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VanessaVH
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 4:27pm | IP Logged
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A few families from our co-op are doing a science club for the next 8 weeks (classes are done for the year...) It is supposed to be informal,(either in someone's back yard or at a park) with just a short intro to the topic of the day. and there will be appox 25 PK through 1st graders.
I have been tasked with introducing Trees and Leaves 3 weeks from now. I know almost nothing about the topic, I am not sure there will really be any leaves out yet in Michigan, and internet searches have mostly turned up fall ideas..... Help!! I was hoping for 2 black and white print outs, 1 showing the basic parts of a tree, and one with example of 6 or so local trees. Any ideas on how to get this or at least the info so I could make sheets like this?
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stellamaris
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 4:41pm | IP Logged
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Here is one nice picture I found with lots of info on the parts of a tree (click on each part). You might also try forestry.about.com or google image: parts of tree. There are several black and white images you might be able to use. HTH!
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Caroline
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 4:59pm | IP Logged
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Enchanted Learning Some of their printouts are for members only and some are free.
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Lara
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 5:26pm | IP Logged
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I did this in the fall with a young bunch of children. I have loads of links and such. PM me and I can send you some files.
Noticing the bark and canopy was very enjoyable, and bark rubbing made the walk nice and fun. Best book for this Tree Identification Book : A New Method for the Practical Identification and Recognition of Trees
Pointing out buds, how they are formed in the fall, not the spring.
Here are some notes and sites and handouts I had bookmarked:
Read from Handbook of Nature Study: 618-622 (section at the beginning of the Tree Study pages including Parts of the Tree and The Way a Tree Grows).
Handbook of Nature Study blog
Plant Structures: Leaves
Leaves printable detective
Native Trees of Virginia
Parts of the Tree
National Wildlife Federation
Nature Detectives
Trees Near Our School
Arbor Day Foundation
Thirty Six Weeks of Trees
Hearts and Trees
Leaf Key to Common Trees in Louisiana
Leaf Identification online
Montessori Materials
Books:
Tree Finder by May Theilgaard Watts
Winter Tree Finder: a Manual for Identifying Deciduous Trees in Winter by May T. Watts
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stellamaris
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 7:00pm | IP Logged
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Filing that under "favorites", Jennifer! 
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Caroline
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VanessaVH
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 9:08pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for all the links!! I will start checking them out.
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MaryM
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| Posted: March 31 2011 at 9:16pm | IP Logged
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This idea just came in the Journey North project e-letter I received today.
Leaf Out
I was already thinking of something along this line to suggest to you. Spring is the perfect time to observe the budding process, so you don't need leaves to be present yet. The 8 weeks you have will be a good time to watch and record changes from week to week. They suggest drawing the leaves and recording in a journal. Another option is photography - photograph the same branch/leaf buds each week and compare. Put together a photographic display of the changes.
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AtHomeScience
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| Posted: April 01 2011 at 7:02am | IP Logged
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Vanessa, I checked out your blog and I'm picturing you 34 weeks pregnant with 25 littles looking at trees. How wonderful and challenging!!!
Mary, I seemed to have fallen off the Journey North emails after I just notified them that their automated system kicked me off. That leaf project looks perfect for my next A Private Eye Nature project, but we just got another several inches of snow today, lol!
Jenn, that Nature Detectives site is really neat--lots of fun downloadables. I recently picked up The Tree Identification Book at a local used book store after you mentioned it before. It is excellent!
This is a bit much for your kids' age group but for anyone else following this thread with older kids, Reader's Digest How Nature Works by David Burnie has some excellent and easy experiments and measurements to do.
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 01 2011 at 8:47am | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
This idea just came in the Journey North project e-letter I received today.
Leaf Out
I was already thinking of something along this line to suggest to you. Spring is the perfect time to observe the budding process, so you don't need leaves to be present yet. The 8 weeks you have will be a good time to watch and record changes from week to week. They suggest drawing the leaves and recording in a journal. Another option is photography - photograph the same branch/leaf buds each week and compare. Put together a photographic display of the changes. |
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Oooh, this is so great, Mary! Thanks!
I just saw this one Scavenger Nature Hunts which has some great ideas.
For the little ones, scavenger/nature hunts work very well. For our group we usually create one sheet of paper with 8-10 items listed (we have a square with image, name, and a checkbos) to find on a nature walk, and the paper and pencil accompanies us. The items would be broader and not too technical related to the theme.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 09 2011 at 8:54am | IP Logged
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I just found a wonderful, color illustrations, oversized book that would really be helpful. It's OOP, but I see there are many copies available, both in Paper and hardback.
The Trees of North American by Alan Mitchell.
The book covers Broad Leaf Trees and Conifers, with two to four pages dedicated to certain types of trees--i.e., White Oaks, Red Oaks, Plums and Cherries, American Ash, Buckeyes (57 broad leaf).
Each illustration includes the bark, the tree canopy shape both with foliage and the winter look, the leaves, the fruit, some have the buds, some include the autumn colors.
It is tremendous!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Trees and Leaves Help!!
