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Kristie 4
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Hi,
We need a little 'sprucing' up our studies (note the pun: one mom, 4 children , husband away for three weeks=corny humor) so we wanted to do a tree unit. I am just putting my feelers out on this great board for any ideas...
Kristie 
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SuzanneG
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Kristie ~
How old are your children?
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lapazfarm
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suzgallus wrote:
Kristie ~
How old are your children? |
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Yes, that is what I wanted to ask. I have TONS of ideas, but need to know the age ranges you are looking for. Also, what other areas would you like to tie in, like Am history or World, religion, math, writing suggestions, etc. Or do you just want to do a nature study of trees with some literature suggestions?
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Theresa
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MaryMary
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| Posted: Sept 10 2006 at 10:28pm | IP Logged
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This post came at the perfect time!
I am also in the midst of planning a tree/leaf unit for my littles(grade 1, kinder), and I'm still gathering some good picture books and other resources for the study. So far I have Gerda Muller's 'Around the Oak', Lois Ehlert's 'Pie in the Sky','Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf' and 'Leaf Man'. We were going to learn the poem 'Trees' by Joyce Kilmer. I have National Geographic field guide for trees for some (hopefully) enlightening nature walks. We were going to press leaves and do some bark rubbings in our nature journals. I also found a book through Scholastic last year entitled, "Leaf Hunter" by Marie-Clair La Flair. It is a colouring book/simple field guide for children and nature journal all in one. I also just ordered the Dover coloring book, "Trees of the Northeast", as well.
I'm in the process of finding some artwork/music that would be relevant to our study.
I was kinda hoping to kick it all off on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross (Sept 14) with the Mosaic lessons on "The Tale of Three Trees"...
Sorry these are just sketchy plans, I'm still workin' on it! Can't wait to hear other ideas on this...
Mary
Mom 2 3
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Kelly
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| Posted: Sept 11 2006 at 9:22pm | IP Logged
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Carolina Biological used to have a nifty Plant Set that you could buy. It has about 35 or 40 different leaves and berries made of rubber, along with eight pages of matching outlines, accompanied by numbered pages identifying, describing and discussing the plants. There's also a page of poisonous plants. My kids love sorting the plants to the pages. In fact, even as I write this, they are currently spread out on the floor by the computer (the leaves, that is, not the children...) I bought them a long time ago, though, so I have no idea if they are still made or how much they are, but check out Carolina Biological. They have some neat, durable study aids.
Kelly in FL
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Kristie 4
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These all sound like great ideas.
My children are 11,9,6, and 3.
We are trying//smile//to start in slowly to our studies and were thinking of mainly doing sciency type things (today we did drawings of the elm in our front yard), but would love some good picture book suggestions, or novels.
We live in Canada (the maple leaf forever!! A little bit of Canadian Trivia ala Stompin' Tom).
Thanks so much,
Kristie
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ami*
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Here I go again 
There is a new unit up at Homeschool Share based on a book by Scott Russell Sanders--
Meeting Trees The unit includes lessons for all aspects of the book (math, social studies, language arts, science, art, etc.), but you could just take what you want from it and leave what you don't!
When you finish learning about trees, there is even a certificate for you to print for your little dendrologists 
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SuzanneG
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I checked out
My Favorite Tree from the library and liked it...lots of info about diff't trees, sketches, etc.
Also, Crinkleroot's guide to Knowing the Trees is good.
Ideas for field trips / rabbit trails.....
Learn about lumberjacks/past logging industry
Tour a paper mill, window manufacturer, molding store
Visit a hardwood floor store (they will have the kids touch, feel, compare the different types of wood used) which is VERY helpful as a future homeowner
Tour a lumber store...discuss cuts of wood, pressure treating, transportation, etc.
Forest Fires...!!!!lots of tangents here!
For older children...learn how to cut/chop wood
Younger children....learn how to a build fire
Learn how a chainsaw works
Learn about pruning/trimming trees..could even "shadow / interview a tree trimming service"
I also just re-read the tree section of the Handbook of Nature Study, and there are good ideas and helpful topics in there!
Thanks for the book recommendations, Mary, I've found it hard to find good, interesting childrens books on trees. Can't wait to see these!
Suzanne in WA
mom to Madeleine (5), Erika (4), Dorothy Jo (2), Caroline (6 months)
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MaryMary
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Ami, thanks for the great site!
Kristie, I am Canadian, too! Though it is not a tree resource(it's an alphabet book) I thought immediately of the book, "M is for Maple" by Mike Ulmer.
Theresa, I would love to hear your ideas. Lapazfarm is one of my favorite sites to get ideas for nature study. What awesome learning must take place at your home!
Keep the ideas comin'
Mary
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Anya
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Another resource that I found at the library today was "Sky Tree" by Thomas Locker. A seeing science through art book.
It's an art appreciation book about the changes a tree goes through during the year, set against the changing sky. The book has short discussions and questions for you to ask about each picture. It is like a mini art study with the work already done!
Kristie, for you: Canadian Trees by Colleayn O. Mastin. It's alot of information packed into a picture book. There's a bit of history, tree discriptions, products from the each tree, etc.
Anyways, since you are all discussing a tree unit, I thought this might help.
___________________________
If you already read my post below on the this board, you might have figured out that I have decided to try a unit study and the topic of course: TREES. I am going to use Ami's "Meeting Trees" unit as a base and add in many more books to read.
Is it possible to over-due a unit. I keep finding good books to use! We might like this after all!
Anya
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lapazfarm
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MaryMary wrote:
Theresa, I would love to hear your ideas. Lapazfarm is one of my favorite sites to get ideas for nature study. What awesome learning must take place at your home!
Mary |
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Thanks Mary,we do have fun!
I actually just put up a post at my blog on nature study with trees. I hope to add more to it eventually, but the basics are there. Tree post
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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ChristinaK
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Enchanted Learning has some leaf crafts and activity booklets and tree anatomy printouts that might be useful for a tree unit. They are listed under Arbor Day.
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MaryM
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The Sky Tree book Anya recommended is very good. Another book to use for autumn tree art projects is Look What I Did with a Leaf.
The Big Tree - tree info along with American history from 1770's to present.
Trees, Leaves, and Bark - a nice little take-along field guide for young ones
Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
Picture books not necessarily about trees but in which trees have a big part:
Apples to Oregon
Nothing Here But Trees- Jean van Leeuwen
Interdependence of trees and other living things within nature:
The Gift of a Tree
One Small Place in a Tree
A Log's Life
Once There was a Tree
Haven't yet read these, but just requested them:
Shelterwood
EDITED: Just read - Introduction to various types of trees thrrough the story of girl and her grandfather as he teaches her about growing trees and logging in a responsible way.
Science:
-Informative experiment to illustrate why leaves change color
-This experiment on color change sounds interesting though I haven't done it.
-Find out about trees producing oxygen with this demo experiment.
Other fun things to do:
Find a tree stump with clear rings and count them - talk about age of tree and how rings form.
This time of year is a great time to visit an apple orchard. Find out about grafting and see examples of grafted trees. Try your hand at grafting a stem.
Anya wrote:
| Is it possible to over-due a unit. I keep finding good books to use! |
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I sure hope not or I do it all the time. Your family will let you know if it is over-done. Sometimes units stop being units and become obsessions (owls/birds of prey for us this year). You really learn a lot from obsession units!
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Mary M. in Denver
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MaryM
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Theresa,
It was interesting to read your blog on the American Chestnut Tree (Being a westerner I'm pretty uninformed of the eastern trees). We just recently reread Nothing Here But Trees by Jean Van Leeuwen. It's about a frontier family moving from New York to the Ohio frontier when it was covered with a great forest. There is a description of the trees that makes it sound like they must have been American Chestnut due to size and location (though they are not named in the book).
"Trees so thick and tall I couldn't make out the tops. Trees so wide Willy and me and Pa and Ma together could not reach around them. Trees that put me in mind of some dark, long-legged beasts, blocking out the sun."
There are some great illustrations as well.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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lapazfarm
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I'm glad you found it interesting. That sounds like a neat book. I may have to sneak it into the American History unit I am planning!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Meredith
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We're doing trees too! Check out my right side-bar on my blog under Autumn Nature Study for additional books you may not have seen yet! Thanks for all the great links and ideas. We're going to stick pretty much to the nature and science apsect as we're heading into Fall!
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Meredith
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vmalott
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A great book that I just read through the other night is The Blossom on the Bough by Anne Dowden. It is wonderfully written and would make an excellent read aloud. Though the pictures in the book are few compared to the text, what is there is beautiful. The painted images recall to mind the precision of Audobon.
The title might seem a little misleading, making one think this might only be what we consider flowering trees. The author explains in the book, though, that all deciduous trees are flowering trees, just not showy. She gives thorough explanations for plant reproduction, why leaves change color, how trees grow, etc. It's all done in an engaging way where the wonder of God's creation is evident, though not explicitly written. I can hardly wait to spring this one on the kids!
Valerie
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lapazfarm
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Valerie, that sounds wonderful! If you check out the website Backyard Nature, there are great pictures and explanations of flowers of all kind, including the tiny, hidden flowers of oak trees, etc. A great resource.
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Theresa
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Mary G
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Based on my rather pitiful attempt last week, we've decided we really want to KNOW our trees in the area and so we've started on a tree unit ...
One book we read today is great! Oak Tree by Gordon Morrison is a great overview of a year of a tree (and it's inhabitants) with great nature journal-y illustrations and notes, etc. A great book to start our unit.
I'll pull together a full list of books and post when we get going ....
Thanks too for the great advice and cheering us on from last week's fiasco. After morning Mass tomorrow, we'll start collecting leaves and go from there ....
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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CandaceC
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Ladies,
there is a freebie just for TODAY, Mon. 28th that would be great for this study! It is a fall nature study and talks alot about trees.
Look over on the great outdoors board for the link. :)
Also, thanks for all these GREAT ideas! I'm going to be planning to do this unit in 2 weeks! :)
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Tree unit
