Leaf Anatomy Under a Microscope

At Cogitania’s Saturday Botany workshop fourth graders and the instructor reviewed a list of the Botanical vocabulary covered since we began the Botany workshop series in 2016. The student’s understanding of these terms was impressive!

The main theme of this workshop was an in-depth exploration of leaf taxonomy, anatomy, and structure. We started with two short videos describing the types and parts of leaves and then discussed monocots and dicots which make up the large plant group, Angiosperms (flowering plants).

During the hands-on activity, the students chose 3 leaves with different shapes to study. They identified whether the leaf was a monocot or dicot and the leaf types and shapes. Using their hand lens and microscopes they viewed the leaf anatomy and drew detailed pictures of the leaves and labeled the parts of each leaf in their journals.

Instructor: Nathan Emerson