There are many benefits to having indoor house plants in a classroom. A very important justification is continually building the concept of responsibility to other living things (whether that is other humans, animals, plants, or the earth) within our students. Some teachers may wish to have plants in the classroom purely for the aesthetic reasons and wish to care for the plants on their own, however I feel that students should have a major role in the care, maintenance, and development of plants. The concept of consequences can be fostered in conjunction with responsibility in that the students can see the evidence of their work or their neglect. The results, however, are not as traumatic as when a neglected pet dies. In addition, you never know who may develop a life-long love for plants. A student’s potential green thumb may just need some nurturing to develop. Besides building responsibility and nurturing future plant enthusiasts you can utilize plants to help teach concepts in a wide variety of disciplines such as math, biology, chemistry, English, health, home economics, industrial arts, etc. The ideas are endless; it just takes a little creativity and the foresight to realize the vast potential plants have within a classroom setting.

There has been much research done on the benefits of indoor plants such as the simple aesthetics of their presence, the air quality improvements, and the enhanced quality of the working space which increases productivity by reducing stress. Businesses are utilizing the benefits of plants in office space indeed a number of companies have developed and become successful due to the demand for plants indoors. For example, a company named Green Design targets businesses and quotes the following benefits “Over the last 10 to 15 years a lot of research has shown that indoor plants not only beautify indoor spaces, they also make them a healthier and more productive place to live in. The results of Dr. B.C. Wolverton's research on air purifying benefits of indoor plants, sponsored by NASA and the Landscape Contractors of America, have been widely reported in both print and broadcast media. Wolverton has shown that plants such as the Bamboo Palm and Madonna Lillies can reduce the level of airborne toxins such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene….Virginia Lohr has conducted test which show that plants can improve the humidity inside buildings by up to 20 percent. A lot of work has also been done by researchers such as Ulrich and Simons to show that people feel better about an indoor space with greenery than they do about one without. People were shown to be more relaxed, which can improve productivity, reduce stress, and reduce blood pressure.”

Some students or other staff may have allergies to pollen, spores, or soil molds. Those are situations that should be given consideration when plant locations are determined.

Next, you should consider the purpose or intent for bringing plants into your classroom. Are they for aesthetics? Are they to help develop responsible attitudes? Are they to study life cycles, cells, or hormonal influences? Will you be using them for their parts such as studying parts of the flower? You may be looking for certain characteristics from your plant, such as flowers, in which case you would choose plants that have a high success rate of propagating flowers, for example.

Spider Plant Lesson – geared to K-5, uses math skills

What Plants Need to Grow – elementary lesson on growing house plants

Parts of a Flower – an elementary lesson

Worms in a Bottle - Good Soil for Plants – combines the ideas of plants and animals and a mutually benefiting relationship

Genetics and Plant Propagation – looking at plants and asexual production, a compliment to sexual reproduction

Education Planet – lots of ideas to involve plants in the classroom including a guide to growing plants geared for children

Plant Survival – putting the success of the plants in the student’s hands

Flower and Leaf Press – can adapt this to use flowers from your own plants in the classroom

The Importance of Tropism – can adapt this to use classroom plants rather than growing corn seeds

Besides using plants as specimens, consider setting up a schedule for your students to follow to help care for the classroom plants to help them understand the needs of plants and help them build independence and develop a sense of accomplishment. Plant Survival is a site to help get you started with this idea. You can consider starting a plant at the beginning of the school year and raffle it off at the end of the year or offer it to a student who has taken special interest in it. There are many different reasons to invite plants into your classroom – it is fun, they help clean the air, they add to a positive atmosphere, can reduce stress, they can help reduce dust, and it is rewarding.