Experiences

The parts of a plant

Irina Rotaru

Romania

Lower Secondary School

Biology

Teaching in class

Direct

I teach biology and I have noticed that some of the pupils have problems in understanding the parts of the plants (roots, stems, flowers, seeds etc). They see only what is visible and in front of their eyes. It is hard to believe and understand this new phenomenon. They have lived all their lives in the city and they have never observed and analyzed such things. I really wanted to raise their awareness about the existence of such items. So one day I decided to start from their everyday experience and invite them to experiment. We put wet cotton (the soil) into some small transparent boxes and planted some seeds of wheat. I asked the pupils to water the seeds regularly. Soon fragile shoots of plants made their way out into the air. You can’t imagine how happy my pupils were and how carefully they looked after the plants. Every new detail in the development of the plants was observed and analyzed. My pupils took everything seriously and when the wheat had grown big enough they planted it in the school garden. The lesson I got was very clear to me: as a teacher I should start from observation rooted in pupils’ everyday experience; to put it in another way from concrete things to abstract ones. A teacher should familiarize pupils with his subject matter by first presenting its observable aspect which can be experimented. In this way pupils understand the message and they get involved in the learning process. Repetition and practice reinforce the knowledge acquired in this way.