Tree Identification

 

See if your students can name the leaves in this banner. Do it as a pre-test and post-test to doing this series of activities. See the answers

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This series can be done year round, but it is best in the early Autumn and late Spring.

Students are divided into four groups to do this series.

Time frame for this series is approximately 2 1/2 hours .

Conceptual Framework: Observation, Plant Classification

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Activity Two - Tree Factory

2. Tell students they are going to portray the parts of a tree.

3. Have the heartwood come to the center of the circle, and have him make the sound of a heartbeat.

4. Have sapwoods join hands in a circle around the heartwood.  Have them make slurping sounds.

5. Have the roots lie down and extend from the tree and spread out their arms and make sucking noises.

6. Have the leaves join the group and pretend to cook to illustrate making food.

7. Have the phloem join hands in a circle around the tree. 
Have them reach and squat mimicking bringing food to the tree.

8. Have cambium form between phloem and sapwood, swaying from side to side.

9. Have bark form around the tree, facing outward.

10. Ask students of the parts of the tree we imitated which ones are identifying characteristics. 
How can we tell one tree from the next?

Activity Three - Looking at Leaves

2. Have students make crayon rubbings of their leaves.

3. Ask the students when they are finished, What are the differences in the leaves?, 
What are the similarities?, Do any have teeth?, Are any needle-like?
What do they feel like?, Who found the largest and smallest leaves? 

4. Have students pass their leaves to another student and have them try to figure out which tree they came from.

5. Take students to several of the trees they collected leaves from and ask them What pattern do the leaves grow in?,
Do they grow close together or far apart?, How many needles per fascicle in evergreen leaves?,
What does the bark look like?, What is the fruit like? 
Use a key or field book to help them identify the leaves they collected.

Activity Four - Name That Tree

2. Instruct students to look within certain boundaries for the trees on these sheets and
write down the corresponding number by the name of the tree.

3. Students will take 15 minutes to analyze the trees and try to identify them. 

4. Group will gather together and go to the trees one by one and talk about what each is
and what the key characteristics are for that tree. 

5. Docent will have students tell what parts of a tree can be used in identifying it.

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