A Closer Look at Trees

In this unit, students will investigate living trees in order to answer the essential question of “What is a Tree?” By using some materials in the Trees FOSS Kit and classroom mini-field trips, students will experience how trees and leaves have identifiable structures such as particular shapes, colors, or textures. Through these outside investigations students will understand that there are different types of trees (e.g. evergreens, deciduous, old trees, young trees, oak, red oak, maple, pine, fruit trees). Likewise, trees are identifiable by physical characteristics such as the type of leaves and bark, product of the tree (acorns, apples, etc) or shape of the tree. In class, students will learn how a tree grows, the basic needs of trees, and the parts of trees (roots, trunk, bark, branches, and leaves). At the end of the unit, students will adopt a class tree in the school yard to observe through the seasons. Students will observe and document the seasonal changes of their class tree in a science journal