Botany

Last June, during the final weeks of school, some local classrooms made field trips to a nearby zoo and horticultural center to see a particular flower. The students were puzzled: Why take a field trip to see a single flower? Needless to say, the kids were not chuffed. The teachers explained that they were to witness a rare event: the flowering of Amorphophallus titanium, which occurs once every 15 years, and lasts for only two days. The bloom stands about five feet tall, and is more commonly known as the “corpse flower.” Beyond that information, the teachers wouldn't say anything more.

The plants around us provide a perfect hands-on biologyclassroom for students of all ages.  Fromplanting that first bean in a paper cup to conducting more involved andcomplicated high-school biology experiments, studying plants can be aneffective, concrete, fun, and low-cost way for students to explore the livingworld. 

Autumn doesn’t officially start until next week, but thesigns that the season is imminent are all around us. The nights have becomenoticeably cooler, and the days shorter. Trees are beginning to change color,and will soon begin shedding their leaves. For many plants, the lifespan of their hardworking leaves has come to anend; they will soon color, shrivel, and finally die. In some parts of thecountry, many plants will remain dormant for the winter, and only graduallyre-animate in the spring, when they unfurl new leaves.