Food From A
Tree
Gather seed,
tree, and gardening catalogs. Talk with your children about
the many fruits and nuts we get from trees. Help them find pictures
of
these fruits and nuts in the catalogs. Let them cut or tear out the
pictures
and glue them to sheets of construction paper to make collages.
Nature Hunt
Go on
a nature hunt with the children. Start out by giving each of the
children
a brown bag to place all of their goodies in. Explain to them
how that bag
was made from a tree because paper is made from trees. Let them
collect
all kinds of leaves, twigs, etc. Sort them when finished and discuss
what each
one found. Let them glue the nature items on a piece of heavy
construction paper.
Spring Tree
Spring
means that the leaves on trees begin to grow. Blossoms begin
to bud and cover the trees with color. Take your children for a walk
around the school or a nearby park to take a peek at the trees.
Encourage children to look for trees in different stages of spring
growth; trees with leaves, trees with blossoms, and trees that are bare.
Help the children identify the trunk, leaves, and blossoms of different
trees.
Age of Tree
Take pieces
of tree (a slice cut horizontal through the tree)
and count the rings to find out how old the tree is.
Leaf Class Book
Let
the children collect leaves and glue them onto
construction paper. Make a class book for them to look at.
Recycling Box
Start
a recycling box in your classroom.
Made From Trees
Materials
needed: Objects that are made from wood; objects
that are not made from wood. Preparation: Set out objects
that are made from wood, such as a newspaper, a book, a
toothpick, a pencil and a block. Set out other objects that
are not made from wood, such as a plastic toy car, a
cotton towel, a crayon, a metal spoon and a mirror.
Tree Journal
Keep a
tree journal. Choose a tree close to where you live and let it be
"your" tree. Keep a notebook of observations about your tree. How does it
change as spring comes? Are there any animals or insects living on it?
Does
it loose any branches in a storm? Make a bark rubbing from your tree on
one
of the notebook pages. Try measuring your tree to see how tall it is. Have
a friend help you by holding up a yardstick about 60 feet from the tree.
Position yourself six feet farther behind them, and getting close to the
ground, look where the top of the tree comes to on your yardstick. Mark
that point. The tree will be about 10 times the height marked on the
yardstick.
Trees Need...
Materials
Needed:
paper plates
red, white (yellow if they exist), & blue poker chips
Procedure:
Have the children spread the poker chips around a specific area.
Then they each get a plate. Have them take it, place it on the
ground and
stand on it (they are amongst the poker chips). Tell them that they
are trees. The poker chips are the 3 things they need - white: sun,
blue: water, red: food. They must always have one foot on the plate -
and they will use their roots (hands) to gather what they need. After
they have picked up as many poker chips as they can reach: see what
everyone has. Discuss where trees that have more/less water might live....
Age of a Tree
Count
the rings on a wood round - a slice of the tree. If you look at a tree
stump and count the rings that you see you will learn the age of the tree,
the bark of the tree is a protective layer for the tree like our skin is
for us.
Tree
Observations
Make
observations like a scientist —check it out!
Carefully use your eyes to study the whole tree, from the very top to
the very bottom of it! Your eyes are like a camera taking snapshots
of how tall or short your tree is, what kind of branches it has, whether
it has needles or leaves, if there are any critters in it or any evidence
that
critters do come and use or live in it... Look to see what its physical
features are. Does your tree have a smooth or rough trunk? Long
willowy branches or short stumpy branches? Does your tree “weep ”
or have a rounded top or a pointed, narrow top? Are there leaves or
needles? What exactly do the leaves or needles look like? Do you see
any flowers, nuts, pine cones or other things growing?
Do any critters use the tree or even live in it?
Tree Discussion
Go outside,
lay down on blankets on the ground under a tree and watch the tree
branches. Talk about the way they move, watch for birds, squirrels etc. in
the
branches. Talk about the animals, insects, etc. who live in trees, how
important trees are to us for shade, coolness, food, etc.
Tree Homes
Draw a
picture of a tree on a big piece of paper. Have the children make a list
of
things that live in the top of the tree, the trunk, at the bottom, and
under the ground of the
tree. Use craft supplies to make the different things and glue them in the
appropriate places.
Parts of a Tree
On paper
draw a tree and have the kids label the different parts
of the tree. Leaves, branches, trunk, bark, roots, etc. Use sandpaper
for the bark, brown yarn for the roots, and glue on paper leaves.
Trees, Trees,
Trees
Draw three
different kinds of trees. An evergreen, a palm tree, and a fruit tree.
Talk about where these trees grow and what grows on them. Glue on
different
color leaves, for fall, coconuts on the palm tree, and pine cones on the
evergreen.
Monthly Changes
Take
pictures of a tree nearby (monthly) so the
children can see the tree change over time.
More Science
Ideas...
Have
children do rubbings-bark, leaves, etc
Label the parts of
a tree-roots, trunk, branches, leaves
Talk about
who/what might live in a tree-birds, squirrels, insects, snakes...
Display or look
through magazines things that are made from trees-wooden
items, paper items... Place some of those things on a table along with
plastic items and ask the children to remove those that are not made from
trees.
Collect the leaves of different trees in your area.
Compare the shapes of the leaves.
Have
children bring leaves from their yard or neighborhood.
Identify the leaves. Graph the results.
Grow a tree
from a seed or seedling. Observe and chart its growth.
Discuss the
different animals that live in or use trees.
Make a
birdhouse, birdfeeder, or other useful item for the animals.
Make your
own paper from recycled paper or other materials.
Sprout
a small tree...seed and plant in the back yard or playground.
