Experiences

Recognition of reproductive structures of angiosperms

Pilar Álvaro Pastor

Spain

Lower Secondary School

Biology

Teaching in class, Laboratory

Direct

The main difficulty in learning is the lack of attentions.
Students of 1st secondary school (12 years old) are often very restless and need varied activities in which they actively participates.
In my experience, what works well is the class work in groups. The groups I work with have the following characteristics:
Group of 3 or 4 students and it should be heterogeneouss.
Teacher formed groups. Students rotate from group to relate to the whole class.
Activity is performed entirely in one session.
Teacher acts as a consultant.
Practices should be resolvable using the textbook or supplemental material distributed by teacher.
For example, I make a practice of recognition of reproductive structures of angiosperms. The practice has the following structure:
Inntroduction
After studying the main vegetative structures of angiosperms, we are going to study reproductive structures (flowers, inflorescences, fruits and seeds), and analyze the main characteristics of four widespread botanical families: Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae and Brassicaceae, which allow easy recognition.

Objective
The main objective is to recognize the different parts of a flower, knowing how to identify the types of fruits and their parts, knowing a typical seed and recognize the fundamental characteristics of those botanical families.

Material
Needle with handle
Tweezers
Magnifying glass
Flowers, fruits, seeds and inflorescences of various taxa.

Students must study the specimens provided to them and then they can answer the teacher's questions. The teacher asks the groups randomly.
Working in groups promotes cooperation among students to achieve a common goal.
Participation and discussion
Encourages autonomy.
Students learn from each others.