Free classroom resource
Plant identification fieldwork pack
Six printable worksheets for outdoor plant fieldwork. The pack teaches a method rather than a fixed list of plants, so it works in a school yard, a park, a hedge or a wood, in any country and any season. Pupils survey the plants around them, take useful photos, record what they can see, judge how confident each identification is, and research whether each plant is native or introduced.
Download the whole pack as one PDF, or print this page from your browser. Free to copy, adapt and share under CC BY 4.0.
Before you go: photograph, don't touch
Identify plants from a photo. Pupils should not pick, rub, taste or handle a plant they cannot name, and should wash their hands after fieldwork. Some plants sting, burn or poison. The risky plants are different in different places.
- UK and Europe: giant hogweed sap burns skin in sunlight; keep clear of hemlock and stinging nettle.
- North America: poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac cause a rash from a brush of the leaves.
- Australia: stinging trees (Dendrocnide, including gympie-gympie) can cause a severe, lasting sting.
- Everywhere: treat any unknown plant as a possible irritant. Check your region's known hazardous plants before the trip, and keep an adult within reach.
Pick a site with an adult in charge, stay on paths, and dress for the weather and the sun.
How to use it
Print one pack per group and work outdoors in pairs or small groups. A pencil and a clipboard are all each pupil needs. A phone or tablet with a plant identification app helps with naming but is optional. Older pupils can use a tape measure or a length of string to mark out a survey square.
The teacher guide on sheet 6 gives timings, learning objectives and curriculum links. The pupil sheets include short notes for younger and older groups, so you can keep the same fieldwork and change the level of detail.
Site and biodiversity survey
Record how many different kinds of plant grow in one patch of ground.
Date
Site
Weather
Names
Habitatcircle: grass / flower bed / hedge / wall or pavement / woodland / pond edge / other
Mark out a square about one metre across with string, or choose a patch of ground. List every different plant you can see inside it. You do not need the names yet. Give each one a label (Plant A, Plant B) and a photo number, then fill the name and confidence in later using sheets 3 and 4.
| Label | How common (rare / some / lots) | Photo no. | Best-guess name | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Different plants found in total (species richness)
Younger: find five different plants in one patch.Older: survey two squares in different habitats and compare the richness. Estimate what share of the ground each plant covers as a rough percentage.
Example: a completed survey
What one group recorded on a temperate school field in summer. Your pupils will find different plants in another place or season. That is fine. The method is the part they should take with them.
| Label | How common | Photo no. | Best-guess name | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | lots | 01 | Dandelion | Strong |
| B | some | 02 | White clover | Good |
| C | lots | 03 | Daisy | Strong |
| D | some | 04 | Ribwort plantain | Good |
| E | lots | 05 | Perennial ryegrass | Possible |
Different plants found: 5.
Plant A matched dandelion on its toothed leaves in a flat rosette, one yellow flower head on a hollow stem, and milky sap. A field guide and the app agreed, so the group recorded Strong. Plant E was only Possible. Many grasses look alike, and there was no flower head to check.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
How to photograph a plant
A clear photo helps a person, a field guide or an app identify the plant with more confidence.
Take these shots of each plant you want to identify. Tick each one as you go.
- The whole plant. Show its size and shape. Put a ruler or another familiar object beside it for scale, without touching the plant.
- One leaf, top and underside. If possible, place a plain card or sheet of paper behind the leaf for a clear background, without touching the plant.
- How the leaves sit on the stem. In pairs, one after another, or in a circle.
- A flower or fruit, close up, if there is one.
- The stem or bark.
- Where it grows. A wider shot of the ground and plants around it.
Take clear photos
Fill the frame with the plant, hold the camera steady, and shoot in good light without a hard shadow across it. Put a plain background behind a leaf so its shape is easy to see. Write the photo number in your survey table so you can match the picture to the plant later.
Younger: take three photos: the whole plant, one leaf, and a flower.Older: take all six and note the leaf shape and edge words from sheet 3 as you photograph.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Look closely at one plant
Pick one plant from your survey. These are the features a field guide, a key and an app all use to tell plants apart.
Plant label Photo no.
Rough height
Leaf shaperound / oval / heart / needle / strap / lobed / divided
Leaf edgesmooth / toothed / wavy / spiny
Leaves on the stemin pairs / one after another / in a circle / in a rosette
Leaf surfacehairy / smooth / waxy / rough
Flowercolour and number of petals, or none seen
Stemround / square, woody / soft, hairy / smooth
Where it growssun / shade, dry / damp, soil / wall / water
Younger: record leaf shape, leaf edge, flower colour, and a sketch.Older: complete every field, then try to write a two-question branching key that would tell this plant apart from another in your survey.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Confidence and uncertainty
An identification is a best guess with a confidence level. Scientists record uncertainty, and pupils should too.
Use this scale for every plant you name. A good app uses the same idea.
- Strong
- The features match the name well and more than one source agrees. Safe to record.
- Good
- Most features match. One small doubt, or only a single source.
- Possible
- It could be this. A key feature is missing, hidden or unclear.
- Weak
- A guess. Take a better photo or look again before trusting the name.
For one plant, answer these before you choose a confidence:
- Which features match the name you gave it?
- Which features do not fit?
- Did a second source agree (a book, a key, an app, or an adult who knows plants)?
- How clear was your photo?
My confidencecircle: Strong / Good / Possible / Weak
Cross-check, and see why a name can be wrong
Identify one plant two ways, for example with a field guide and with an app. If they disagree, write down what extra evidence you need. Plant names can be wrong when two species look alike, when the photo is poor, when a plant grows far from its usual range, or when a young plant looks different from the adult. Saying "I am not sure" makes your record more useful, because the next person knows which names to check.
Younger: circle a confidence word and give one reason.Older: cross-check with two sources and write a sentence on what would raise your confidence.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Native or introduced?
Some plants are native to your area. Others were brought from elsewhere, and a few spread quickly and harm local habitats.
Whether a plant is native depends on where you are. A plant that is native in one country is introduced in another, so research your own region. Pick three plants from your survey and find out about each, back in class or with a local expert.
- Is it native to your region, or was it brought here?
- Where is it originally from?
- If it was introduced, how did it arrive (through trade, gardens, or by accident)?
- Is it treated as invasive where you live?
Which habitat held more native plants, the wild edge or the managed bed?
Invasive plants and the law
Some invasive plants are regulated, and the rules are set by where you live. In Britain, planting or letting certain species spread into the wild is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In the United States, federal and state noxious-weed lists apply. Other countries keep their own lists. Check your region's rules before moving or disposing of any plant, and never spread one you suspect is invasive.
Younger: for one plant, is it native, and where did it come from?Older: research all three, and explain one way plants get carried between countries.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Teacher guide
Use this guide to run the fieldwork in one lesson and link it to the curriculum.
Learning objectives
Pupils will observe and record plant features, use simple botanical vocabulary and try a branching key.
They will also count species richness as a measure of biodiversity, judge how confident an identification is, and use research to tell native plants from introduced plants.
Before the lesson
Print one pack per group. Choose a safe outdoor site, from the school grounds to a park or a woodland edge, and walk it first for hazards. Bring clipboards and pencils. A phone or tablet with a plant identification app is useful but optional. A tape measure or length of string helps older pupils mark out survey squares.
Running it (about 60 minutes)
- 5 min: introduce the task and the safety rule, photograph rather than touch.
- 25 min: the survey and photographs (sheets 1 and 2).
- 15 min: close observation and confidence (sheets 3 and 4).
- 10 min: introduce native and introduced species (sheet 5). Finish it back in class.
- 5 min: groups share the most interesting plant they found and how sure they are of its name.
Short on time or coverage? Run the survey and photographs outdoors, and set the observation, confidence and native-species sheets as follow-up work.
Curriculum links
| Region | Where it fits |
|---|---|
| UK, KS2 science | Living things and their habitats; classification; working scientifically. |
| UK, KS3 biology | Interactions and interdependencies; variation and classification. |
| US, NGSS | 3-LS4 biodiversity and habitats; MS-LS2 ecosystems; analysing data and arguing from evidence. |
| Australian Curriculum | Biological sciences: classification, and living things in their environment. |
| Anywhere | Sampling, data handling, and drawing a conclusion from evidence. |
Extensions
Repeat the survey in a different season and compare the results. Build a class species list or a digital photo herbarium. Keep photographing plants rather than picking them. Older groups can upload records to a citizen-science project such as iNaturalist, with an adult managing the account.
Why an offline app suits fieldwork
Cloud tools are awkward in fieldwork. A class can lose signal in woodland, in a park, or at the far end of the school grounds. If the identifier has to send every photo to a server, the lesson starts depending on the network. Not ideal.
Raychis runs identification on the device across 5,000 species. It works in airplane mode, uploads nothing, and needs no account to open. Pupils' photos stay on the device. It gives 5 identifications a day for free, and every result carries a confidence tier that matches the scale on sheet 4. Seehow offline identification works.
For a class, email us from a school or organisation address and we will send codes that remove the daily limit for your pupils for the school year.
Raychis plant identification fieldwork pack · v1.1, September 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Free classroom access for schools
Raychis is free to use, with 5 identifications a day on each device. That is enough for a short walk. For a whole class counting plants, we remove the limit at no charge.
Email education@raychis.app from a school or organisation address, tell us roughly how many pupils and which devices they use, and we will send redemption codes that remove the daily limit for your group, free for the school year.
- No Raychis account, and nothing for a pupil to sign up for.
- Nothing is uploaded. Photos and notes stay on each device.
- It runs on the devices you already have, in airplane mode, with no signal needed.
A pupil redeems a code through the device's own App Store or Google Play account. On school-managed devices, that can be done centrally.
Licence and citation
This pack is published under aCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You may print, copy, adapt and share it for any purpose, including in the classroom, as long as you credit Raychis with a link. Pupils keep the rights to any photographs they take.
Suggested citationRaychis (2026). Plant identification fieldwork pack. TerraRoxoAI. https://raychis.app/resources/plant-identification-fieldwork
Version 1.1 · September 2026