I must confess I’m always a little embarrassed to admit this, but I’m not very good at identifying trees or other plants. My background is in the biomedical sciences, and my passion is the brain. Plants and animals have only really begun to interest me in recent years. A whole underwater world opened up to me when I started diving in 2022. On top of that, I’ve been working for a few years now at a school with a beautiful forest on its grounds. I don’t want to let down the pupils who are genuinely interested in that world. For that reason, I took part last year in the Veldbiologische dagen – a two-day continuing professional development course on fieldwork in Dutch flora and fauna, organised for and by biology teachers.
It’s the final term of the school year, and I’m teaching year 8 the chapter ‘Your green environment’. I resolve to give an outdoor lesson for each section, covering part of the learning objectives. I also resolve that by the end of the term I’ll be able to name ten new trees.
During the first outdoor lesson, the pupils make their way enthusiastically through the forest. Every now and then a pupil calls me over to ask what something is. When I can’t work out a plant, I use the ObsIdentify app. Every now and then I call the pupils over to show them something myself. For instance, lily of the valley, which I had only learnt to recognise a week earlier whilst developing lesson materials for year 10. N. remarks: ‘Isn’t that lily of the valley?’ ‘Yes, well done! How did you know that?’ ‘From Minecraft.’
‘Isn’t that lily of the valley?’ ‘Yes, well done! How did you know that?’ ‘From Minecraft’
The 2025 Veldbiologische dagen have unfortunately been cancelled due to insufficient registrations. I refuse to be discouraged and press on with learning my ten trees. Fortunately, F. is there to help me. She calmly explains how I can recognise European beech by the fine white line of hairs around the edge of the leaf. When someone calls out to her, she shouts back: ‘Wait, I’m giving Amina a biology lesson!’ Meanwhile, she tells me more about her obsession with Freek Vonk and her vegetable garden.
By admitting that I’m not very good with plants and then actively doing something about it, I’ve achieved more than I expected. I’ve been able to give a number of lessons in the way I like best: pupils marvelling at nature, me getting close to their world, all of us learning with and from each other, and building a real connection. For lack of space, I can’t fit a large part of the wonderful moments produced by these outdoor lessons into this column. What’s more, I can now recognise European beech, sycamore, hawthorn, false acacia and European larch. Five more trees to go.
Amina El Ouati studied biomedical sciences, works as a biology teacher at College Hageveld in Heemstede, and is the creative force behind the YouTube channel Juf Aminozuur.