A plant study project by R. Anita, Trained Graduate Teacher and Project Coordinator at the Government High School in Mettupalayam has been chosen for NCERT’s National Awards for Innovative Practices and Experiments in Education for Schools and Teacher Education Institutions
Ms. Anita had submitted a project "A Study of The habitat of the plants through morphological analysis". The award carries a cash component of ₹10,000.
In her submission, Ms. Anita argued that even though textbooks are well planned and designed from the student’s point of view, a mere chalk-and-talk method to explain the structure of plants living in different habitats does not give good results. She found that collecting plants from different habitats, observing them and discussing their structures had better results in creating interest among students.
For instance, she found that explaining the difference between terrestrial plants and aquatic plants by drawing their diagrams on the board did not improve student performance as much as letting them observe the plants in their habitat and recording their observations.
The study was conducted for the students of class VI and VII at the Government School in Mettupalayam.
40-day period
As many as 35 students were engaged for a 40-day period in tasks that included data collection (collecting plants from different habitats), observation of the structures of plants, and a group discussion, where they analyse the roots, leaf texture and stems of aquatic and terrestrial plants.
Children from each group were assigned to collect two plants of the same kind from their locality as they listed during data collection. One plant from each kind is planted in the school campus. The other plant is dissected by the students and the views are recorded in an observation notebook.
Each day the growth of different kinds of plants planted in the school is observed and recorded by the group members. Whenever a plant dries off, its stem, root and leaves is noted and the reason for not surviving in the school habitat is discussed.
According to the study findings, which also hold educational implications, the students acquired a comprehensive knowledge in habitats of plant through morphological analysis. Terrestrial plants such as Hibiscus Rose, Jasmine, Grass, and Drumstick survived in the school garden. Students were also able to differentiate the stem, leaf and roots of terrestrial habitat plants with aquatic habitat plants. Participants also identified fresh water plants and marine water plants and were able to place the given plant in their appropriate habitat.
