Valerie Coskrey's Classroom Tools and Ideas

Lesson: Combining a Hobby with Biology -- Turning Trees into a Work of Art Called a Bonsai

a potential career in the making

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Viewing a beautifully shaped tree is to me a joyous experience. Maybe that is why I find the art of creating a bonsai so fascinating. Since I started looking at bonsais, I find myself searching for the perfectly shaped or most interesting trees and imagining how it would look in a pot.

giant bonsai © David Susilo  

One year I decided to have my biology students use local flora to create a bonsai. I assembled wire, old dishes and pots, rocks and gravel, potting soil, fertillizer, scissors, clippers, instruction books, instruction worksheets and picture books.

Then I told the students that we were going to make gifts for their mothers. The plan was to pot the trees in September, and then grow, care, and train them, all while studying plant horticulture and botany during the months before taking them home. (We ended up taking the plants home Thanksgiving because no one was available to care for them over the 10-day holiday.) Read on.
Read more about the bonsai unit.

		Bonsai Boy of New York Bonsai Trees Under $30 Bonsai Sales & Discounts
		pictures and products for those as fascinated by bonsais as I
© Nicholas Rjabow - FOTOLIA

My students proudly displayed their bonsais during open house. Some got really excited about the art of shaping the trees. Students studied the branches, leaflets, and buds closely knowing that shaping the stems and maintaining the plant depended on this observation. They developed a vocabulary for speaking about the anatomy of plants. They planned ahead, developing critical thinking skills. They made mistakes, learned that knowledge is important, and that projects can still be completed-- the benefits of all hands-on learning. Also, those that were not overly concerned with learning biology for biology's sake found a reason to be involved, to look up information, and to create art.

What does this have to do with careers? Growing bonsais can be a pleasurable hobby, the results of which sell for quite a bit. Check out this tree available for sale. Read on.

Bougainvillea (bougainvillea ¦glabraª) - $ 9500.00 In 1768 Admiral Louis de Bougainville discovered the vine that bears his name. Through the ensuing years, this Brazilian beauty has assumed its rightful place as one of the most popular, spectacular and most beautiful tropical plants. The vibrant red and pink color comes not from three small white tubular flowers but rather from the three large paper-like bracts that surround each flower, hence the nickname "paper-flower". Great bonsai for indoors. 68 years old. 40" tall. Trunk diameter 9.5". Potted in a 23" ceramic blue oval container as shown. Crated and trucked - $300.00.

Of course, younger trees sell for much less. Read on.

Willow Leaf Ficus-Small (ficus nerifolia/salicafolia) - $ 24.95 Also known as Mexicana Ficus. Elongated, light green leaves have a striking resemblance to the popular weeping willow tree. This tree does particularly well indoors in low, moderate or high lighting conditions. 4 years old 5" - 8" tall Suitable 4 1/2"x 6 1/2" humidity tray is recommended. To purchase add $3.50. Shipped UPS 2-3 days - $10.95.

Seeds of plants that make classical bonsais are sold. There is a market for the specialized tools. There are books and websites of photographs of bonsai. Students that get involved in growing bonsais, photographing bonsais, or just selling supplies are sure to find a market for their products, or a job with a nursery.

The Bonsai Unit

First I showed them a book on this ancient Japanese art form. We talked about what a bonsai is. One of my students asked about the trees in The Karate Kid without me having to bring it up.

--At this point in the unit, if students do not make the connection themselves, I would refer to the Karate Kid movies, since bonsais are used so effectively in these movies. In fact, there is a juniper bonsai called the Karate Kid Tree.--

Then we went for a walk through the edges of the woods behind our school. We found enough young seedlings for each of the students to pot their own tree.

--There are local bushes that make bonsais, or seeds can be purchased. Kits are available, too. One bush that we used was privet hedge, but quince and rosemary are also easy to grow as bonsais. Ceder, maple, and pine seedlings were collected by my class; and grown with varying success.--

We potted our trees temporarily to keep them for the next lesson. During this lesson, I pointed out various aspects of nature and let the students observe nature as we walked. We discussed the shape and length of tap root systems so that when the person with the shovel dug up the seedlings, the roots were not damaged. We discussed the fungus in the local soils as being important to trees and that using a bit of the local soil inour potting soil had advantages and disadvantages.

The next lesson involved preparing the pots, pruning the roots, wiring the trees to the pots, and repotting. During this lesson, concepts of pruning for encouraging root growth, root-bound potted plants, fertilizers, drainage, the physics of bracing a plant along with the need to protect the bark, and other practical matters were discussed. Students were asked to visualize how they wanted the plants to grow, how the ground should look, and if a rock would be useful. Plans were made to create these visions.

Subsequent lessons dealt with plant care. Furthermore, the bonsai served as reference points for discussions in other units. Any time a student's plant could be used to illustrate a concept or serve as an example, that student was asked to display his tree so that I could point out the relative point. Growth rate experiments and other biology activities were performed. Students became emotionally attached to the pretty trees, and thus to an aspect of science.

Quince, azalea, and forsythia are popular bonsai plants.
	© Nicholas Rjabow - FOTOLIA
Pruning bonsai is an art, as is wiring the stem to force a shape.
The unique shapes of bonsais are produced by careful pruning and wiring. Students will learn to recognize buds and new growth as they prune their bonsai. The artist in each student will emerge as students try to make pleasing shapes.	© Carlos Domingo - FOTOLIA
Compare this tree to a carefully shaped bonsai.
	© knostpix - FOTOLIA
View other images of trees and bonsai products on other bonsai pages.
As a bonsai afficionado, I find myself studying the shapes of trees. Such study has now grown into the hobby of photography. Others find the selling of photos of trees, both normal and bonsai, a lucrative pastime. I encourage you to share this interest with your students.

A Bonsai Curriculum used in Grade 8
--this teacher combines her life science lesson with Haiku.

This website of Fuku-Bonsai is informative, and tells why outdoor trees used for bonsai should be grown outside.  It also identifies the unique requirements of proper soil drainage and the slow-release fertilizer needed by bonsai; also, why and how these requirements are so different from the needs of other potted plants.

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