The Ethnobotany Program
at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

Botany 442: Medical Ethnobotany

Projects

Each student will complete work on two projects, one individually and one as part of a group.

Individual: Plant Family Project.  This project involves the following steps. All work must be completed by the date of the student's presentation.

  1. Select a Family of plants from the following (each family may be studied by only one student in class. The first person to select will also be expected to make the first presentation). Additional families may be studied for extra credit.  Families listed as "double" may be used for both the initial requirement and for optional extra credit as long as double the expected work is completed. For the grade: Completed family database entries.  Each student will be provided with an Access database file with categories of information to be gathered on the species in the selected family.
  2. Determine which species are found in Hawaii using the Manual of Flowering Plants, In Garden’s of Hawaii, and Weeds of Hawaii.
  3. Use the Internet and at least 3 different text sources to determine how each plant is used medicinally around the world. Be as detailed as possible. All information should be placed in the database that is provided. For the grade: 30 non-internet reference sources. Each student will submit a bibliography of at least 30 references used to develop the content of the database.  These should be cited in the database using the format discussed in class.
  4. Collect voucher specimens of at least 10 of the species in the family. Mount the voucher specimens and apply information labels. Voucher Label Template
  5. Present a five minute overview of the family and its medicinal uses for the class. Presentation times are determined by the order of selection of families (above). For the grade: 5 minute in class presentation. A very brief ~5 minute presentation on the plant family will be made by the student at the beginning of a class session.  The presentation should include an overview of the plant family from a global perspective as well as the species found in Hawaii. Properly mounted herbarium vouchers of the plants should be displayed for the class and referenced in discussion of some of the medicinal uses of the family. Each student should work closely with the instructor while preparing for the presentation.
  6. Project database templates (use either access or word but not both) Access template   / /   Word template

Group: Participation Project. This project involves much less effort than the Plant Family Project.  Each student will participate in one research activity that may include the following options.  Students in the class will decide which projects they want to conduct as a group.  No written reports are expected for this project although brief written summaries may be submitted as evidence of participation.

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Last Updated: 10/25/04