Submitted By:
Jessica Ross, North Cove Elementary
Overview
Teacher will help students connect human survival and needs (learned in K-2) with how trees survive and grow. Students will keep a journal to record the weather, season and condition of their tree of focus. At the end of the Citizen Science Project, teams will analyze their data and make conclusions about how environmental factors affected their tree.
Grade Levels
3rd grade
Curriculum Correlation
3.L.2.2
Duration
Two initial lessons (30 minutes each). Then continue weekly/biweekly observations.
Location
Indoors and Outdoors
Materials
Notebook for student journaling
● Camera or iPad to take pictures of tree throughout the year
● Tell Me Tree by Gail Gibbons
Educators Information
Our planet has about 260,000 species, or types, of plants. They are found all over the place: your backyard, the rainforests, the deserts, and the poles.
Plants cannot move from place to place the way animals can. That is why it is important that they are in the right environment. For example, a cactus would not grow very well at the South Pole.
Students should already know the parts of a tree and the function of each. This lesson
should be an introductory lesson for plant growth and survival. Students should be exposed to deeper concepts of plant survival and growth throughout the year.
Procedure
First Lesson:
Engage: Play part of the chorus of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor
Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask children, what do we need to survive? So, what do plants, like trees, need to survive?
Create: Have students create a Double Bubble or Venn Diagram Graphic Organizer to compare and contrast needs of plants and humans/animals.
Second Lesson:
● Discuss: How do our means of survival, as humans, change during the different seasons of the year?
● Read aloud “Tell Me Tree” by Gail Gibbons
● Make a Tree Diagram with subheadings: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring
● Discuss: How does a tree survive during these different seasons?
● Introduce the student journal and go over an example of what students should record during each observation. (See Tree Observation Sample Form)
● Take students outside to begin recording their journal entries.
In the spring, students will review their journal entries, making note of how the tree
changed or adapted through the seasons. Students will create a flow map (graphic
organizer) that shows with pictures and words how the tree grew and/or changed.
Extensions
Have students journal about what would happen if a tree did not have roots.
Resources
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