Describes a game in which elementary school students learn the importance of plants and some techniques of plant identification. (LS)

Describes a unit on local history developed through the classification of projectile points which may be gathered on a field trip or viewed at a local museum. Suggestions for starting the unit and illustrating the nomenclature of projectile points are provided. (JM)

Seven steps are given for identifying a rock or a mineral. (SA)

Describes the classification, number, and origin of wildflowers in North America. Discusses the use of a poster attached to the journal that includes activities to help students develop an awareness and appreciation of the native flora of North America. Additional activities are referred to in a list of 20 additional resources. (MDH)

Collections and classification activities are the topic of this article. Ways to structure an outdoor collecting venture are discussed. Once the materials have been collected, there are suggestions for introducing young children to the task of classifying their rocks, leaves, shells, and other collected items. (MA)

Gives guidelines for creating activities to teach classification skills using such holiday materials as nuts, pine cones, evergreen branches, hard candy, and package stickers. Provides ideas to share with parents in developing skills at home, and precautions in selecting objects. Encourages emphasis on similarities as well as differences when…

Presents ideas for collecting objects on the school grounds or in the surrounding neighborhood. Objects include feathers/fur, leaves, galls, seeds, shells, spiderwebs, and litter. Also presents procedures for making impressions of bark, leaves, fossils, flora, and shadows. All activities can be adopted for students in kindergarten through grade…

Nonsense botany, an easy, amusing way of learning the principle of nomenclature, involves using English words (in Latin constructions) to describe a make-believe plant; a drawing of the plant accompanies the pseudoscientific name. Suggests that students use this technique (developed by the nineteenth century British humorist Edward Lear) when…

Discusses shell classification exercises. Through keying students advanced from the "I know what a shell looks like" stage to become involved in the classification process: observing, labeling, making decisions about categories, and identifying marine animals. (Author/JN)

Described is a preschool science activity in which students use shell collections. This activity demonstrates how language development and reading readiness skills are interrelated with science. Prereading and reading activities are described involving the students in direct interaction with the shell collection. (DS)

Activities and experiments with leaves are given for use with elementary students. Classifying and measuring are ideas which are suggested for involving children in some in-depth projects with leaves. (SA)

Presents a series of lessons, developed to give children the opportunity to construct a classification system for animals and to analyze the classification. Procedural information and suggestions for preparation of materials are included. (Author/EB)

Offers an approach for teaching a unit on classification that combines various software programs with traditional science teaching methods. Provides procedural directives for the activities and explains the objectives of each exercise. (ML)

Describes a unit on seeds designed to introduce students to their scientific and nutritional uses. Unit activities are easily done, employ a variety of process skills, and can be used at various grade levels. Suggests field trips to gather seeds, seed sprouting, and making cookies out of various whole grains. (JM)

Described is a backyard activity that can be used to introduce children to the divisions of the plant and animal kingdoms in their local environment. Preparation, procedures and followup are discussed. Background information on taxonomy and two activity cards are provided. (CW)