Plants Field Study Curriculum Outline
MESD Outdoor School > For Teachers > Plants Field Study Curriculum Outline

See also: Outdoor School Curriculum
Field Study Curriculum Outline: Animals • Plants •  Soil • Water
​Field Study Tour: Animals • Plants • Soil • Water 
Next Generation Science Standards: Animals • Plants • Soil • Water

Theme: COMPLEXITY
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Course Concept: ​​ADAPTATION 
​Plants have characteristics that best suit them for a specific environment. Conditions of sunlight, soil, and moisture aid in determining the species growing in an area.
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Standards: 
  • The student will recognize the adaptations of plants to the environment. 
  • The student will describe the influence of soil, water, animals, sunlight, and disturbance on the types of plants growing in an area. 
  • The student will identify the heartwood, xylem, cambium, phloem, and outer bark of a tree and explain the function of each.
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Course Concept: ​DISPERSAL MECHANISM 
​Plants have different dispersal mechanisms that are essential for their distribution.
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Standards: 
  • The student will describe the process by which seeds and spores are dispersed OR dissect a flower and point out the role that each part plays in plant reproduction (site and season dependent).
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Course Concept: ​NUTRIENT CYCLE 
​Green plants have the role of producers, while fungi are decomposers that recycle nutrients and make them available for plant growth.​
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Standards: 
  • The student will describe nutrient cycling and energy flows in a forest habitat.
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Course Concept: ​CLASSIFICATION 
​Plants can be identified and classified by similarities and differences.​
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Standards: 
  • The student will use a key and reference materials to identify plant species.
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Theme: ECOSYSTEMS
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Course Concept: ​ENERGY FLOW 
​The sun’s energy is transferred to the animal world through photosynthesis.
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Standards: 
  • The student will describe the process of photosynthesis.
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Course Concept: ​SUCCESSION 
​Free from outside interference, plant communities and their environment slowly change over time.​
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Standards: 
  • The student will define succession, describe factors affecting succession and categorize an area based on successional stage.
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Course Concept: ​COMMUNITY 
​Plants and animals occupy specific areas and function through interrelated trophic systems.
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Standards: 
  • The student will explain the role that specific plants play in the natural processes of an area. 
  • The student will identify interdependence between microclimate, soil characteristics, and animal and plant species present in a given successional stage. 
  • The student will develop observations as to why certain plant communities exist on site.
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Theme: IMPORTANCE
Course Concept: ​HUMAN INFLUENCE 
​Individual and collective human behavior has profound and direct consequences for plant communities.
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Standards: 
  • The student will discuss how human behavior affects forests and other plant communities.
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Course Concept: ​NATURAL RESOURCES 
​Plants and plant communities are of high value to humans economically and otherwise. Oregon’s economy has historically relied upon harvest of plants.​
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Standards: 
  • The student will list ways humans have historically and presently currently utilize plants and plant communities.
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Course Concept: ​PRODUCERS 
​Plants have unique and important ecological roles which affect all living organisms and the environment: food and oxygen production; soil formation and stabilization; climatic regulation; water purification.​
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Standards: 
  • The student will describe the role plants play as producers in nutrient cycling and energy flow. 
  • ​The student will describe ways plants impact wildlife, soil and water quality in an environment.
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Course Concept: ​CAREERS 
​The study of plants offers a wide range of career opportunities.
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Standards: 
  • The student will complete tasks that botanists and forest ecologists perform.
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Plants Field Study Activities 
The following activities are typical of a day on Plants Field Study at Outdoor School. Actual activities will vary by site and season. 

Coniferous Trees: Students learn to identify and categorize coniferous trees and discuss their place in forest succession and in the local economy. 

Plant Adaptations: Students examine a variety of plants, their adaptations, and their niche in the forest community. 

Plant Identification Hike: Students examine a variety of plants and use field guides and other resources to identify and categorize plants and fungi. 

Dichotomous Key / Leaf Detectives: Students create a dichotomous key and use a key to identify plants. 

Primitive Plants: Students identify fungi, lichens, ferns and moss and examine their adaptations and role in the forest ecosystem. 

Flower parts: Students examine and dissect flowers and discuss the structure and function of flower parts. 

Tree Parts: Students act out the internal parts of a tree and the function of each (outer bark, xylem, phloem, cambium, heartwood). 

Succession and Disturbance: Students explore the process of forest succession, outline human and natural disturbances, and collect data to characterize a variety of sites as to their stage in succession. 

Seed and Spore Dispersal: Students collect and identify seeds and spores and describe their dispersal techniques. Dispersal is linked to forest succession. 

Tree Age: Students use a variety of techniques to determine tree age and estimate the age a forest stand. 

Tree Height / Board Foot Volume: Students use geometric triangulation and forestry tools to calculate the height of a tree and then calculate the volume of lumber contained in a tree. Students discuss human use of wood products and how activities such as paper recycling can reduce the amount of trees harvested. 

Forest Layers: Students examine and identify the various layers found in a forest ecosystem and discuss layers as a diversity of habitat for wildlife. 

Logging Tools: Students learn how to use crosscut saws and other historic logging tools and look for historical signs of the use of such tools at the site. 

Fire Ecology: Students identify signs of forest fire and discuss the impact of fire on a forest ecosystem. 

Plant associations: Students characterize forest plots in terms of plants that are usually found together and analyze reasons for particular plant associations. 

Ethnobotany: Students examine a variety of items made from plants and discuss the history of human use of plants in the Pacific Northwest. 

Photosynthesis: Students explore the process of photosynthesis and relate the process to activities they do on field study. 

Nurse Logs: Students examine decomposing logs and stumps and observe and analyze their role in a forest ecosystem.