Breaking the Cycle of Lack of Plant Awareness

Multiple studies have noted the prevalence and effects of a lack of plant awareness in teachers and other educators, both globally and in the South African context. A simple, yet effective mobile-based plant identification intervention was developed to mitigate the problem of a lack of plant awareness in teachers, and, consequently, in their students. The intervention was piloted on a group of biology teachers from Gauteng Province in South Africa. The intervention starts with a workshop on a lack of plant awareness and why this matters. Participants are then introduced to the mobile plant identification application called Pl@ntnet, which is used to lead teachers through a plant hunt in the school garden to consolidate the learning that has taken place. Using the Pl@ntnet application, plants can be identified in three simple steps. Teachers are shown how to easily identify plants and gain access to further information about the plants, potentially increasing their confidence when teaching about these plants and reducing anxiety about plant identification. Teachers reported increased positive perceptions toward the teaching of plant topics. Challenges included the availability of internet data, lack of biodiversity in school gardens, time constraints, and discipline problems with learners.