Teacher’s Guide Information
Helpful Hints
An early version of teacher guide is provided below. For an updated version of this guide in French or English go to: www.naturewatch.ca/english/plantwatch/curriculum_materials_request.html.
The following original Teacher’s Guide is in PDF format and can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have the reader, you can download it free from the Internet by visiting www.adobe.com.
The Teacher’s Guide is split into eleven sections. This allows teachers to print out desired sections, instead of the entire guide (104 pages). To see a list of the eleven PDF files scroll down to PDF List or Download Teacher’s Guide from the menu on the right.
To return to the Table of Contents from a PDF, click “Back” button on your browser.
Before printing any section, you must deselect (turn off) “shrink to fit” or “fit to page” under print options.
Although not every item on the Table of Contents is directly linked to a PDF, all sections of the Teacher’s Guide are available on the Plantwatch web site. Please click on the broader category to find the section you are looking for. For example, if you wish to view Science Activity 5, click on Science Concept 2: Trees and Forests. Science Activity 5 is included in this section.
Table of Contents
| 1. Introduction | 1-1 |
| 2. Key Activites | 2-1 |
| Activites 1-3 | 2-2 |
| Activity 1: Signs of Spring | 2-2 |
| Activity 2: Predicting Seasonal Occurrences | 2-4 |
| Activity 3: Locating and Tagging the Plants | 2-6 |
| Activites 4-6 | 4-6 |
| Activity 4: Reporting to the Class | 2-2 |
| Activity 5: Reporting your Data | 2-4 |
| Activity 6: Looking Back | 2-6 |
| 3. Plantwatch Connections and Activity Suggestions | 3-1 |
| A) Science | 3-2 |
| Concept 1: Plants | 3-2 |
| Activity 1: Plants and Ecology: All My Relations | 3-5 |
| Activity 2: Weather | 3-7 |
| Activity 3: Reading About Climate Change | 3-9 |
| Concept 2: Trees and Forests | 3-15 |
| Activity 4: Forests: Discussion and Investigation | 3-17 |
| Activity 5: Developing a Phenology Calendar | 3-19 |
| B) Mathematics | 3-26 |
| Activity 1: Growing Degree Summation | 3-27 |
| Activity 2: Calculating Averages | 3-29 |
| Activity 3: Graphing and Mapping | 3-31 |
| Activity 4: Latitude and Longitude: How to Calculate Your Global Address | 3-35 |
| C) Social Studies | 3-42 |
| Activity 1: Geography and People | 3-43 |
| Activity 2: People in History | 3-44 |
| Activity 3: Kids Can Make a Difference | 3-45 |
| D) Language Arts | 3-46 |
| Activity 1: Descriptions | 3-47 |
| Activity 2: Celebrating Spring | 3-49 |
| Activity 3: Plantwatch Crossword Puzzle | 3-50 |
| Appendices | |
| Appendix 1: Glossary | 4-2 |
| Appendix 2: Map Sources for Canada | 4-6 |
| Appendix 3: Pan-Canadian Curriculum Connections | 4-7 |
| A) Sciences K-12 | 4-7 |
| B) Mathematics K-12 | 4-11 |
| C) Language Arts K-12 | 4-12 |
| Appendix 4: Alberta Curriculum Connections | 4-14 |
| A) Elementary Grades | 4-14 |
| a) Sciences Grades 1-6 | 4-14 |
| b) Social Studies Grades 4, 5 | 4-14 |
| c) Arts Grades 1-6 | 4-14 |
| B) Grades 7-9: Science | 4-15 |
| C) Charts of curriculum fits for grades 3-12 | 4-18 |
| Appendix 5: Saskatchewan Curriculum Connections | 4-20 |
| A) Plantwatch and the Saskatchewan Science Curriculum, by Kay Wilson | 4-20 |
| B) Common Essential Learnings | 4-22 |
| Appendix 6: Horticultural Appendix | 4-23 |
| A) Establishing a Plantwatch Garden | 4-23 |
| B) How to Grow the Plantwatch Species | 4-24 |
| C) Ethical Guidelines for Collecting Native Plant Material | 4-28 |
| D) Resources: Print Materials and Organizations | 4-29 |
| Forms | |
| Data Form | 2-13 |
| Observation Sheet | 3-48 |
PDF List
| 1-Intro.pdf | -Introduction to Plantwatch | 1-1 to 1-4 |
| 2-Key Activities 1-3.pdf | -Key Activities title page -Key Activities 1-3 |
2-1 to 2-8 |
| 3-Key Activities 4-6.pdf | -Key Activities 4-6 | 2-9 to 2-15 |
| 4-Plants.pdf | -Plantwatch Connections title page -Science title page -Science Concept 1 – Plants (including activities) |
3-1 to 3-14 |
| 5-Forest.pdf | -Science Concept 2 – Trees and Forests (including activities) | 3-15 to 3-25 |
| 6-Mathematics.pdf | -Mathematics title page -Mathematics Activities |
3-26 to 3-41 |
| 7-Social Studies.pdf | -Social Studies title page -Social Studies Activities |
3-42 to 3-45 |
| 8-Language Arts.pdf | -Language Arts title page -Language Arts Activities |
3-46 to 3-51 |
| 9-Appendix.pdf | -Appendices title page -All Appendices (1-6) |
4-1 to 4-29 |
| Data Form | -Plantwatch Data Form | 2-13 |
| Observation Sheet | -Plantwatch Observation Sheet | 3-48 |