This is the very first garden lesson that I did partly because I really love air plants and how they adapt to their environment, but also because I was new and not sure how the garden was structured and I was afraid to step on someone’s toes with planting something in the wrong place! This lesson can be done anywhere (even inside on a day with foul weather). It is nice to have a few of these type of lessons too!
Objective
- Learn what plants need to survive. Specifically we learn what these plants don’t need (soil).
- Learn about how plants adapt to their environment.
- Learn the difference between Symbiotic and Parasitic relationships.
What you need
- A few different air plants to look at (also you could print out some photos of air plants, but seeing things in person is fun and you can buy air plants online for a reasonable amount. Also note, I see them from time to time at for sale at Trader Joes for under $5 each.
- Free printable handout for the kids
Air Plant Lesson or What to teach the kids about Epiphytes
Start off by asking what plants need to live and thrive (answer key: water, sun, soil, and nutrients). Explain that while many plants get their nutrients and water from the soil around them, air plants don’t have been adapted that they don’t need soil and they don’t use their roots to collect water. Their roots form to hang up on the trees. Let’s break apart the formal name for air plants, epiphyte.
| EPI = on or upon | Phyte = plant |
Air plants or epiphytes grow on another plant and depend on that host plant for support, but not food. They live in the rain forest and have adapted to that moist and dense environment. The class that I taught had been studying the layers of a tropical rain forest. I used a kid as a tree and showed how the air plant would hang onto the side of its branches (in a hoody or resting on their shoulder). The kids were able to pass around the plants and I had them sketch the plants.
Different types of Epiphytes
- ferns
- bromeliads
- air plants
- orchids
- lichens
- moss
Then we start talking about relationships in plants and animals. We start out first with symbiotic relationships. Some of the students knew of the beneficial relationship sharks have with remoras and also, rhinos and their birds. A true epiphyte has that relationship with its host tree, not at all harming it. Epiphytes increase the amount of moisture in the air, helping to keep the tropical rainforests humid.
The opposite is a
Symbiotic – close relationship between two different kinds of organisms, or living things where both benefit
Parasitic – close relationship where one organism benefits by taking nutrients at the other’s expense.
