or a seed?", are illustrated. Its audience, too, are urban schoolchildren.

Botanical Art & Artists

The images and drawings make Botany interesting to a wide range of students.

This site provides in-depth resources and compendium of botanical art past and present for anyone interested in botanical art. It will be of special interest to budding botanical artists.

Leafsnap

Leafsnap, developed by researchers from Columbia,Maryland and the Smithsonian, students can compare sample leaves in New York City and Washington with those in this database.

Agriculture Department

The Agriculture Department engages students with unit titles, such as "No Mousing Around", "Something's Fishy",and "Plants That Like Heavy Metal". The full food chain is explained.

The National Gardening Association

Garden, home of the National Garden Association, contains K-12 curricula and information on topics such as grasses, fungi and butterfly gardens.

Xray at University of Michigan

At Xray radiographic displays of flowers and plants reveal a perspective and contents not found in most charts.

Fast Plants

Fast Plants was developed as research tool at the University of Wisconsin and has been used by K-12 teachers around the world for nearly 30 years as an educational model. They have selected seeds and growing methods that can show the complete life cycle of a plant in just a few weeks. Check out their extensive Digital Library.

Invasive Plants

The impact of invasive plant species illustrates the adaptation of non-native vegetation in different ecological environments. They illustrate diffusion of species.

What Tree Is That?

The Arbor Day Foundation provides this unique resource that allows you to identify a tree simply by the kinds of leaves it produces. Grab a leaf and try it.