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Our group decided to explore trees in our community. This means we ventured outdoors around our school and to the Armand Bayou Nature Center to explore and discover the different types of trees in our area, what they provide, and the parts of trees. We chose this particular topic because of the interest students show in trees, especially during the change in seasons when trees often lose their leaves or change colors.

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What are the parts of a tree?
What do trees provide?
What grows on trees?
What is the life cycle of a tree?

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We asked Sarah's son a series of questions to understand what he knew about the topic and what he wanted to know:

What he knew beforehand:

● What grows on trees?
○ Nuts
■ Squirrels eat them
○ Apples
○ Acorns
○ Roses
○ Pecans
○ Sticks/Branches
○ Leaves
● What do we do with trees?
○ Burn them
○ Cut them-bad
○ Shade
● What lives in trees?
○ Squirrels
○ Birds
■ Nests
● Where do trees grow?
○ Forest
○ Neighborhood

What he wanted to learn from the project:
○      Names of trees

○      Names of leaves

○      How they grow

○      How old they are

○      What trees make

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Behavioral Objective for each Investigation

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Behavioral Objective for each Investigation

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Investigation 1 -
Science: The learner will measure the temperature of under and around the tree using a thermometer and Temperature Observation Sheet to understand what shade does and determine if the temperature is cooler or warmer in the shade with 90% accuracy. TEKS Science B.2.B.C.
Math: The student will determine the difference in temperature underneath shade and away from shade using thermometers, with 90% accuracy. TEKS Math B.7.B
Social Studies: The student will create a map of the school and trees around the campus using graph paper and map pencils with 90% accuracy.

Investigation 2 -
Math: The learner will collect and sort different berries/nuts from the trees using sorting buckets in groups with 90% accuracy. TEKS: Math 8.A-C

Science: The learner will label and describe the parts of a tree and its life cycle with 85% accuracy. TEKS: Science B 10 (D)

Investigation 3 -
Social Studies: The student will fill in a map of the school and trees around the campus using a copy of the campus map and map pencils with 90% accuracy. SS TEKS: (B)(3)(A-C)

ELAR: The student will listen to the speaker and ask questions throughout their stay, as well as complete a document of notes from the day. ELAR TEKS: (B)(1)(A & C)

Investigation 4 -
ELAR: The student will complete the sentences provided using the Word Bank with the high frequency words spelled correctly with 95% accuracy. TEKS: ELAR 10 D  (ix)

ART:The students will create different parts of a tree in their groups using construction paper, scissors, and markers, and combine their work as a class to put the tree together with 100% accuracy. TEKS: Art 2 ( B, C)

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Description:
Students will begin class by reading the books This Tree Counts, and A Tree is a Plant.
Students will go outside the school and measure the temperature in different areas (under shaded trees, in the sun, pavement, etc.) and compare them to one another. Students will take photos while outside, as well as participating in discussions about which trees they think provide more shade. Students will draw this representation (larger trees provide more shade).

Materials:

Clipboards

Camera

Paper

Writing Utensils

Thermometer

Formento, Ashley A.. (2010). This tree counts. (Sarah Snow, Illust.). Albert Whitman & Company.

Bulla, Clyde Robert. (2016). A tree is a plant. (Stacey Shuett, Illust.). HarperCollins.

Observation/Data sheet

Relation to project question: What do we do with trees?
Students gain an insight on what trees provide for us, which is shade among other things.

How children represented their learning:
Through their completed observation sheet, and photos representing that larger trees provided more shade than smaller ones.

How their learning was assessed:
Assessment was determined through students drawings, photos and completed observation sheet.

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Description:
In Phase 2, students will be going out into the field for immersive, firsthand experiences in nature. Students will be going on a nature walk around the school campus to map trees and go to Armand Bayou Nature Center to observe and explore the diverse trees at the park. With the use of data sheets, students will be able to record their observations and represent what they have learned throughout the project.

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Description:
Students explore Armand Bayou Nature Center. While exploring the students will ask their adult guide questions they have. The students will work to collect different items throughout the reserves. The students will identify the different items and they will record each item. The student will use photos to investigate the life cycle of a tree through photos they took while walking the trails.

Materials:

Clipboards

paper

sorting buckets (labeled)

data sheet

pencils

Camera

Student Data Sheets

Relation to project question:
What is the life cycle of a tree?
Students will explore the different stages of a tree's life cycle from sapling to maturity.

How students represented their learning:
Students logged observations on trees using the Tree Ages Data Sheet. Students logged observations on different berries and nuts using the Sorting Data Sheet. Students discussed the characteristics and traits in sapling trees versus mature trees and correctly identified them during the walk. Students correctly separated nuts and berries into their correct container. Students placed photos of trees in the correct order of its life cycle.

How students will be assessed:
Students will be assessed by placing photographs of a tree's life cycle in the correct order and identifying the difference between a sapling and a mature tree.

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Description:
For Investigation 3, students will be mapping the trees around the school campus. After they have finished the mapping activity, a park ranger from the Armand Bayou Nature Center will join the class to talk about her expertise on trees in the area. Students will compose a list of questions to ask the speaker before she arrives.

Materials:

Speaker handout for notes

Clipboard

Map of school campus

final draft of their map

compass

colored pencils, pencils, markers, crayons

Mobile Interactive Map of Armand Bayou nature center presented by guest speaker.

https://www.abnc.org/discovery-loop-map

Relation to the project question:
Where do trees grow?
Students can explore the different areas in which trees grow such as a school campus, a park, or nearly anywhere outside where there is enough room for trees to grow. The speaker will also have an interactive map of Armand Bayou Nature Center where students can get a peek into the wooded areas of the park.

How children represented their learning:
With a map of the school campus, students will be plotting where trees are found. With questions for the speaker, students will be thinking ahead of the kinds of questions they have about the park and the trees in the park.

How students will be assessed:
Students will be assessed with their completed and correct mapping of trees found around the campus.

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Notes from guest speaker and rough draft

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Description:
The students will begin class by reading the book Nature All Around: Trees and have a discussion determining which type of tree they would like to create as a class.
The students will then split into 3 equal groups and create a different part of the tree (roots & trunk, branches/stems, leaves & whatever pieces the tree calls for: pecans, acorns, pinecones, pine needles, etc.) as well as making a label for each piece. Once the students complete their parts of the tree they will come back to the center of the class and begin putting their tree together as a class as well as putting labels on each piece of the tree. After completing the tree the students will complete their sentence stem sheet which will have them write about the tree they created.

Materials:

Hickman, P. (2019). Nature all around: Trees. Gavin, C. (Illust.). Kids Can Press.

Construction paper of various colors

Scissors

Markers

Camera to document progress and completed tree

Worksheet with sentence stems printed out on it

Wakelet link: https://wke.lt/w/s/4jgDoQ

Relation to project questions: What are the parts of a tree?

Students took time in their groups to create different parts of a tree and build an understanding of that parts role in the trees life.

How students represented their learning:
Each groups portion of the tree (photographed)

the classes final tree
the labels on the tree and the explanation of their portion of the tree.
their completed sentence stem worksheet.

How students learning was assessed: Assessment was determined thought their completed sentence stems worksheet, participation in discussions, as well as the completed class tree.

For students learning virtually: Go through the wakelet link provided and follow the videos until each is complete, after finishing all videos complete the matching activity.
https://wke.lt/w/s/4jgDoQ

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Phase 3: Concluding the Project - Culminating Activity

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Phase 3: Concluding the Project - Culminating Activity

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Students shared with the class and teacher the importance of maps, and situations they may need them (hiking, driving, etc.) as well as how to use them.

Students participated in a discussion explaining how to use a compass as well as when they may need them.

Students completed their maps, and notes and were asked, “If a new student were to use this map would it help them or confuse them?” Students agreed that the map would be a productive piece of information.

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For the culminating activity, parents and children will work together to make clay reliefs of what was collected on nature walks. The teacher will set up tables with tablecloths to protect the surfaces. There will be a handwashing station so that participants can clean their hands before and after the activity. The collection of leaves, nuts, berries, pinecones, and pine needles will be sorted on the tables along with quick-dry clay. Parents and children will roll out the clay into the size of a paper plate and press the collected items into the clay, creating a relief. The arrangement of the pressed items will be left to the artists. As the clay dries, the teacher will encourage the students to talk about what the children have discovered throughout the project, including the different types of trees, what trees provide, the items they have collected, and their trip to the Armand Nature Bayou Center. After the clay has dried, parents and children will paint their artwork. The teacher will then create a Gallery Wall of the reliefs to display. Underneath or beside each relief, the children will write their names on an index card and the parents will write down their children’s dictated description of the relief. The teacher will take a photograph of the Gallery Wall for the parents to take home.

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TEKS and Objective for Culminating Activity

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TEKS and Objective for Culminating Activity

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Art

(b) Knowledge and skills.

(2) Creative expression. The student communicates ideas through original artworks using a variety of media with appropriate skills. The student expresses thoughts and ideas creatively while challenging the imagination, fostering reflective thinking, and developing disciplined effort and progressive problem-solving skills. The student is expected to:

(B) arrange components intuitively to create artworks; and

(C) use a variety of materials to develop manipulative skills while engaging in opportunities for exploration through drawing, painting, printmaking, constructing artworks, and sculpting, including modeled forms.

Objective: The student will create a relief of leaves, nuts, berries, and pinecones using clay and paint. The students will also describe their creation in order to make an artist's placard to accompany the work.

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Quick-Dry Clay

Paint

Paintbrushes

Collected from nature walk: leaves, nuts, berries, pinecones, pine needles

Tables

Tablecloths

Paper plates

Rolling pins

Index cards

Tacks

Straws

Black marker

Camera with instant photos

Hand washing sink with soap and paper towels