Analysis of Children's Drawings to Gain Insight into Plant Blindness

Abstract

Core Ideas Human figure drawing protocols were modified to assess children's plant drawings. When drawing plants in situ, students were unable to accurately represent plant characteristics. Drawings lacked detail and only contained prominent features, some contained inaccurate features. Students had over‐simplified mental models of plants, indicating plant blindness. It has been speculated that most people have plant blindness, meaning plants go unnoticed by the majority of the population. This study sought to combine the knowledge of multiple disciplines to determine evidence of plant blindness through children's drawings. To do this, third‐grade students were introduced to native prairie and wetland plants during a curriculum‐based field trip to a natural area to assess if youth accurately perceive plants in situ and had preconceived mental models of plant prototypes. Using a coding scheme from human figure drawing research, drawings were analyzed based on the plant characteristics represented in the drawings. Drawings showed the third graders oversimplified plants regardless of the macro‐features of the plant. Some drawings had inaccuracies, despite children being in close proximity to the designated plant. These results demonstrate plant mental models are already in place in this age group and may lead to plant blindness. Therefore, there is a need to start plant education as early as possible with more exposure to different plant types. This research represents one of the first studies to investigate the roots of “plant blindness” and what may be contributing to lack of knowledge and awareness of plant communities. It is the hope that the findings from this study will help professionals grow environmental literacy of plants across age groups.

Children’s Pictorial Expression of Plant Life and Its Connection with School-Based Greenness

“…More to the point, children's better understanding of the plant world appears to be associated with the representation of a larger diversity of vegetables in their drawings [14]. Other research finds that the detail with which children depict plants is related to the mental models that children have regarding plant life [33].…”

Plant blindness and sustainability

“…As concern about the state of the world's environment grows, there is evidence of an increase in the significance of plants in cultural politics and the curation of works with vegetal themes in art galleries (Aloi, 2019b). Insights from children's drawings (Comeau et al, 2019), the value of museums and galleries, the significance of aesthetics (Jakobson and Wickman, 2008), and even the philosophical basis of architecture (Lee, 2014) have all been explored through education and public outreach as facets of the human-plant relationship.…”

Plant blindness represents the loss of generational knowledge and cultural identity

“…Teaching traditional ecological knowledge and scientific ecological knowledge within the local habitats allows students to build a relationship within their local area and develop an understanding of reciprocity for the gifts of the land (Kimmerer, 2012). Educators and industry are encouraged to combine their abilities to provide experiences for plant education and hands‐on plant experiences in natural landscapes in a diversity of courses to help build plant knowledge (Becerra et al., 2013; Comeau et al., 2019; Perez et al., 2010).…”

“…It has been hypothesized that individuals immersed in a plant‐affiliated culture will experience language and a lifestyle that aids in detecting, recalling, and valuing plants (Balding & Williams, 2016; Bartoszeck al., 2015; Comeau et al., 2019; Turreira‐Garcia et al., 2015); however, no empirical research to date has addressed the topic. Plant blindness for the average person is a loss; however, for Native Americans and many Indigenous cultures, it is a loss of cultural identity.…”