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Scavenger Hunt
Students act as investigators in this activity, using scavenger hunt clues to find the plant sources of a variety of products and to uncover information about native plants in their area.
Teacher guidelines:
Before you begin this activity, make copies of the scavenger hunt. Explain to your students that part of this activity can be conducted in a shopping mall or shopping center.
After the scavenger hunt is complete, share the results as a class and discuss the following questions:
- Were you surprised by the degree to which we rely on plants in the products that we use? What findings were the most surprising? Do people use any plant products that you think should not be used? Why or why not?
- Many people feel that the products we get from plants provide an important reason to conserve them. For example, many people argue that we should protect native plants because they can be useful to us as medicines or industrial oils. What do you think? What are other reasons to protect plants and other forms of biodiversity?
- If people knew more about where some commercial products came from or how they were acquired, do you think they would change their buying habits?
Scavenger Hunt
- Find a nursery that sells native plants. List the names of the plants and their regions of origin. Ask the salesperson if he or she knows how the plants were acquired or grown. (Collecting native plants from the wild is a major cause for their rarity.)
- Find three examples of cosmetic or body-care products that contain plant ingredients. Are any of these plants native to the United States?
- Find three over-the-counter medications, vitamins, or remedies that have ingredients derived from plants. Are any of these plants native to the United States?
- Find the names of three rare or endangered plants that are native to your area. (Hint: You might want to consult conservation groups, a local botanical garden or native plant society, or your state’s conservation department.)
- Select three trees in your neighborhood or on your
school grounds and use a field guide from the library to identify them.
Are these trees native to your area?