• Class Session Assignments These are the greatest time commitment for the course
   
• The online videos take the place of traditional lectures. 
• For each class session in the schedule, each student is expected to view or listen to the assigned set of video presentations and read assigned sections of the two text books.
• At the start of each class session, students will hand in a one paragraph response to an assigned question for each video. These are worth 10% of the final grade.
  
 
• In-Class Sessions
• Each week, each student is expected to attend and participate in the interactive class session. This recitation  session will last about 50 minutes, and it is very important to arrive on-time since instructions will begin immediately.
• A variety of activities will take place in the sessions; most of these involve interaction with other students, with plants, and with the instructors.  Study guides and other handouts are available only if you attend the class.  
• It is very important that each week's video assignments and readings be finished  before attending the weekly in-class recitation session.


• Final Written Assignment (DUE Nov 24 or 25, 2009)
  

• The written assignment is graded using  an evaluation rubric.

  Writing assignments must be submitted electronically  (as an MS Word or WordPerfect e-mail attachment) to one of the instructor's e-mail addresses.  Do not submit paper ("hard") copies.

  The written assignment is due at the the student's in class session - either Tuesday Nov 24 or Wednesday  Nov 25, 2009.

• One short, high quality writing assignment is expected from each student. The purpose of the writing assignment is to help the student develop the process of learning about personal interactions with plants and to promote the passing along within families, of family knowledge of plants. Most students think that their family knows nothing, or very little about plants. However, this is never true. Even the most hardened city dwellers interact with plants in hundreds of ways each day, often without thinking about it.

  The written assignment will be based on a set of "interviews" (more than one) conducted with members of the student's family. The definition of family may sometimes need to be stretched, but ideally, interviews are conducted with older members of your actual family. Friends and neighbors are OK, but not really meeting the point of this assignment, which is personal growth and in-depth knowledge about one's own family. A discussion will be held during one of the in-class sessions describing what an interview is and is not. "Talking story" is a perfectly good interview format. Asking a lot of really weird questions in rude ways is not a good interview format.

  The goal of interviews is to learn something about family interactions with plants that was not already known by the student. (It is easy for some students to write a paper about something they already know about. These students will cheat themselves of an opportunity to learn.) Try to use the assignment as a way to learn something that can be passed along for the rest of your life. It is expected that copies of the written assignment will be distributed among family members as something to keep.

• Examples of topics that can be studied include:

• wild gathering of plants for ornaments, foods, etc.
• use of herbal products or plant parts for medicine or cosmetics
• growing home gardens
• carving, weaving or craft activities with plants
• history and plants in traditional family meals
• arrangement of property space and ornamental plants as comfortable environments
• and many other topics (ask the instructors if you are having a hard time getting an idea)

• Any questions can be asked as long as they are polite. Examples include:
• what are your favorite plants for ______?
• what are the most important plants in our family for ______?
• where do we get the plant materials to ______________?
• who taught you how to use plants to ___________?
• what are the names of the plants growing in ____________?
• and many other kinds of questions (ask the instructors if you are having a hard time thinking up questions for your interviews)

• Interview information should be organized into a typed paper that is "about" five (5) double-spaced (10-12 point font; one inch margins) pages long. It should include:
• a brief introduction of 1-2 paragraphs (family history or similar information works well here)
• a sentence that indicates the research question. (e.g., "I wanted to learn about plants that my Uncle Kimo uses for fishing.")
• a description of the methods used for learning information. One to two  paragraphs is usually long enough, but some may need to be longer. Describe the questions used, how the interviews were arranged, where they took place, for how long, the dates of each interview, who was present, and the general feel of the interviews.
• a set of results or basically what was learned. This may be long or short depending on what is learned. Include the Latin (scientific) and common (vernacular) names of plants.  For plants found in Hawai'i, a useful reference for cultivated plants is  A Tropical Garden Flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places, by George W. Staples and Derral R. Herbst, Bishop Museum Press, 2005; and for native and naturalized plants, Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, by Warren L. Wagner, Derral R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer, University of Hawai'i Press and Bishop Museum Press, 1990 and 1999 (revised edition).  For plants found elsewhere, Mabberley's Plant Book: a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses, by David J. Mabberley, Cambridge University Press, 2008) is an excellent resource.  
• It is essential to include the names of plants used by the family members interviewed. [e.g., "Grandma Anderson used kalo as the base for her potato salad, but Aunt Sue said that she now prefers to use potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) or sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas). We made both kinds of salad and I think I like Aunt Sue's recipe better, even though Grandma's is a more traditional style."]
• a clear discussion of the results must be included. This should be a reflection upon what was learned and how, or, if you plan to use the knowledge and pass it along.
• a reference section that includes any books or articles referenced in your introduction, methods, or discussion, and a list of the names and relationships to the interviewer of each person interviewed.   
• For information about University of Hawai'i Library resources, go to  http://www.hawaii.edu/sciref/botany105.html  
• a one paragraph biography of the student (you!) that includes the name, age, high school, residence location(s), and other information about personality, interests, etc.
• while face to face interviews are preferred, your family members may be off-island.  You may conduct the interview by telephone (most cell phone plans provide for long distance calls with no additional charge, and weekend calls typically are "free").

 

 

• Community Resources Exploration.
• Students should plan ahead. Lack of time during the week before the exercises are due is not an excuse for missing the assignment. Worksheets can and should be submitted early.
• A wide variety of community resources are available for learning more about ethnobotany and the roles of plants in our lives. Each students is expected to visit three community resources and complete a worksheet about each. The sites have been selected because of the range of materials that they have available and accessibility via public transportation. Students will need to keep in mind the following:
• Each location charges admission. Admission costs are the responsibility of the student. Often there are "free" days, but these need to be identified well in advance, and do not always happen in every term.
• Students must arrange their own transportation to each location. Groups of students are encouraged to ride together to save money and to enable a shared learning experience.
• Worksheets for each exercise are available below (see attachments). These should be printed out and used during the visit to the location. It is not a good idea to visit the resource, and then try to fill out the worksheet afterwards at home.
• The exercises are intended to help students connect information discussed in the classroom with that learned at home and found in community resources.

 

Community Resource 2:  Visiting a Community Resource 

• One of the required activities in Introductory Ethnobotany (it’s 5% of your total grade!) is to find a community-sponsored (non-commercial) event, activity, show, exhibition, or meal with an Asian, Pacific, or Hawaiian theme. Since these functions do not occur on a regular basis, you must plan ahead and find a potential event to attend. Your assignment is to discuss its relationship to ethnobotany by answering the applicable questions on the attached form. You must also provide proof (e.g., receipt of payment) of your attendance.  The cost of admission to the selected event is not included in the cost of this course.
• Information about potential activities may be found by perusing one or all of the following newspapers (which are listed alphabetically below), either hard copy or on the web (the URL of the “home page” is listed below, and you will have to search more to find appropriate events): The newspapers may also be found in the Hawaiian Collections on the fifth floor of Hamilton Library (hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; closed weekends and holidays), community college libraries, and state public libraries (http://www.librarieshawaii.org/locations/hours.htm)..

Honolulu Advertiser,daily - http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/section/entertainmentfront

Honolulu Star-Bulletin,daily - http://www.starbulletin.com/features/calendars/

Honolulu Weekly,weekly, on Wednesday; newsstands throughout the campus; free - http://honoluluweekly.com/entertainment/ 

Ka Wai Ola, newspaper of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (monthly, published during the first week)

MidWeek,weekly, on Wednesday - http://www.midweek.com/content/calendar/ongoing/ and http://www.midweek.com/content/section/calendar/

You may wish to consult with one of the Botany 105 instructors on the event to plan to attend to confirm it is appropriate for the course assignment.

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Examples of past events which would qualify as a community resource activity are:

Legends of Hawaiian Music VI, sponsored by the Kailua Elementary School PTSA (Parent-Teacher-Student Association), Saturday, May 2, 2009, from 5-9 p.m., Kailua Elementary School, 135 Kailua Road, Kailua (cost $8). It featured Hawaiian food and Hawaiian music. Some of the foods and songs were directly related to plants.

Nâ Pua Ali‘i, an exhibit on reflections on the legacy of Hawaiian royalty, by the Garden Clubof Honolulu special exhibit, April 17-19, 2009, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 South Beretania St., Honolulu (free admission). The exhibit included flower arranging, horticultural, photographic, and botanical jewelry entries, as well as two educational exhibits.

This worksheet is due on Oct 27 or Oct 28, 2009 depending on which in-class session the student is registered in.