BSA Science Education News and Notes BSA Science Education News and Notes is a quarterly update about the BSA’s education efforts and the broader education scene. We invite you to submit news items or ideas for future features. Contact: Catrina Adams, Acting Director of Education, at CAdams@botany.org or Marshall Sundberg, PSB Editor, at psb@ botany.org. A plant evolution/phylogeny card sorting game developed by Phil Gibson and Josh Cooper was another popular activity used to teach very basic plant evolution concepts. Sorting plant cards by image, by a stylized representation of plants’ characteristics, and/or by a stylized molecular code, visitors could experience how scientists organize plants and construct phylogenies. Fairhope Graphics (http://www.fairhopegraphics. com), a neighboring booth offering a poster-sized watercolor depiction of the phylogenetic “History of Existing Life,” provided a serendipitous visual we referred to often.
SOCIETY INITIATIVES AND MEMBERS IN ACTION USA SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FESTIVAL BSA was well represented at the 2014 USA Science and Engineering festival in Washington D.C. in late April. The 3-day festival was enormous and extremely well attended. Several thousand people, including K-12 students and teachers, families, and adults, stopped by our booth to learn about plants, plant science careers, and PlantingScience. Our volunteers entertained and educated an almost constant stream of visitors, engaging them with a choice of several activities. A “Guess the Plant” scent-identification quiz was very popular. (Cinnamon and coffee were the most recognized plant scents, while rosemary stumped many!) Few visitors were aware of plants’ use of chemicals for defense against herbivores, and many were surprised to learn how cinnamon bark is harvested. Plastic fruits and vegetables were sorted hundreds of times by visitors of all ages. Although visitors often categorized tomatoes as fruits, bell peppers and corn were very rarely placed in the same group. Many visitors were shocked to learn how botanists define fruits.
Chris Martine’s “Plants are Cool, Too” video series was running on a screen for much of the event, as well as a video series of “flashcards” for identification of common plants of Manassas National Battlefield Park courtesy of Greg Perrier. We also gave some career advice and information to students interested in botany, including a parent of an undergraduate student considering abandoning pre-med for a career in plant biology, several high school students seeking college advice, and a number of elementary-aged students who were extremely enthusiastic about plants. The PlantingScience program intrigued many K-12
BSA members Phil Gibson, Greg Perrier, Owen Schwartz, and Linda Franklin sharing their love of plants with thousands of visitors at the USA Science and Engineering Festival. 88