10/7/2026

Morning Announcements

Morning Meeting Agenda

Mon · Social Studies Tue · Literacy Wed · Science Thu · Math Fri · ROAR + Houses
Science of the Day

It’s never too late to start!

Scientists who study plants are called botanists. Today we meet one who didn’t begin her science career until she was 51 years old — then went on to discover hundreds of plants nobody had ever recorded.

Portrait of Ynés MexíaPhoto via Wikimedia Commons

Meet Ynés Mexía! She was a Mexican American scientist who studied plants. She traveled to jungles and mountains to find plants nobody had ever seen before — even riding in canoes down big rivers!

A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. They look closely at leaves, flowers, and roots to learn what makes each plant special.

What a botanist studies: leaves, flowers, and roots
Let’s talk
  • What is your favorite plant, flower, or tree? What do you like about it?
  • If you found a brand-new plant nobody had ever seen, what would you name it?
Try it

Be a botanist! Look around — can you spot a plant in our room or out the window? Describe its leaves to a partner. Are they big or small? Pointy or round?

Mystery scientist: Born to a Mexican father in Washington, D.C., she spent decades doing other work before enrolling in botany classes at age 51. Over the next 13 years she led expeditions through the Amazon, the Andes, and Alaska — collecting about 145,000 plant specimens and identifying roughly 500 species new to science.

Who is she?Hide
Portrait of Ynés MexíaPhoto via Wikimedia Commons
Ynés Mexía — a Mexican American botanist and explorer. She traveled by canoe, horseback, and on foot into places few scientists had reached. Dozens of plants carry her name, including an entire genus, Mexianthus. She proved that a scientific career has no expiration date.
A timeline of Ynes Mexia's career beginning at age 51
Let’s talk
  • She started at 51 and did all of it in 13 years. What does that say about the idea of being “too old” to begin something?
  • Collecting 145,000 specimens means labeling and preserving every one. Why is careful record-keeping as important as the discovery itself?
  • What is something you’d like to learn eventually, even if you don’t start now?
Try it

Field notes! Find one plant near you and write a scientific description: leaf shape, edge, color, arrangement. No naming it — describe it so precisely that a partner could pick it out from three others.

Additional Notes/Activities

If additional activities are needed for the Morning Meeting, they will be added here.