Home

Requirements December 1977 until August 1982

1. Make five 2-hour field trips to observe wild plant life. Keep a record, based on field notes, of kinds of flowers found. Show date, and kind of place. Record other information such as seeds, seed pods, leaf arrangements, and insect attraction. Pictures or drawings may be part of the record.

2. Name from living specimens at least 50 plants.

3. Name in three specimens all parts of a perfect and complete flower.

4. Identify specimens of 10 families of flowering plants (other than trees). Label specimens of 10 such families. (May be counted as part of No. 8b)

5. Tell what plants are rare where you live. Tell what is being done or should be done to protect them.

6. Explain how plants use light, heat, water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Describe how they make their own food.

7. Submit or identify in the field one specimen each of fungi, algae, lichens, and mosses. Where this cannot be done, you may substitute five different kinds of ferns or desert plants.

8. Do ONE of the following:

(a) Make a seed collection of at least 20 different kinds of seeds you gathered. Label each king. Germinate five kinds. Tell the different kinds of seeds. Describe how they are scattered.

(b) Submit specimens of 30 species of flowering plants. Include leaf, stem, flower, and root (if not of rare plant). Mount neatly. Label with both common and scientific name. Give date, place found and kind of locality.

(c) Make a study of plant life in an area of 15 square feet for 2 months. Keep record of species found, kind of place, insect attraction and seeds.

(d) Raise a wild flower or fern garden that has five different species or plants. Give: (1) Common and scientific names of each. (2) Proper way to transplant and care for.

*Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, some plants and animals are or may be protected by federal law. The same ones and/or others may be protected by state law. Before doing any collecting, be sure that you know which plants or animals may be on both lists and be sure that you do not collect protected species.

Requirements August 1982 until September 1991

1. Take four field trips, in at least two different growing seasons of the year, to one or more of the following natural areas; deciduous forest, evergreen forest, grassland, sage brush, desert, tundra.

2. List by common name the kinds of plants found in one of these areas under the following groups: trees, shrubs, flowering plants, grasses and grasslike plants, vines, epiphyses, ferns, mosses, algae, fungi, lichens.

3. Do the following:

(a) Determine which species of plants in the area studied are the largest and the most abundant and the amount of shade they cast on other plants.
(b) Record any changes in the types of plants seen when you approach a lake, river, stream or pond; when you go up the side of a mountain; when you cross a grazed, cutover, or burned area; when you get near a road or railroad.
(c) Tell how diseases, insect damage or damage by other animals affect certain plants in an area.

4. Collect, press properly, identify and label correctly 35 kinds of flowering plants by family, genus, and common name.

5. List by common name at least 10 weeds and 10 cultivated plants in the vicinity of your home.

6. List representative areas of preserved land, such as county forest preserves, state and national forests, or parks near your town or in your state.

7. Explain how plants manufacture carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and how they obtain energy from these foods to do their work.

8. Tell what plants are rare where you live, and what is being done or should be done to protect them.

9. Do ONE of the following experiments, a, b, c, or d:

(a) (1) Soak and plant several bean seeds in a pot of soil. Water them and watch them grow for 4 weeks.

(2) At the end of each week, record the stage of growth and make labeled drawing of each stage.

(b) (1) Grow three cuttings of coleus, geranium, or other suitable garden or house plants in three separate pots of soil. Count the number of leaves of each plant.

(2) Water the plants daily or every other day for 3 months as follows:

Pot A: distilled water. Pot B: tap water. Pot C: water with dissolved commercial fertilizer.

(3) At the end of the 2-month period, compare the plants in all three pots by measuring and recording the height of each plant and counting and recording the number of leaves.

(4) Explain the difference in growth of the plants in each pot.

(c) (1) Plant a number of bean seeds or grass seeds in two separate pots of soil. Water the plants daily or every other day throughout the experiment.

(2) When the seeds have germinated, place one pot at a south- or west- facing window. Place the other pot outdoors.

(3) Note the differences in the growth of the two pots for 4 weeks. Record what you see.

(4) Explain why the plants grew the way they did.

(d) (1) Plant several soaked bean seeds in two separate pots of soil. Water the plants daily or every other day throughout the experiment.

(2) After the seedlings are 10 centimeters high, place one pot in a light part of the house or outdoors. Place the other pot in a place where it receives no light.

(3) After 2 weeks, observe and record the following differences: color of the leaves, height of the plants, and thickness of stem.

(4) Explain what causes the difference.