Enriching Plant Science Education for the Next Generation of Researchers | CID & CASEE

Battleground Public Schools’ Center for Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Education (CASEE) is a leader in plant science and STEM education in the greater Portland area. The center has integrated several CID measurement tools into their curriculum to give students an in-depth look at the latest in modern plant research. Recently, Application Scientist Galen George visited the 80-acre outdoor learning lab to give the students a first-hand look at best practices and uses of their instruments in the field.

Following the interactive presentation, the students devised potential studies to perform with their new tools and shared their take on why understanding plants is so vital to our world today.

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“Understanding plants could help us reverse climate change and increase crop production, as well as making plants better suited to the modern world.”

“I think I would research how different growing techniques affect the area of different types of plants’ leaves. I would use the Leaf Area Meter and bring it out to my research area to record non-destructive data.”

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“When people understand plants and what they do for us, they will hopefully start caring about them more. If we care about them more, we will take care of them more, and then maybe the planet could get healthier.”

“If I could design my own research study, I would study which plants take in more CO2 and release less – (find out what impacts it and help or change if possible) – for this study the instrument would be CI-340.”

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“Understanding plants could help the world because it could show us what plants need to thrive and it might help make fuller crops without genetically modifying them.”

“If I could design my own research study, it would be to make a detailed list of every plant at CASEE…I would use the Portable Laser Leaf Area Meter to get basic measurements of the plants.”

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“Understanding plants could help us by learning how to grow plants better without using toxic stuff to help them grow.”

“I would use the Leaf Spectrometer to find out how different amounts of heat and water affect the various pigments.”

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“Understanding plants could help the world because knowing what they use and produce would allow us to make changes and accommodations that could help the plants and people solve issues that face the world.”

“I would study old growth forest compared to young forest and calculate the difference between the amount of CO2 absorbed in both using the Handheld Photosynthesis System.”

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“This could help farmers figure out problems with their corps or foresters figure out problems with trees and other native plants.”

“I would use SpectraVue to see how much leaves change depending on stuff like light, water and temperature.”

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“Understanding plants can help us value them and understand how we can use different plants to help the environment. Knowing just how important plants are with helping restore soil nutrients, take carbon dioxide out of the air, and help stop erosion can help us value and understand their importance. In addition, knowing what plants are best at helping with soil erosion, restoring nutrients and taking carbon dioxide out of the air. We can plant and help restore those plants in specific areas.”