Plants Around the Building

Discover how the environment around a building affects the growth of plants.

Group Size: This activity is suitable for any size group.

Suggested Age: 10 and up

Time: Allow thirty to forty minutes for this activity.

Consider…
Site: Select a building with many plants around or near it.

Safety: No special considerations.

Materials/Prep:
For each team of three or four: 1 outline map of a building and the area around the building, 1 set of action cards.
For the group: 1 set of crayons, 1 large outline map, 1 sheet of Action Cards.

Focus question:
How does the environment around a building affect plant growth?

• Environmental Factors are the physical conditions (such as temperature, moisture, light, and wind), the presence of other plants and animals, and non-living objects that surround an organism.
• Plant growth and health are affected by environmental factors.

Summary:
Most plants close to buildings are planted there by humans. In many cases the humans and the building itself are environmental factors that influence the growth of plants in a positive or negative way. In this activity the kids investigate that relationship. Teams of three or four students are given an outline map and are asked to find as many examples as possible of situations described on the Action Cards. These include locating the tallest and shortest plants, areas with lots of plants, areas with weeds or moss, and places where plants have been damaged by humans or helped by humans.

This information is transferred to the large map. Then the discussion turns to what factors might be responsible for these observed differences. Various environmental factors are discussed and plants at different sites are compared.

Extension Activities:
1. Reinforce the concept of environmental factors. Encourage each team to select a factor such as temperature, moisture, or light. Ask the teams to work their way around the building and look for evidence of how the factors vary form place to place. Encourage the kids to determine why the factors vary. Challenge the participants to relate the results to the large outline map of plant growth in the area.
2. Have the participants hunt for evidence of differences in plant growth on the north, south, east, and west side of a building. Ask them to record those differences on an outline map with the directions clearly marked. Can the youngsters relate the differences to environmental factors caused by the building’s orientation? What about the effect of gardening or lack of it?
3. Challenge the group to suggest improvements for growing plants around the building. Obtain permission and make the improvements.