The secret names of the plants

Kindergarten of Avlonari, Evia

Open in-person activity

margsam86@gmail.com

English

Avlonari, GRC

This activity promotes the use of Technology so as to learn the natural surroundings of an institution. More specifically, it encourages students’ reconnection with nature, using iNaturalist (AI tool). The target-group is 6-year-old pupils, who will investigate their schoolyard and improve their knowledge about plants and enhance their experiences using devices and AI tools. Moreover, coding will provide an amusing aspect. At the preparation stage teacher will search for images related to school plants and create flashcards. Furthermore, he/she will find symbols (based on students’ proposals) to code the alphabet, as it is described in the next paragraph. It is also, important to create a digital game, so as to evaluate students’ new knowledge. On the other hand, students should have prior experience to use devices and try iNaturalist app. To be more exact, in the first session little learners will detect their schoolyard’s plants. They will form groups of 3-4 members and use the app of iNaturalist to recognize their names. Afterwards, they will collaborate to prepare a presentation related to the plants’ characteristics. In a plenary meeting they will present their results. The second session will focus on the investigation of plants at home. Students will expose their photos and compare them to find similarities and differences (iNaturalist can be used as support). In the third session students will try to code the alphabet using symbols. They will propose items to represent letters and they will create a joint table with all the elements (letters and symbols). Finally, at the fourth session they will work in teams and prepare a coding challenge. They will use the previous activity’s table to code the name of a plant, having as a guide the relevant flashcards. Each team will indicate the group that will try to decode the secret name of the school plant and spot its place in the yard. To conclude, students will use Learning Apps as an assessment tool. During this last step, they have to match the plants with their names. A Google Slide presentation will gather all the outcomes (photos, videos, games etc.) and enrich students’ portfolio.

https://blogs.sch.gr/nipavlon/