Big Ideas
Trees are helpful to our environment and quality of life in many ways, and we should care for and protect them.
Trees provide us with oxygen.
Trees improve air quality.
Trees help to maintain the climate.
Trees help preserve water
Trees help preserve soil.
Trees support wildlife.
Summary
When students are asked, “What benefits, or good things, do we get from trees?,” most students will immediately answer with a list of products made from trees such as paper, pencils, building materials, etc. A few students will say that trees give us oxygen, or give us shade to cool off. While all of that is true, we want students to expand their knowledge and appreciation of trees and the benefits of having them growing around us in the city. Instead of just knowing that trees get cut down to make stuff for us, students can develop a personal connection to trees and appreciate all the ways they help us.
Engage
Introduce the concept of states of matter with a poster and video.
Students will add examples to the states of matter poster.
Teacher leads a discussion on chemical reactions using burning as an example.
Students compile a list of examples of different chemical reactions from everyday life. Teacher creates an anchor chart throughout the conversation.
Students and the teacher complete a “chemical reaction in real time” experiment using baking soda, vinegar, and a balloon.
Teacher documents student observations following the experiment, directing them to the fact that different
Where do trees get their mass?
Show the oak tree time lapse video from acorn to tree.
Students will watch two videos, “Life of a 600-Year-Old Oak Tree” and “Where Do Trees Get the Mass to Grow”
Teacher will lead a discussion and create an anchor chart based on learnings.
Students will plant a pea or bean seed and record their observations as it grow from seed to plant.
Plant a sapling in the fall and follow its growth throughout the spring.
Identify a sapling in the local area and monitor its growth.
Explore and Explain
Post the question, “So, where do trees get their masses from?”
Students discuss learnings from lesson two.
Teacher introduces the word “photosynthesis” and shows a video.
Direct instruction: Teacher presents a slide presentation which teaches about photosynthesis.
Students relate the concept of photosynthesis to the bean seedlings:
Some seedlings will be deprived of light.
Some seedlings will be deprived of water.
Some seedlings will be fertilized.
Introduce supply list for the “carnation observation”
Teacher will lead students through the stages of the carnation observation activity.
Students will record their observations in their science journals
Teacher will lead students in using the microscope for closer observations of stomata and chloroplasts.
Elaborate
Use the Google Earth feature to zoom in on a local park or other area of focus on local trees.
Introduce the idea of mapping trees and determining the value of having trees locally.
Review expectations and goals of a local park/area walking trip.
Students choose a tree in the park and gather data on the tree (diameter of the trunk; height of the tree)
Transitional times: students check out these cool scientists who work with trees to answer
Display an example of a “local tree” sign. Prompt the students to make connections between the “local tree” sign and the data that our class already connected from the local park walk.
The teacher introduces the iTree app and the Omni Calculator website.
Students input data into the app and website platforms.
Students create authentic local tree signs, QR codes, and a website to house their findings.
Students share local tree signs with students in other grades and/or classes.
Students promote the student-created website to the school community, including the neighborhood community.
Teacher Support
Essential Question
Why are trees important to our environment and to our health and well-being?
Guiding Questions
What are the benefits of having trees in our schoolyard or neighborhood?
How are the basic needs of trees met?
How do trees mitigate climate change?
How do you decide where and what trees to plant?
Students will be able to:
Determine the types of trees that are present in their neighborhood.
Determine the ages of the trees in their neighborhood.
Understand the benefits of having trees within their neighborhood.
Understand how trees create their own food sources.
Create signs about the trees in their neighborhood to share their learning with others.
Chemical Reactions
16 ounce plastic bottle per student
Party balloons
Box of baking soda
Gallon of vinegar
Potting soil
Grow lights
Microscopes
Tree Structure and Functions
Cups
Food coloring
Water
White carnation flowers
Scissors
Plastic knife
Colored pencils
Lab notebook
Tray with paper towels
Local Park Connections
“d-tape” tape measures
Yard sticks
Sharing our Findings with the Community
iTree app
Omni Calculator site
Slide Deck for Mini Unit
Photosynthesis (noun) the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. In plants this generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct
Diameter (noun) a straight line passing through the center of a circle from side to side whose endpoints lie on the circle
Radius (noun) the measure of a distance from the center of any circular object to its outermost edge or boundary
Circumference (noun) a line that goes around or encloses a circle
Stormwater (noun) water is precipitation such as rainfall, snowmelt or irrigation that runs off hard surfaces and across land or into pipes and flows into streams and waterways
Mass (noun) a coherent, typically large body of matter with no definite shape
Xylem (noun) the vascular tissues in plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root and also helps to form the woody element in the stem
Stomata (noun) a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spaces of the leaf and the atmosphere
Phloem (noun) the vascular tissue in plants that conducts sugars and other metabolic products downward from the leaves
Chloroplast (noun) an organelle that contains the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll that captures sunlight and converts it into useful energy, thereby, releasing oxygen from water.
Vascular tissue (noun) complex tissue in vascular plants that transports nutrients and fluids throughout the plant
Create a website including an ongoing tree inventory map with links to informational plaques of trees in the community in order to share learning about the local trees with the neighborhood.
Standards (STEELS plus others ):
3.2.7.C.1. Generate questions about objects, organisms and/or events that can be answered through scientific investigations.
3.3.7.A.1. Describe how the structures of living things help them function in unique ways.
3.5.7.B.1. Identify and locate significant earth resources (e.g. rock types, oil, gas, coal deposits) in Pennsylvania.
3.5.7.B.3. Explain the value and uses of different earth resources (e.g. selected minerals, ores, fuel sources, agricultural uses).
3.1.5.A Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.