Grades 3-6
26 activities – 122 pages

Plants are the basis for life on Earth. The Budding Botanist will help students develop an understanding of how plants are essential to the survival of humans and animals as well as gain an appreciation of the beauty of the plants around them.

This book provides hands-on observation and detective work that will have students learning by discovery. They will investigate how the structure and function of flowers, leaves, roots, and stems help plants live, grow, and reproduce. They will examine cone-bearing plants (gymnosperms) and flowering plants (anglosperms), observe photosynthesis and transpiration, sort and dissect seeds, explore germination, and model the structure of plant cells. Nature will come to life as some of the specimens for the activities are gathered literally from the students’ own back yards.

Along with content knowledge, The Budding Botanist develops processing skills, such as observing, comparing, measuring, collecting and recording data, graphing data, communicating results, and making models. Delving into the inner mysteries of plants will help student become more observant and appreciative of the plant world around them.