Category: Cycles in Nature

Trees in Winter – Activities

FOCUS: Winter trees may look dead, but concealed in their buds are the beginnings of next year’s shoots, leaves, and flowers. Food is scarce in our winter woods, and for many animals the twigs, buds, and bark of dormant trees provide a welcome source of nutrition. Animals have no trouble recognizing which trees make the best meals, but for us identifying trees when their leaves are gone requires a close look and attention to detail, the skills of a good detective.

INTRODUCTION: TWIG QUESTIONS
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about trees in winter.

Ahead of time, cut twigs from a variety of trees including some that have alternate branching (e.g. elm, beech, oak, poplar) and some that have opposite branching (red maple, sugar maple, and ash). Make sure to cut twigs so they are long enough to show at least two years’ worth of growth. With maple and ash twigs, pick those that show opposite branching rather than just opposite bud scars, as these can be hard for children to see. Pass out a twig and a magnifying lens to each child. Ask them what they notice about the twigs. Also, what do they wonder about them? Make lists of their observations and questions on the board. Collect the twigs to use again later for Twig Dress-up and the journal activity.

Materials: variety of twigs showing at least two years of growth (one for each child), magnifying lenses.

A BRANCH THROUGH THE SEASONS
Objective: To model the yearly cycle of growth and change in a tree branch.

Divide the class into groups of six to eight children with an adult leader. Give each child a Branch through the Seasons card showing a stage of twig development on an American beech branch. Continue reading Trees in Winter – Activities

Trees in Winter – Puppet Show

A Budding Detective

Characters: Harry Hare, Hawthorn Twig, Staghorn Sumac Twig, Basswood Twig, Cherry Twig, Sugar Maple Twig.

Harry Hare  I am a hungry hare! Now, what should I have for supper? Twigs and buds? A little bark? I’ve eaten all the evergreen twigs I can reach, but it’s hard to tell these bare twigs apart without their leaves. This is going to take some good detective work!

Hawthorn  Haw, haw, haw! You don’t need to be a detective to tell a hawthorn twig. You could find me with your eyes closed!

Hare  Yikes! Those are big thorns! I guess it is easy to tell a hawthorn by its twigs. Continue reading Trees in Winter – Puppet Show

Trees in Winter – Standards

TREES IN WINTER ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Trees in Winter – Standards

Galls Galore – Background

A stand of goldenrod, its rugged stalks standing tall in a wintry field, is a good place to look for galls, one of nature’s small wonders. Many of the stalks sport hard, round swellings about an inch in diameter. Cradled in each, awaiting spring, is the larva of a gall-making insect. Its life cycle, like those of many other gall-makers, involves a remarkable relationship between an animal and its particular plant host.

A gall is an abnormal growth on a plant caused by another organism, most commonly an insect or a mite but also by nematodes, viruses, fungi, or bacteria. Continue reading Galls Galore – Background

Galls Galore – Activities

FOCUS:  Odd bumps and lumps on twigs, buds, and weed stalks might be galls, swellings on plants that are homes for an insect, mite, or other organism. A gall-maker causes its particular host plant to form a bulge in which it will live and feed for a time. Galls on buds, twigs, roots, or leaves of plants provide a safe home for the gall-makers and are an essential part of their life cycles.

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about galls.

Ahead of time, collect a selection of goldenrod stems with goldenrod ball galls on them. Make sure to cut the stems so they are long enough to show the gall(s) and the seed head at the top of the stalk. Pass out a goldenrod ball gall and magnifying lens to each child, and ask children to observe and describe their gall.

Materials: ball gall on a goldenrod stem of either tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima) or late goldenrod (Solidago gigantea), one for each child; magnifying lenses.

THAT’S MY GALL
Objective: To make observations and ask questions about goldenrod ball galls.

Using the goldenrod stalks from the Introduction, encourage children to look closely at their galls. You may wish to prompt their investigation with these questions: Continue reading Galls Galore – Activities

Galls Galore – Puppet Show

A Swell Day

Characters: Reddy Red Squirrel, Willow Pinecone Gall, Oak Apple Gall, Goldenrod Ball Gall, Raspberry Knot Gall.

 

Reddy Red Squirrel  One piney cone, two piney cones. I love pinecones and the little seeds I find inside them. And I’m counting on them to get me through the winter. Three piney cones…Oh, look! Here’s a pinecone I must have missed.

Willow Pinecone Gall Oh, boo hoo. Everyone thinks I’m a pinecone, but I’m not. If I were a pine, I’d have needles, wouldn’t I?

Squirrel  Hey, you’re right. How can you be a pine without needles? Continue reading Galls Galore – Puppet Show

Galls Galore – Standards

GALLS GALORE ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Galls Galore – Standards

Songbird Songs – Background

As the days grow longer in spring, chickadees start singing a different tune. Besides the familiar chickadee-dee call, we now hear a whistled “hey, sweetie,” often answered by another chickadee: “Hey, sweetie! Hey, sweetie!” Soon a cardinal takes up the theme, “Come here, come here,” and later a bluebird, back from migration, joins in the chorus: “Ain’t I pretty!” By May, the orchestra, in full swing, fills the dawn with a symphony of birdsong. Why do birds sing so much in the spring? Why make noise that could betray your presence to predators? What role does birdsong play in the annual cycle of a bird’s life, to be worth so much energy and risk?

Many birds communicate with sounds. Ducks quack, geese honk, loons yodel, and songbirds sing. Continue reading Songbird Songs – Background