Experiences

Visit to the Palm House – We familiarize with requirements of various exotic plant species

Katarzyna Karpowicz

Poland

Lower Secondary School

Biology

Extracurricular activity

Direct

In order to extend the students' knowledge in the field of botany I take them every year to the Palm House in Lodz. The students have had an opportunity to see more than 4.5 thousand exotic plant species. We visit the pavilion sclerophyllous vegetation, which occurs mainly in the Mediterranean countries, pavilion with equatorial and sub-equatorial plants, and plants characteristic to deserts and semi-desert. Employee of the Palm House guides the group tour to familiarize students with origin and climatic requirements of selected plant species, as well as the history of the Palm House. These classes are very attractive to students, young people's interest arouse huge palm trees, citrus trees and beautiful orchids. During the tour I ask the students questions about general knowledge of botany, we repeat what carnivorous plants we know, what the process of transpiration is, and what the types of movements of plants are, because these are phenomena which we can directly observed at the palm house. The Visit to the Palm House is also a good opportunity to consolidate knowledge about the structure and activities of life of fish because there are multiple species of exotic fish. After visiting the palm house, students prepare a photo album and a brief description of photographed species, which helps to strengthen their knowledge.
The trip raised interest of big part of the students on presented subject. They showed a desire to deepen their knowledge of exotic plants by reading guides and watching nature films. They also suggested that I could prepare contest on the knowledge of exotic plants for them.