2024 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 1_45-54
Several invasive plants exist in the surrounding environment. These were introduced as food plants, medicinal plants, horticultural plants, and ground cover. The authors performed a class activity with junior high school students, where they measured the coverage of wild plant vegetation using photographs and reflected on the naturalization of the horticulture plants introduced. It is difficult for students to measure the coverage of various plants monthly in a schoolyard. Therefore, over a period of one year, various wild plants within a quadrat were photographed, and using the photographs together with computer software, teaching materials were developed that made students aware of the changes in the wild plant coverage. In the software, each plant species was assigned a color, and students were instructed to apply the corresponding color to each plant in the photographs. The results of the questionnaire survey conducted after the class activity revealed the following. More than 80% of the students replied that they understood how to measure the plant coverage using the software and could see the percentage of coverage of each plant in the photographs. However, the remaining students could not comprehend how to count the outer parts of the small squares in the photographs. More than 90% of the students responded that they gained awareness of the changes in the coverage of various plants throughout the year. After measuring the coverage in photographs, the authors explained to the students about the naturalization of exotic horticulture plant species. More than 90% of the students considered the naturalization of exotic horticulture plant species as a starting point. However, the remaining students did not further contemplate on the naturalization of plant species around them. Further studies are needed in order to increase students' awareness of alien plants around them by having them measure both the wild plant coverage in the schoolyard by themselves and that of the plants in photographs.
