The Practical Classroom Use of Sponge Cucumbers and Balsam Pears as Teaching Materials : A New Perspective

Abstract

Sponge cucumbers have been used for a long time as a science teaching material. Also, balsam pears have been cultivated in many schools for different purposes, such as to create shade when grown outside windows (a use known in Japan as a "Green Curtain"). Those plants are, however, usually used only for the 4^<th> grade unit "Growth of Plants and Seasons" and the 5^<th> grade unit "Pollination and Bearing of Plants". Therefore a teaching material using the characteristic growth process of cucurbitaceaeous cirrus was developed in this study. The cirrus includes two opposite rotating coils starting in its center. A test model system of the cirrus was used in practical classes for two years to help students understand it. In addition, another class project using the contrasting seed dispersal of those two plants was devised and carried out. During practical classes the educational effects of those teaching materials were shown. They were found to be useful as an advanced form of study.