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LEAF COLLAGE AND VEGETABLE IMPRINTS FOR

CREATIVE LEARNING OF BIOLOGY

Dr. G. NAGARAJ

Zoology Section

Regional Institute of Education (NCERT)

Mysore – 570 006

Indiagnriem@gmail.com

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Introduction

It is one of important responsibility of

the school subjects and transacting methods

to develop creativity (the power of

imagination to get/evolve alternative ideas)

among students.

In this regard, I am making a proposal

here that, the art of Leaf Collage and

Vegetable Imprints can be used as a method

for studying biological concepts and

simultaneously to develop creativity among

students.

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Leaf collage is a creative art in

which different kinds of leaves are

assembled and pasted together to give

a structure like animal/ plant/ other

materials.

Vegetable imprint is also a

creative art where the T.S / L.S of

various vegetables are printed on a

sheet with use of ink/ stain.

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(A) Materials required

1. Various kinds

(size, shape,

colour) of leaves

2. Fevicol

3. Chart paper &

sketch pen

4. Scale & scissor

How to do Leaf Collage?

Pic-1

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1. Collect various kinds of leaves

2. Cut a piece of chart paper / card board

3. Assemble and paste selected leaves on the chart

in such a

way that it gives a shape/ structure like tortoise,

butterfly,

starfish, (house, fan, telephone) etc. (as shown

in pic -2-4)

4. Draw margin and label the shape

5. The basic rule of the collage is that the leaves

should not be

cut i.e. use complete leaf

6. Students can be asked to prepare such interesting

leaf collage for the following advantages

(B) Preparation

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PIC. 2. BUTTERFLY

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PIC. 3. STARFISH

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PIC. 4. TORTOISE

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1. Students learn the morphological features

like shape, size, colour & venation of leaves

(Botany) and shape of animals (Zoology)

2. By preparing animal shapes, imaginative

ability and creative thinking are stimulated

3. In addition, he/she related the shapes of

leaves to the shapes of the animals; in other

words she/ he sees the shapes of the animals

in leaves

Advantages of Leaf Collage

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(A) Materials required

1. Various vegetables

2. Knife

3. Different coloured ink/

stain

4. Petridish/ cups/ plates

5. Chart paper/ white

sheets

6. Scale & sketch pen

How to do Vegetable Imprint?

PIC. 5

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1.Take a vegetable and cut transversely

(T.S.) or longitudinally (L.S.)

2.Dip the cut portion of the vegetable in the

ink or stain kept in the plate/cup

3.Print the impression of the vegetable on a

sheet/ chart by gentle pressing of the

inked portion

4.Make your own shapes/ design with one or

multicolour according to your imagination

(as shown in pic-6-8)

5.Draw margin and give suitable name to

your design.

(B) Preparation

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PIC. 6. BUTTERFLY

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PIC. 7. FOOD PYRAMID

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PIC. 8. ………..?

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1.Students can compare and learn the

placentation in different vegetable (Botany)

2.When he/ she prepares animal design with

the imprints she/ he learns shapes of animals

(Zoology)

3.By doing multiple imprints of various

vegetable with different colour students

create a innovative design which is an

indicator of creativity

4.Sustains interest of the students in the class

Advantages of Vegetable Imprint

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I strongly believe that the art of

Leaf Collage and Vegetable Imprints

definitely will stimulate and grows

imagination and creative ability of the

students in addition to learning

Biology.

Hence, I recommend to the

Teachers to use this art in the class for

creative learning of Biology.

Conclusion

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Thank you