South Carolina ETV

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This Is Tree-rific! (Grade 3)

Master Teacher

Kathy Creech Felder

Time Allotment

Three 45-minute class periods

Overview

Inside a tiny acorn is the seed for a very large oak tree. In this lesson students will participate in a series of hands-on, online, and multimedia activities to examine the four life factors, the life cycle of a tree, structures of a tree, and trees as habitats. Students will view a clip of the video Backyard Safari, “Trees,” and portray the life cycle of a tree. Students will then view a clip on structures of a tree and draw a diagram of a tree in their science journals. Finally, students will view and discuss a clip on trees as habitats. Following the video portion of the lesson, students will visit a Web site to test their knowledge of trees.

Subject Matter

Life Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Compare and contrast the basic needs of plants and animals;
Select and describe an appropriate habitat for a plant or animal;
Compare and describe growth of living things based on observations and measurements over time including stages of development and life;
Record and describe the growth and development of a specific plant or animal over time.

South Carolina Standards

Click here to download standards

Grade 3: Life Science

Organisms can survive only in habitats in which their needs can be met.
Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism, but other characteristics result from an individual’s interactions with the environment.

Media Components

Video

Backyard Safari, Lesson 11: “Trees,” contains information on how a tree grows, structures of a tree, and how trees are important as a habitat.

Web Site

Trees Are Terrific . . . Travels with Pierre.
This Web site contains interactive science activities on trees for students. Students travel with Pierre to see how trees are terrific.

Materials

potted plant/rock
Life boxes (See Prep for Teachers.)
seeds (acorn)
Activity Sheets 1 and 2
Science journals
crayons/markers/colored pencils
pencils

Equipment

TV
VCR
computers

Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching this lesson, preview and cue video.

Prepare Life Boxes. These are shoe boxes containing a small bottle of water and a zip lock bag of soil. Three Life Boxes usually suffice for a class.
Copy student Activity Sheets.
Bookmark the Web site used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom.
Load the Shockwave plug-in, available at http://www.macromedia.com onto each computer in your classroom.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Show students a live plant and a rock. Then ask a volunteer to come up front. Ask that person to identify the two living things. Tell students they will discover what is needed for life.

Step 2: Circulate the Life Boxes among your students. Ask each student to open a box and note what is inside.

Step 3: Ask students what they found in each box. They will likely answer soil and a bottle of water.

Step 4: Circulate the boxes again and repeat the question.

Step 5: Tell students that each box contains the four things necessary for most life. Actually three things are in the box—water, soil, and air. The fourth, light, entered when the box was opened.

Step 6: Explain how each of these factors is used by living things. Bring back the volunteer and display the plant. Ask the class how each of these organisms uses the four life factors.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Show students an acorn seed. Ask students what is inside of the seed. (an oak tree)

Step 2: Ask students if trees are alive. How do they know? (They grow.)

Step 3: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by telling students to look for the life cycle of a tree. Watch the Backyard Safari, “Trees.” BEGIN playing the tape just after Cecilia is holding her seedling and Bud is in the hole he had dug for the big tree. Cecilia says, “It’s going to be a big oak tree. Here’s a poem I wrote about it.”

Step 4: PAUSE after the poem ends and check for comprehension. Ask the following questions: How are trees born? (from a seed) Which structure grows first? (the roots) Which structure grows next? (the stem or trunk) What is the tree called at this stage? (a sprout) What are the next stages? (a sapling, a seedling, then a tree)

Step 5: Ask students to imitate your movements as you enact the life of a tree.

Curl up into a tight ball—you’re a seed.
Uncurl and kneel—you’ve sprouted.
Stick up your arms—you’ve grown branches.
Wiggle your fingers—you’ve grown leaves.
Stand up—you’ve grown tall.

Step 6: Tell students to think about trees they have seen either in their own backyard, at school, or in their community. Ask students to describe the trees they have seen.

Step 7: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by telling them to look for the answers to the following questions: What are the structures of a tree? (roots, trunk, bark, branches, leaves, and sometimes fruit) What is bark like? (skin) What does the bark do for the tree? (protects the tree) What do the branches support? (the leaves)

Step 8: BEGIN playing the tape when you see Cecilia twirling around with her seedling in a park, and you hear her say, “But there’s one thing trees have in common.” PAUSE after Cecilia picks the apple from the tree. Check for comprehension by reviewing the questions in the Focus for Media Interaction.

Step 9: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction telling them to look and listen for a tree’s role as a habitat.

Step 10: BEGIN the video segment when you see Crinkleroot and Cecilia finish discussing the “ground cake” mixture and the snake slithers across the screen. Crinkleroot says, “Trees for wildlife, and wildlife goes for the trees.”

Step 11: PAUSE the video after the segment when Crinkleroot says, “A tree is a very busy place.”

Step 12: To check for comprehension ask: What were some of the ways trees provide wildlife with a shelter? (nest in trees, cavities inside the tree, materials to build homes) What were some ways trees provided animals with food? (leaves, nuts, fruit)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Have students log onto the Web site (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/kids/index.html). Tell students to scroll down to the icon that says: Trees are Terrific! Travels with Pierre. Provide students with a Focus of Media Interaction by directing them to look for the answers to the following questions: What is a tree? What three things do leaves need to make food? How do leaves differ? What is a simple leaf? What is a compound leaf? What is the role of veins in leaves?

This site also gives directions to make leaf rubbings.

Assessment

Have students complete either the “Structures of a Tree” writing activity or the “Factors of Life” writing activity. (See Activity Sheets 1 and 2.)

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Art: Students could make leaf rubbings or bark rubbings. Students could illustrate and label the life cycle of a tree. Students could create a collage using nonliving parts of a tree. Students could create tree rings on paper plates.

Language Arts: Students could write an expository paragraph on the four factors of life. Students could explain how plants and animals use each of the four life factors.

Social Studies: Have students gather information on forests from the Internet and/or reference materials. Their focus could be on the type of forests and forestry practices within their state.

Math: Students could plant seeds and then measure and record growth of their plants.

Community Connections

Invite a horticulturist, tree farmer, or a forester as a guest speaker for your students.
Plant a tree in your schoolyard or community.

Student Materials

Science journals
crayons/narkers/colored pencils
pencils