By Kate Sorensen
What is “Plant Awareness Disparity”? Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD) is a term proposed by Kathryn Parsley to replace an older term: “plant blindness.” To summarize her proposal, there is a disparity between how Euro-centric people notice plants in their environment versus how they notice animals. This disparity is based on attention, attitude, knowledge, and relative interest towards plants. She wrote: “The disparity between how often people notice plants compared to how often people notice animals is what causes plants to be placed in the background and animals to be placed in the foreground of our visual field. This disparity is what is responsible for students lacking interest in plants, lacking a positive attitude toward plants, and lacking knowledge of why plants are important.” (Parsley,2020) To read a full journal article by Kathryn Parsley, CLICK HERE
One way to combat the “attention” part of PAD is to participate in our “Snap-It Challenge”!
The challenge is to take a photo of each of the things on the list. If you don’t have a camera, you can also use the list as a “seek and find” activity. Challenge yourself to do 5, 10 or maybe the whole list! Tag us on our Facebook and Instagram pages using the hashtag #BBGSChallenge. You can also share comments with us below. The list is also available at the Garden as a QR code if you don’t want to print it.
1) A plant that is the same height as you.
2) Yourself at one of your favorite places in the Garden.
3) A leaf larger than your whole hand.
4) A leaf smaller than your fingernail.
5) A photo of something upside down or from upside down.
6) Something that gives off a scent in the Garden.
7) A tree’s bark with an interesting pattern.
8) A photo of an animal in the Garden.
9) A flower with the same number of petals as your age. (Or leaflets on a stem, or leaves on a branch.)
10) A photo of your favorite art piece (sculpture, etc.) at the Garden.
11) Something floating in the water or the air.
12) Something that represents what season it is now.
13) A plant you would like to have named after you.
14) A plant or plant part that starts with the first letter of your name.
15) Something at the Garden you find magical.
