Flowers Stink: Teacher Tipsheet

Dear Teacher: Flowers Stink delivers a fun-filled and informative experience for students and educators. We hope to excite your students as we explore the wonder of nature and power of poetry— with music, dance, songs, and a whole lot of laughter. Plus, we’ll pay special attention to some amazing plants and their exotic locales around the world.

There are three ways we offer information on preparing your students for this performance:

1. Read the student handout! The student handout includes important information that will help students understand and enjoy the performance. It includes a plot synopsis, an introduction to the characters, details about interesting locations and the unusual plants that thrive in these surroundings. Plus, there is information on the connection between nature and poetry and on three musical instruments the students will see and hear on stage.

To learn more about Flowers Stink, the Kennedy Center, and theater for children, go online at: artsedge.kennedy-center.org

2. Talk to your students! We advise teachers to inform their students on what to expect on their trip to the U.S. Botanic Garden. Explain that they will be seated in an outside amphitheater rather than a typical (inside) theater. Tell your students they will have the opportunity to visit the Conservatory and learn about other unusual plants from a variety of climates and environments.

For more information about the U.S. Botanic Garden, go online at: www.usbg.gov

3. Take a tip! For handy, ready-to-go information on plants including botanical concepts and vocabulary, flip to side 2 of this letter to help your students become budding botanists.

We hope you enjoy the show and your visit to the U.S. Botanic Garden!

#PlantsRock Flowers Stink provides an introduction to a diversity of plants and their habitats. The concepts from the play outlined below can be used for your pre-field trip lesson in order to enhance your students’ educational experience at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

BIOMES: Large areas with distinctive plants and animals that are adapted to their particular environments.

Examples are:

Hawaii This remote Pacific island chain has many biomes, including harsh, dry desert environments and lush wet forest environments. The ‘ōhi‘a lehua, Metrosideros polymorpha, grows in many of Hawaii’s biomes — it is a very small shrub on Molokai’s mountains, but is a tall canopy tree on the big island of Hawaii.

Rainforest A tall, dense, wet forest. At least two-thirds of the world’s plant species grow in rainforests. In tropical rainforests, the climate is hot and humid, and in all rainforests (there are temperate ones as well), water is abundant. The canopy is the highest layer of a forest, formed by the tops of trees.

Desert A barren region with very little rainfall and harsh living conditions for plant and animal life.

Approximately one-third of the Earth’s land surface is desert.

ADAPTATION: Plants and animals have special features to help them survive. Examples are:

Cactus Plants with thick, water-storing stems that allow them to grow in very dry environments such as deserts.

Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia Fast growing tree native to Southwest U.S. deserts that can live for thousands of years. Its dead leaves remain on the plant, reducing water loss by providing shade.

HOW PLANTS WORK: Photosynthesis A process by which plants, algae, and certain microorganisms transform light energy from the sun into the chemical energy of food. Photosynthesis directly and indirectly supplies the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Pollination and Dispersal Pollination has to occur for seeds to develop. Flowers use rewards like nectar to attract insect and other animal pollinators. Seeds and fruits can be dispersed by wind, water, and animals. The seeds (the result of pollination) from three different mustard plants are used to make the condiment mustard.

Diversity Plants grow in many sizes and shapes, ranging from tiny aquatic plants to gigantic trees. Coast redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens, are the tallest trees on earth. The tallest one is 379.7 feet tall—that’s taller than both the U.S. Capitol and the Statue of Liberty!