Middle school students often have a rather generic concept of plants, failing to recognize the incredible diversity of plants. Unless students are widely traveled, it is unlikely their concept of plant diversity will expand without some intervention. Here are a few resources that can help you impart ideas of species diversity, biological classification, and adaptations, while developing your students’ sense of wonder and awe of nature’s diversity.

Epiphytes: Adaptations to an Aerial Habitat
A fact sheet, including photos, from the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. Nicely organized with subheadings to quickly find information of interest.

Plants in Motion
A QuickTime movie of a Venus flytrap in action.

Century Plant 2007: Longwood Gardens
An awesome series of still pictures illustrates a Century plant’s growth and flowering at a horticultural display garden in Pennsylvania. Conservators removed a glass panel from the greenhouse roof to accommodate the flower.

Plants Profile for Agave Americana (American Century Plant)
This fact sheet from the U. S. Department of Agriculture provides maps of the distribution of this supremely unique plant. There is a link to images as well.

The Joshua Tree Desert USA
Read about the unusual symbiotic relationship between this species and the moth that the tree depends on for pollination. No other organism is capable of pollinating the Joshua tree’s flowers.

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