Major Plant Families

During this lab you will work on 8 major plant families. Since this is an accelerated May Term course our goal is not for you to be able to identify every plant you see. Instead we are aiming for you to be able to look at a few simple characteristics (flower morphology, stem shape, leaf pattern, etc.) and be able to have a good idea (i) if your plant falls into these 8 families and (ii) if it does, which one it fits into. At this point don't get concerned with being able to identify the species (or even the genus)! We are really just trying to cultivate our identification skills at the family level - please do not worry about species! As always you will hand your lab in via your own personal website. Check the homepage for the due date for the lab.

The lab activity

Roam around your immediate area...or go further afield for a hike! As you walk try to find representatives of each of the 8 major plant families below. You will not be graded on whether you are correct, only that you did it and have rationale as to why you thought a certain plant belonged in a certain family. Please make extensive use of the materials below (look all the way to the bottom of the webpage) so that you have the best knowledge you can get going into this exercise. You are required to take pictures of 8 plants. The preference is to find one that belongs in each family but it is also fine if you can't find a member to double up on some families. Make sure you have fun and really take a look - these are really common families folks! You may have to google some terms to understand the reference materials below.

What to hand in on your website

1. Clear photos of 8 different plants [16 pts]

2. Beside each photo you have a determination of which of the 8 families each of these plants belong to (one from each family is preferred, but you can double up on some families if you are having trouble finding representatives from all 8 families) [16 pts]

3. Beside each photo you have a detailed description of what characteristics you used in order to place the plant in the family that you did. The more you reference the materials below the better! [23 pts]

4. Metacognition - write a brief paragraph at the end of the lab detailing how this lab was for you, what you experienced, how your learning was taking place, some barriers to learning you encountered, etc. [5pts]

The 8 Plant Families - Characteristics

Mint - Lamiaceae; Mustard - Brassicaceae; Parsley - Apiaceae; Pea - Fabaceae; Lily - Liliaceae; Grass - Poaceae; Rose - Rosaceae; Aster - Asteraceae

Grass - Poaceae

Rose - Rosaceae

Aster - Asteraceae

Mint - Lamiaceae

Mustard - Brassicaceae

Parsley - Apiaceae

Pea - Fabaceae

Lily - Liliaceae

8 Major Plant Families - This link is a link to a pdf of detailed information regarding the 8 major plant families you will be becoming familiar with (listed below). Please click on this link to see more detailed drawing like the ones above as well as lists of plants in these families, etc. Below are the Wikipedia articles for each family (just there for reference...not required to look at them).

• Mint - Lamiaceae

• Mustard - Brassicaceae

• Parsley - Apiaceae

• Pea - Fabaceae

• Lily - Liliaceae

• Grass - Poaceae

• Rose - Rosaceae

• Aster - Asteraceae

Learning Plant Families through story - this resource is AMAZING! It is a way to think about the 8 different families in a way that introduces them as "guardians". A good bedtime read in any case.