Wyner Lab

Spring Is On The Way, Time to Test Our New Curriculum!

Although there is still snow on the ground, some tree species are already developing the beginnings of buds!  With spring just around the corner, it is time to test drive The Unifying Life curriculum.   New York City public school teachers Helen Dole, Tracy Nuttycombe, and Kathy Elwood are testing the Unifying Life curriculum in their classrooms, and giving us feedback so we can improve our materials.  The teachers spent their Saturday brushing up on their flower identification and anatomy skills in one of the labs on the City College Campus.   Here you can see Tracy, Helen (left), and Kathy (center) dissecting different species of flowers under microscopes to learn about differences in anatomy between species.  Our botany consultant, Dr. Margaret Conover (right) visited from Washington D.C. to give lectures and instruction on plant reproduction and ecology.

To ensure we had flowers to dissect, we collected tree branches and “forced” them indoors; we kept the branches in a warm place in our, tricking them into blooming early.  These photos, taken through a microscope, show different types of flowers that will be blooming soon. The left flower is from a witch hazel plant, one of the earliest blooming plants in New York City – we picked in St. Nicholas Park on the way to work that morning. The center flower is from a pussy willow and contains only male flowers.  You can see the many stamens (male parts) of the plant, covered in pollen.   The flower on the right was dissected so that the teachers could identify the parts of the flower.  Many thanks to the teachers and staff who helped with today’s training and curriculum test!

Flower photos: Helen Dole