Botany Segue: A Photo Essay

Abstract

In the context of a class exercise, students enrolled in the Introductory Ethnobotany course at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa were asked to make up names for 40 fresh plant specimens avoiding the use of any previously known common names. One of the aims of this exercise was to collect data regarding the visual reaction of these students. The students came up with names that were related to shape, color and other morphological features of the plant specimens. An effective and meaningful way to understand the results collected from this exercise is to picture what these students actually did in class. Since images are a powerful way to express information, the method used in this exercise is presented here as a photo essay in the hope that researchers and instructors from other parts of the world can conduct similar class exercises with their students.