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Hands-On Classroom Kit |
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Healing Plants |
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Overview In
this activity, students discover the importance of plants in home
remedies and in common manufactured medicines. Background People
all over the world use medicinal plants for everyday cures.
In some parts of the world, plants are the primary resource for
healers. Each culture uses
different medicinal plants, and each has its own distinct way of using
the plants to treat illness. Chinese
traditional medicine includes the use of herbs and foods to treat
diseases by restoring order and harmony to the body.
In the United States, many people use plants in home remedies. For example, some people brew mint tea for a stomach ache,
break off an aloe leaf to relieve the pain of a burn, or drink lemon in
their tea to soothe a sore throat.
These home remedies are often based on our parents' or
grandparents' cultural traditions. Most
Americans rely on manufactured medicines which we buy in pharmacies. Your class may be surprised to learn that medicinal plants
are the basis for some of our most important manufactured medicines.
In some cases, the plant is processed and incorporated into the
medicine (as is the case with herbal coughdrops and Vicks Vap-o-Rub,
etc.). In other cases, the
chemicals in the medicinal plant are analyzed and then synthesized in
the lab (as is the case with the salicin found in the bark of the willow
tree which is the active ingredient in aspirin). Objectives *
learners will use listening and writing skills to interview
adults *
learners will brainstorm medicinal uses of plants in their own
lives *
learners will discover their families' cultural connection to
plants as medicine *
learners will read and interpret pharmaceutical packages to
discover that plants are used in manufactured medicines Materials
Needed Provided in Kit: pharmaceutical packages Medicinal Plant Worksheet Medicinal Plant List Provided by Teacher: blackboard writing materials for students Suggested
Lesson Time 1
hour. The lesson begins
with a homework project which should be assigned on the day before the
lesson is taught. Strategies Before You Begin: 1. Make half as many copies
of the Medicinal Plants Worksheet and Medicinal Plant List as there are
students in your class (your class will work in pairs). Starting Out: 1.
On the day before the lesson is planned, give students the
following assignment:
Ask your parents or grandparents about the ways they use (or have
used) plants as medicine. Use
a tape recorder or pencil and paper to record their replies.
Some questions you might ask include:
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did you ever use plants (herbs, vegetables or tree parts) as
medicine when you were a child? which
plants did you use? what
did you use them for? did they help you feel better?
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Do you use plants as medicine now?
which plants do you use? how
do you use them? do they
help you feel better?
*
Do the plants you use as medicine come from your family's
traditions? from your
grandparents' traditions? which country's traditions do they come from?
CAUTION YOUR STUDENTS that, though plants can be medicine, they
can also be poisonous. They
should NEVER eat plants without the permission of an adult.
They should NEVER decide how to medicate themselves if they feel
sick. Continuing the Lesson: 1.
On the day of the lesson, ask students for their ideas about what
medicine is. Help
them to understand that medicine is something that helps cure illness or
relieve symptoms either on the inside or the outside of the body. 2.
Ask students where medicine comes from.
Accept answers such as the drugstore, the doctor, etc.
Ask if anyone heard about medicine that comes from plants?
3.
Ask a few volunteers to read aloud (or play) the responses they
got from their parents or grandparents.
Ask the class if anyone can add to the volunteers' discoveries.
As the information is shared, make a list on the board of the
plants and their uses. Ask
students if they themselves have ever used plants as medicine.
Add their answers to the list. 4.
Ask your class if they think any of the medicines they get from
the doctor or the drugstore contain plants.
Take all answers. Then
explain that many medicines found in drugstores are made in
laboratories, but are based on plants.
For example, aspirin was originally made from the twigs of willow
trees. Other drugstore
medicines, like some cough drops, really contain processed plants (mint,
cherry extract, etc.) 5.
Break the class into pairs and give each pair one pharmaceutical
package, a copy of the Medicine Plant Worksheet and a copy of the
Medicinal Plant List.
Ask students to:
a.
Examine their package and show, by hand count, how many students
have used each of the different kinds of products themselves: hand
lotion, moisturizing stick, lotion for bug bites, baby powder, cough
drops, chest rub.
b.
Find the list of ingredients on their packages.
Have them compare their list of ingredients to the list of plants
on the Medicinal Plant List. Do
any of the ingredients match the plant names provided on the Medicinal
Plant List? Have students
record the names of the plants used to make their product on their
Medicinal Plant Worksheets.
If necessary, demonstrate the process of finding the list of
ingredients and comparing it to the Medicinal Plant List.
Help your students to understand how to find a list of
ingredients, a description of product use, etc.
c.
Find a description of how the medicine in their package should be
used. Should the medicine
be eaten? rubbed on?
what symptoms does the medicine help cure?
In some cases (baby powder, for example), students may have to
make their best guesses about how the product should be used.
Have students record their answers on their worksheets.
6.
Ask for a volunteer from each team to tell the class what they
learned. Ask each volunteer:
a.
what is the name of one of your products?
b.
what is the product used for?
how is it used?
c.
what is the name of one plant used to make your product? Wrapping Up the Lesson: 1.
Return to the blackboard and review the list of plants that
students and their relatives use for medicine.
Add the names of plants that students found on their
pharmaceutical packages. 2.
Wrap up the class by asking:
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What kinds of problems can be treated with medicines made with
plants? (e.g., cough, poison ivy, etc.)
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Can you name a plant that can be used all by itself to treat an
illness? (e.g., aloe for burns, prune juice for constipation, etc.)
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How should a child decide whether or not to use a plant as
medicine? 3.
Remind students of the dangers of self-medication.
Reinforce the importance of keeping away from unknown plants. For
Older Students Older students may be interested in the practical aspects of preparing home remedies. If so, you may choose to enrich the lesson by allowing students to prepare a simple, harmless home remedy such as mint tea, prune juice or aloe leaf. CAUTION: Remind children again of the dangers of self medication, and explain that this classroom activity is okay because it is being conducted under the supervision of an adult. |