Understanding Leaves

Objectives

• To observe different kinds of leaves and how they differ from each other
• To explore ways of classifying leaves
• To understand the different characteristics of leaves

Materials Required

• Variety of leaves
• Sheets of paper
• Crayons/Colour pencils
• Observation sheet

Process

1. Ask students to collect different types of leaves from surroundings or if there aren't many trees/plans in the school surroundings, collect a variety of leaves in advance and hand them over
2. Ask students to observe the different leaves and think of ways in which they can be classified
3. Probe students to think about what characteristics of the leaves they are looking at for classification and why. Ask them to share their observations
4. Explain the meaning of leaf shape, margin, tip and venation which are commonly used to classify leaves
5. Next, each student from one group takes 2-3 leaves, puts them under a sheet and creates an impression by colouring on the sheet with a crayon/colour pencil.
6. Ask students to then record the leaf structure, shape, margins, tips and venation based on the reference sheet provided by the facilitator
7. Questions to probe students' thinking:
   1. Why is it necessary to classify leaves?
   2. What do you think determines the different characteristics (size, shape, margin, etc.) of leaves?
   3. Can the leaf properties say anything about the plant/tree?