SECTION 5 - Impacts 6+, Science & Arts Seeing Plants,P1 AGE RANGE: 6+ Science & Arts SUBJECTS: OBJECTIVES • Understand “plant blindness” and the consequences of this condition in relation to food production and food insecurity. • Identify plant structures and describe their function. • Draw plant specimens like a botanical illustrator would for a botanist or scientist. DURATION ENDURING UNDERSTANDING • 60 minutes • To fall in love with plants. PREPARATION: The learners must have access to paper copies of the articles or computer access for them to do the required research People are more familiar with animals than they are with plants. This has been observed so often that this phenomenon is referred to as “plant blindness” in botany and science education literature. Plants exist in the background of our daily lives and mostly go unnoticed. This may not seem like an important issue. However, public indi昀昀erence towards plants has consequences. The less people know about plants, the more this a昀昀ects our botanical capacity. Botanical capacity refers to all factors contributing to, and the usefulness of, plant science education. Botanical capacity is necessary to enhance our understanding of the roles plants play in our lives. Think beyond native plants and butter昀氀ies for a moment. Think food security, climate change, biodiversity, biofuel production, and sustainability. Without the botanical capacity to address these issues, we won’t be able to manage them. The objective of this activity is to encourage an interest in plants through botanical illustration. Botanical illustrators have worked with botanists for centuries and have contributed signi昀椀cantly to our knowledge of plants. T RESOURCES: • The Carbon Almanac - Impacts: Food Production and Availability, P.116/ 598 • The Carbon Almanac - Impacts: Agricultural Pests and Diseases, P.118/ 596 • The Carbon Almanac - Impacts: Food Insecurity, P.119/ 067 • The Carbon Almanac - Impacts: Land and Soil Degradation, P.119/ 069 • Art Supplies • Plant specimens BACKGROUND INFORMATION: • Assessing botanical capacity to address grand challenges in the United States • Plant Awareness Disparity: A Case for Renaming Plant Blindness, Plants, People, Planet • Plant Awareness Disparity: Looking to the Past to Inform the Future. Plant Science Bulletin • Preventing Plant Blindness. The American Biology Teacher BOTANY AND BOTANICAL ART: • Parts of a plant. DK Find Out! • Guild of Natural Science Illustrators • Merian and Daughters (Getty Center Exhibitions) • What Is Botanical Art?, Royal Botanic Gardens • Botany and Art and Their Roles in Conservation, Smithsonian Learning Lab 31