NCKU students make plant collage to raise diversity awareness
Tainan, Taiwan, December 19, 2013
In a special course called “Plant and Civilization” instructed by Teacher Guo-Ing Liao from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Department of Life Sciences, students collect a variety of leaves and berries from all over the campus, to be used as components in their collage and, in the process of gathering materials, also broaden their knowledge on the various vegetation species.
The plant collage as the mid-term assignment is to compose a work of art using items from Nature with no restrictions whatsoever on the specimens used, nor the main theme.
According to Liao, “the course arrangement allows students to understand the application of everyday plants in human life and its close relation to human civilization.”
“From there,” she continues, “they [students] develop an awareness of plant resource conservation, sustainable use, and the importance of environmental protection.”
Liao’s “Plant and Civilization” is a course in the General Education Curriculum, and aims to briefly introduce the great diversity of plant life to students, using examples closest to us in daily life.
Starting from the campus vegetation, the class explores the effects of the material and spiritual dimensions of plants on human culture and civilization. It also introduces important plants that have wrought changes in the world, as well as national plant biomass energy development and its applications.
Yu-Jung Lin, a sophomore from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, utilized 9 types of plants in his art piece – morning glory, star cluster, hibiscus, golden-trumpet tree, carica ture plant, pepper tree, etc. – to create “Love,” in which he depicts 2 birds protecting each other, whilst being enclosed in the same green leaf.
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Lin says, “but I long for love, and hope to find my ideal love during my 4 years stay at university.”
“I like nature,” he added. “In order to complete the plant collage assigned to us, I explored the entire campus.”
“Before doing the assignment, the trees and flowers all looked familiar and I was unable to name them. Upon completion of the work, I have greatly increased the knowledge to identify plants”
Chen-Hsing Chang, a freshman from the Department of Engineering Science, had made a kite that roamed the blue sky, in which she using colorful petals of lantana, periwinkle, and golden-trumpet tree to form a soaring kite.
The plant collage, Chang said, reflects her image of college life being able to fly far and wide, just like a kite, but when faced with strong winds and harsh sunlight, can remain strong and persevere.
“Because of this assignment,” says Chang, who has a penchant for drawing, “I have opened my eyes and now understand the diversity of the species the NCKU campus has to offer.”
A sophomore from the Department of Optical Engineering Tze-Hao Huang’s masterpiece was titled “The Guardian of the Eggs”. The mother bird and nest are all delicately created, garnering much praise from the crowd, and originates from a single leaf that was shaped like a bird.
From there, Huang added eyes and feathers to the leaf, and used many small branches to roll into the nest, finishing with a Terminalia fruit as the egg, with the mother bird standing guard at the side. The picture is clean, and the warmth of affection is evident.
Mung-Hsian Liu, a senior from the Department of Life Sciences, composed a playful “Father”, using a combination of Flame Gold, casuarinas, hibiscus, Norfolk Island Pine, mulberry, and croton to gradually form a portrait. He said that the inspiration comes from his childhood impression of his father, who he describes as “like a tree”, reaching out his strong arms, to always protect the family.
Student response was very enthusiastic, and their masterpieces are all polyhydric and interesting. To encourage them, Liao let the students vote amongst themselves to select 9 works, to be displayed in the Department of Life Science’s “Colorful Plants” event of the NCKU anniversary celebration.
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In a special course called “Plant and Civilization” instructed by Teacher Guo-Ing Liao from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Department of Life Sciences, students collect a variety of leaves and berries from all over the campus, to be used as components in their collage and, in the process of gathering materials, also broaden their knowledge on the various vegetation species.
The plant collage as the mid-term assignment is to compose a work of art using items from Nature with no restrictions whatsoever on the specimens used, nor the main theme.
According to Liao, “the course arrangement allows students to understand the application of everyday plants in human life and its close relation to human civilization.”
“From there,” she continues, “they [students] develop an awareness of plant resource conservation, sustainable use, and the importance of environmental protection.”
Liao’s “Plant and Civilization” is a course in the General Education Curriculum, and aims to briefly introduce the great diversity of plant life to students, using examples closest to us in daily life.
Starting from the campus vegetation, the class explores the effects of the material and spiritual dimensions of plants on human culture and civilization. It also introduces important plants that have wrought changes in the world, as well as national plant biomass energy development and its applications.
Yu-Jung Lin, a sophomore from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, utilized 9 types of plants in his art piece – morning glory, star cluster, hibiscus, golden-trumpet tree, carica ture plant, pepper tree, etc. – to create “Love,” in which he depicts 2 birds protecting each other, whilst being enclosed in the same green leaf.
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Lin says, “but I long for love, and hope to find my ideal love during my 4 years stay at university.”
“I like nature,” he added. “In order to complete the plant collage assigned to us, I explored the entire campus.”
“Before doing the assignment, the trees and flowers all looked familiar and I was unable to name them. Upon completion of the work, I have greatly increased the knowledge to identify plants”
Chen-Hsing Chang, a freshman from the Department of Engineering Science, had made a kite that roamed the blue sky, in which she using colorful petals of lantana, periwinkle, and golden-trumpet tree to form a soaring kite.
The plant collage, Chang said, reflects her image of college life being able to fly far and wide, just like a kite, but when faced with strong winds and harsh sunlight, can remain strong and persevere.
“Because of this assignment,” says Chang, who has a penchant for drawing, “I have opened my eyes and now understand the diversity of the species the NCKU campus has to offer.”
A sophomore from the Department of Optical Engineering Tze-Hao Huang’s masterpiece was titled “The Guardian of the Eggs”. The mother bird and nest are all delicately created, garnering much praise from the crowd, and originates from a single leaf that was shaped like a bird.
From there, Huang added eyes and feathers to the leaf, and used many small branches to roll into the nest, finishing with a Terminalia fruit as the egg, with the mother bird standing guard at the side. The picture is clean, and the warmth of affection is evident.
Mung-Hsian Liu, a senior from the Department of Life Sciences, composed a playful “Father”, using a combination of Flame Gold, casuarinas, hibiscus, Norfolk Island Pine, mulberry, and croton to gradually form a portrait. He said that the inspiration comes from his childhood impression of his father, who he describes as “like a tree”, reaching out his strong arms, to always protect the family.
Student response was very enthusiastic, and their masterpieces are all polyhydric and interesting. To encourage them, Liao let the students vote amongst themselves to select 9 works, to be displayed in the Department of Life Science’s “Colorful Plants” event of the NCKU anniversary celebration.
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