Trees as Habitats

From their leafy branches to their tangled roots, trees provide a habitat for a host of plants and animals. In this activity, children will inventory the plants and animals that live in, on, and around
trees and discover how plants and animals depend on trees in many ways.

Doing the Activity

Where do you live? A habitat is the place where a plant or animal can get all the things it needs to

survive. The next time you pass by a tree, think of it as a habitat, or living space. While observing a
tree, have children learn about the different ways plants and animals can find food, water, shelter, and
iving space by asking:

• What are some plants and animals that depend on trees?

• What do trees provide for these plants and animals?

• Can you see signs of life on the trunk, branches, roots, and leaves? (Have children look on the

ground around the tree for fallen leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, fruits, or nuts.)

• How is a tree affected by the plants and animals that live on it? (they may benefit, harm, or be neutral to the tree)

If possible, allow children to use hand lenses or binoculars to get a closer look. Ask them to use their

sense of hearing to locate more plants and animals. Finally, compare a tree to your own home, or

habitat. How are they alike or different? Conduct a read-aloud with young children using Goodnight,

Owl! by Pat Hutchins.

 

Let's Celebrate Arbor Day - April 27th!

Great activity for Arbor Day and all-year round!!

Adopt a Tree

In this activity, children “adopt” a tree, deepening their awareness of individual trees over time and encouraging a greater understanding and appreciation of their local environment.

Doing the Activity

The next time you are on a walk in a familiar area, invite children to choose a particular tree to observe. Suggest they become better acquainted with it by using their senses of sight, touch, hearing, and smell to describe the tree. Encourage critical thinking by asking:

Is this tree alive? How do you know?•

How is this tree similar to and/or different from other trees around it?•

How does this tree help the environment around it?•

Complete the Adopt a Tree Journal Entry below. Revisit this tree on a regular basis throughout the year and in a variety of weather conditions. Have children guess reasons for the changes they see and then predict changes for the future.

Adopt a Tree Journal Entry My Adopted Tree

Date:________________Time:_____________

Location:______________________________

Describe the tree_______________________

_____________________________________

What color is the bark?___________________

Why did you choose this tree?_____________

_____________________________________

What type of tree is it?___________________

Draw a picture of your tree or use a crayon or pencil to complete a leaf or bark rubbing.

Adapted from Activity 21: Adopt a Tree from Project Learning Tree’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide.

How many seasonal signs can you find?

Spring Bursting buds• Emerging insects • Ice-free lakes • Birds preparing • nests Fall Leaf color change• Fallen leaves• Bird migration• Colder • temperatures

Summer Ripe berries • Lightning bugs• (fireflies) Thunderstorms• Longer days • Winter Bare branches• Animal tracks • in the snow Visible animal • homes Shorter days•

Adopt a Tree booklet for kids available. Email jswerczek2@unl.edu and put Tree Booklet in subject line. A template will be sent electronically.

 We All Need Trees

Children are often surprised to learn how many different products we get from trees. Use this activity to help children learn just how much we depend on trees in our daily lives.

Doing the Activity
Take a walk with children, and bring along a daypack filled with a few tree products, for example, fruit (e.g., apple, orange, mango), a pencil and a journal or a book, sunblock, and chewing gum. Pick up a downed tree branch and ask where it came from (a tree). Eat the fruit, and ask children where it came from (a store? a tree?).

Ask children to think of other items that come from trees. Discuss some unusual tree products, using the samples from your daypack. Ask critical questions, including:

Have you used anything that comes from trees today?

How are tree products alike and how are they different?

What do you like most about trees?

In addition to giving us wood, paper, food, and other products, trees are invaluable assets to our communities. Take a neighborhood walk, and look for newly planted trees and shrubs. How are they protected? Find a place without trees, and compare it with a place with many. Which place do you like best? Why?

For a children’s story about the gifts of trees and our responsibility to care for them, check out -

The Tree Farmer by Chuck Leavell and Nicholas Cravotta, 2005, ISBN: 1893622169.

 

 

Adapted from Activity 13: We All Need Trees from Project Learning Tree’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide.

Welcome to the new blog for Nebraska Project Learning Tree and Project WET! On this blog, I will share environmental education and outdoor activity ideas to use with kids. Let's get those kids outside!