Elementary Department Program Details
Program Details of the "Experiential Plant Learning Program Using the Five Senses (Elementary Department)"
Overview
| Date | January 31, 2013 |
| Location | Tsuchiura Special Needs Education School |
| Target Group | Students in the Elementary Department at Tsuchiura Special Needs Education School |
| Objective | Let's enjoy plants using all five senses! Experience plants through smelling, tasting, seeing, touching, and listening. Let's ask lots of questions and learn from the teachers at the Botanical Garden. Let's learn about many plants, including those used in everyday life. |
Please see the Junior High Departments page
Results of the Post-Program Teacher Survey
We will share the results of the post-program teacher survey (3 responses).
Q1: Were you able to experience plants using your sense of smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing?
| Yes | 3 |
| Somewhat | 0 |
| No | 0 |
Q2: Were you able to learn that there are various plants and a variety of ways to use them?
| Yes | 2 |
| Somewhat | 1 |
| No | 0 |
Please tell us which plants the children enjoyed:
- Touch: (Cactus, thin long leaves, etc.)
- Smell: (Lemon verbena, vanilla, mint, and other pleasantly scented plants.)
- Banana: Large leaves and flowers (children enjoyed touching such big leaves and flowers.)
- Lemon verbena, rose geranium, banana, vanilla, cactus, soft grasses, and nandina maracas (maracas made from nandina plants).
- Rose geranium and vanilla: Many children liked them so much that they smelled them repeatedly.
- Fluffy round cactus: The soft texture was very popular.
- Banana leaves: Children were very curious about the large leaves, trying to sit on them and attempting to lift them for the first time.
Please tell us which plants were most effective for learning and the reasons why:
- Rather than any specific plant, the wide variety of plants provided made the learning especially effective.
In the touch corner, for example, students could compare hard, soft, smooth, and rough textures all at once. - It was nice to be able to actually touch the plants, which they rarely have the chance to do, and to enjoy a variety of sensations.
- Opportunities to freely touch, feel, and enjoy plants like this are very rare, making the experience very fresh for the students. Normally, touching is not allowed during observation, so they were able to fully enjoy themselves, and every child had fun.
Plants that did not attract much interest from the children, and possible reasons:
- Perhaps plants with a stronger scent would have been more engaging, as it might have been difficult for the children to notice differences in more subtle aromas.
Please share any positive points, areas for improvement, or requests regarding this program:
- Students were able to touch plants with various textures and smell them, making the content easy to understand even for first graders and enjoyable for everyone. Being able to interact with so many plants that they would not normally encounter was truly a valuable experience. Thank you very much.
- It would have been nice to include photos of bananas when they are actually growing on the plant, along with the banana leaves.
- Although we have already conducted lessons that include observing, planting, and growing plants, it was excellent that the students this time could directly touch and smell the plants, learning through their senses. It was also a learning experience for us. I think it also broadened their horizons, showing them that such flowers and plants exist. It was an hour in which students could feel very close to plants. Thank you very much.