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Botany Made Picture Perfect
Katherine Ann Recca Paulus
Dadeville Annex, Dadeville, Alabama
Subject: Science/Botany
Grade: 4-5 (Gifted)
"Unexpected for me was not the learning that took place,
but rather the drive the students displayed while participating
in this project."
Purpose and Description of Project
Eleven gifted students participated in this 22-week botany/photography
unit. Katherine Paulus' goal was to increase student awareness
of plants in their environment by using plant identification activities
as well as
picture-taking and
film
processing. Additional activities
included lectures, field trips, research, and independent study.
Each student was expected to combine individual research and
photography to produce a final research project-book, postcards, game, or
learning center.
Activities
The students spent one to three hours once a week on the project.
In class, they viewed films and filmstrips on plants and their
identifying characteristics. They discussed plant types; made
twig people; pressed plants; grew "water" plants such
as carrots; made prints with leaves, twigs, and potatoes; researched
such specific areas of botany as morphology; listened to a guest
speaker who discussed plants of Alabama; constructed and landscaped
a model park; and completed their individual research projects
on plant identification.
The photographic aspects of the unit required students to learn
camera
parts and terms as well as camera angles, composition,
and darkroom techniques. Field trips included a trip to a photo
lab to learn about film processing, a nature hike and a visit
to the Auburn University Arboretum for the purpose of taking pictures,
and a session at Auburn University's darkroom where they practiced
enlarging Paulus' own negatives and developed and printed their
own photos for their plant books or whatever else they had chosen
to produce.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
Films, filmstrips, plant identification charts, and tapes were
ordered through Auburn University's School of Education. Students
used inexpensive 35 mm cameras, 30 rolls of black-and-white film,
film processing for 11 of the rolls, photographic paper, and darkroom
supplies. Both Paulus and her students used reference books on
botany and photography.
Other resources were the Alabama Forestry Commission Park which
provided information and educational materials, the Auburn University
Art Department which allowed use of its darkroom and provided
advice on photographic equipment, and a local photo lab which
offered photographic supplies and advice.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Paulus thinks that her goals were met because the student research
products showed awareness of differing plant characteristics;
the students worked willingly, even before school and at home,
on their projects without Paulus' prompting; they displayed an
eagerness to take numerous pictures and to produce their final
projects; and they saved their money to buy the cameras they had
used to continue their photography on their own. According to
Paulus, "Students exalted in the opportunity to use a camera
with their names on it, to take roll after roll of film and to
explore the plant world through nature walks, research, and photography."
In Paulus' opinion, both the botany and photography aspects of
the project could be expanded as separate studies-in specialized
areas of botany for the former and in the use of filters, lenses,
and composition techniques for the latter. She suggests combining
photography with English, social studies, or math-as long as the
teacher is aware of the students' general abilities and experiences,
the extent of their knowledge of both photography and the subject
in question, and the time frame they would require to achieve
some type of success with the activity.