Trees/Habitats in my Community (Junior)

Learning Goals

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify various species of trees that exist in their community.

Success Criteria

• I can identify trees commonly found in my community.
• I can recognize trees based on their specific characteristics.

Materials Needed

• Leafsnap App
• Devices with cameras (iPads, phones, etc.)
• Student journals (to record observations)
• White printer paper
• Drawing tools (crayons, pencils, etc.)
• Devices with internet access (computers, iPads, etc.), and/or fact books about trees
• Paper folder (or another method of binding pages into a book)

Minds On (Activating Prior Knowledge)

Have a class discussion about species of trees they know are in their community. Ask students: Can you name any trees that you regularly see in our community? How can you identify these trees by looking at them?

Ahead of time, download the app “Leafsnap” onto available school devices that have cameras. It can be downloaded onto iPads or consider allowing students to download the app onto personal cell phones, with parental permission. Explain to students that they will explore the different trees in their area. Show them the app “Leafsnap” and explain how to use it. The app allows students to take pictures of leaves, bark, fruit, and flowers on trees and it will identify the common and scientific names of that tree species. Tell students to identify each tree in multiple ways-for example, take pictures of both the leaf and the bark of a tree. The app can sometimes misidentify if the picture is unclear, so this will help them be confident in their identification. They will record the common name of each tree they discover in a journal. You may want to try the app ahead of time so you can show students how to use it.

Take students on a nature walk to a wooded area on school grounds (or nearby if permitted). Allow students (individually or in groups, depending on devices available) to explore the different trees in the area using the app. Remind them to record their findings. After a given amount of time, head back to the classroom and discuss the types of trees they found.

Note: If a nature walk is not possible, the app will identify pictures of tree parts. Make stations throughout the room, each station offering pictures of parts of a specific tree. Students must determine which tree species is at each station using the app.

Note: Pictures can be uploaded to the app to identify the tree species. If there is not enough technology available, take pictures of various tree parts ahead of time. As a class, upload them to the app on a single device and identify/record the species together.

Activity (Teacher or Volunteer Lead)

Pre-select 3-5 species of trees that are commonly found in your area that you are going to introduce to the class. After the warm-up activity, introduce these species (pull up some pictures from Google) and ask if any students found them on their nature walk. Ask students to identify features of that species that could help us easily identify them. For example, the needles of a pine tree, the leaf of a maple tree, etc.

Explain to students that they will create a classroom “tree book.” Each student will contribute to the book that includes common tree species found in their area (specifically the 3-5 species you introduced earlier). Divide students into groups- each group will work on a different species of tree. Each person in the group will have a different job to complete (you may choose groups based on who wants to do each job). Jobs may include:

Artist(s)

• makes a creative title page for their tree that includes the Scientific and common name
• draws a picture of the tree
• makes rubbings of tree bark and leaves
• How to make a leaf rubbing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvegBhx8510
• How to make a tree bark rubbing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3D8xSFUlfI

Researcher

• Researches the tree using the internet or books
• finds between 5-7 facts: choose these based on their age/abilities or curriculum expectations (ex: how tall it can grow, where the tree is native to, what animals it provides food/habitat for, how long it may live, seasonal changes, etc.)

Writer

• Works alongside the researcher
• Writes a paragraph that includes information about the tree using full sentences and punctuation
• Written neatly, or typed and printed

Other optional jobs include:

• Poet/storyteller: Writes a creative poem/story about the tree
• Photographer: Takes pictures of the tree (perhaps in different life stages) and creates a collage
• Cartographer: Draws a map that indicates where this type of tree can be found on the school grounds

When all groups are finished, combine the work into a book. You may laminate the pages and bind them with string or add them to a paper folder- be creative! Make a title page with the title “Trees in Our Community” and list all student names as authors (groups who finish early could be tasked with this).

Connection + Consolidation

Go on another nature walk around the school yard. Engage students in a scavenger hunt. Call out a tree species that they have learned about (perhaps one of the species included in their books) and have students find that tree in the yard. Point out which students have correctly identified the tree and ask them to explain how they knew.

Modifications for Online Learning

For the warmup activity, have students use the app to identify trees on their own (at home, in their neighbourhood, etc.). If they do not have access to the app, instruct them to research trees commonly found in their area and in Canada. A good website for this is CBC Kids’ Trees of Canada.

For the activity portion, show students photos of the 3-5 trees you want them to include in a book and describe characteristics of each. Create a collaborative digital book through Book Creator – it is free to sign up and use.

Give each student a task to complete on their own. These tasks can be similar to the tasks for in-person learning, with small adjustments. The research and writer roles should be combined, and the work divided up among multiple students. Each researcher should be given a specific fact to find so there is no overlap.

For the artist role, students can find pictures online to include in the book or create their own images, take a photo with their phone, and upload it to the book. Have each student create a page for the book according to the task they were given. They can make their page as creative as they want with voice recordings instead of text, images, fun text, etc. When it is completed, have the students read it together as a class.

Extension Actvities

Make multiple copies of the book and have students read them with younger students as reading buddies!