Using ferns to survive
In this activity, students plan a storyboard along the lines of television shows such as Man vs. Wild and Survivor to illustrate how humans can use ferns to survive in the bush.
Hound’s tongue fern sori pattern
Microsorum pustulatum (kangaroo fern or hound's tongue) is a species of fern that occurs widely in New Zealand and also in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia.
Note: With much of our native bush already under threat from introduced animals, please do not gather ferns from the wild, nor should students actually eat any of the recommended fern species. One website on New Zealand wild foods says that, of the 312 varieties of pikopiko fern, only 7 are edible. If you don’t know what you are picking, don’t eat it!
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
identify some ferns that are useful for construction purposes
identify some ferns that are useful as food sources
identify some ferns that are useful as track markers
better understand and appreciate how interlinked our ancestors were with their environment.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
instructions on what you need and what to do
extension ideas
student handouts.
