Who likes plants? At Sunnyside’s Elementary, almost everyone. Which is why, when my passion for nature and my love towards my neighbourhood bonded to create the wonderful experience called Project Plantae, they were the first recipients that came to mind. This was a 2-day workshop on plants in Palavakkam, and how they make their way in the world, designed and conducted by me for the Elementary Cohort at Sunnyside.
We got off to a great start on Day 1, taking a noisy yet insightful Nature Walk around a few streets in the school’s vicinity, observing plants, big and small. One of the most curious things we discovered was the Destroying Angel, one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. The elementary kids took great interest in this. Well, once we could draw their attention to it. On the walk, the kids learnt about different strategies plants use to ensure they get appropriate amounts of essential resources, e.g. water, sunlight, etc. I found great pleasure in the enthusiasm with which the kids searched for and pointed out plants, volunteered to answer questions, and the curiosity they portrayed when presented with new principles. It was also nice to see that the elementary kids remembered many of the plants we saw from the Wild Walk with Shruti Aunty. Once we got back to school, my friends and I aided the students in illustrating their observations of plants from the Nature walk. Drawing helped the students note the traits of the plants better. This section of the workshop was quite time consuming, and took almost half a day.
Day 1 was quite tiring, but the elementary kids were ever the optimists, eager to get started on Day 2. We started off by using our drawings to note down prominent traits of each plant, and I explained their functions. This activity helped the kids understand why those traits were present. Then, we watched some videos on seed dispersal and plant survival, which helped us understand why plants try to disperse seeds as far and wide as they can, and what genius tactics they use to do it. These videos further enhanced the elementary kids’ understanding of the functions of different traits in the plants they saw. Finally we ended the session with a reflection hour, where the elementary kids looked back on the past two days, and how their knowledge of plants had changed, how they found the session and what could be improved upon. I flushed with joy at the delightful comments the kids wrote in their worksheets.
On the whole, this workshop taught the Elementary Cohort that plants use different characteristics to get the maximum amount of resources, and ensure the survival of the species. This workshop brought out the often unknown resilience plants portray, thriving in the face of hostility. I hope that my session also changed the kids’ perception of plants, showed them that plants don’t need us, we need them. As Ian Malcolm famously commented in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.”
This workshop also taught me that it can be a little hard to rein in the enthusiasm of little kids, but if you can find a way to harness it and nurture it, you will find a beautiful result. After witnessing the passion this generation nurses for Nature, I hope our planet will be in better hands.
If you’re interested in the worksheets I mentioned, you could check them out below and use them to observe and document the plants in your neighbourhood.
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