Create a School Arboretum Project
A Classroom Tree Study
A trip to an arboretum is an educational and inspirational adventure. Take your students to one if possible this spring. It is amazing to most kids to learn the huge variety of trees which grow in their region.
Studying trees can be a good project anytime of the year, but gains significance in the spring of the year or on Arbor Day, when citizens plant trees nationwide.
Create your own arboretum by studying trees in general and then assigning specific trees to students. Each child will study his assigned tree and write a report about that tree, try to obtain leaves, bark, nuts, fruit, etc from a live tree and then present his tree to the class
Study Trees
- Gather books on trees from the library. Display, discuss, and allow time for students to peruse the books.
- Display for the class some tree leaf collections. (See a 4-H leader).
- Have a forester speak to your class about the importance of trees (Contact the Soil Conservation Service).
- Read several books about trees together in the classroom, including poetry, story, picture books, non-fiction concerning tree products.
- Take a walk on school property or a park nearby and identify trees with a field guide.
- Allow students to read a list of Champion Trees and have them measure the largest tree they see on their outing.
Assign Trees
Allow each of the children to choose a tree that is common to their area. The students assignment will be first to read about this tree.
- Find leaves, bark, acorns, nuts, blooms, from this type of tree and collect these to display.
- Use index cards to create a small bookletabout his tree. Each card should contain some facts about the tree.(Where does it grow? What does it look like? How are the leaves shaped? List basic characteristics. What products are made from its wood? Is it a good firewood? How large does it usually grow? Strange facts about the tree. Where is the largest one of these located? Does it have any other names?) Punch holes in the upper left corner of each card, including a front and back cover decorated with a colored picture of the tree or one of its leaves. Use a metal key ring to attach the pages.
- Write a short report about the assigned tree and read it in class.
- Write a poem about the tree.
Arboretum in Class Day
Prepare for a day on which each child will stand by his own rendition of his assigned tree and tell about it while visitors from other classrooms tour the arboretum.
- Each child will use cardboard to design a six foot tree with cardboard trunk showing shape and bark color and special markings.
- Each student will make a template of the trees leaves and cut them from construction paper to glue to the tree’s branches.
- Add any pinecones, nuts, acorns, catkins, or blossoms found on his tree.
- Hang the trees around the classroom on the walls. (The classroom should look woodsy.)
- Each student can set up a desk display near his tree with books, a copy of his report or poem and his information booklet about the tree displayed.
- The teacher might display the tree measured or make her display about a Champion tree.
- After the room is decorated, other students may tour the arboretum and learn about the trees the class has displayed.
- Teacher may want to reward certificates for best research, best display tree, best information tree book, most colorful tree project, best poem, most informative report, etc.
A wonderful book for this project is A Colour Guide to Familiar Trees, Leaves, Bark and Fruit, by Jaromir Pokorny [Octopus Books, © 1973, Artia, Prague].
A good simple field guide to use is A Golden Guide to Trees, a Familiar Guide to American Tress By Herbert Zim and Alexander Martin, ©1987 Golden press, New York, NY
Have a happy tree day!
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