Students examine trees for signs of damage or poor health and investigate conditions that may cause trees and other plants to become unhealthy.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase the Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide or the Trillions of Trees activity collection at Shop.PLT.org and/or attend a professional development training in your state.
Below are some supporting resources for this activity.
Download the copyright-free student pages that are included with this activity:
Tree-tective Trouble Guide (PDF)
Learning Leaf Reading (PDF)
Spanish Student Page(s):
Guía de problemas del árbol‐tective (PDF)
Aprendiendo a leer hojas (PDF)
The following tools and resources may be used to enhance the activity.
In this short video from PBS Plum Landing, see how students work with a local arborist to plant a tree in their community. Underneath the video, you’ll find some simple conversation starting questions and additional resources to inspire your students.
The University of Washington’s Institute of Science and Math created Practice Briefs. These free articles highlight ways of working on specific issues that come up during STEM teaching. These briefs helps K-12 educators and administrators stay informed on teaching STEM issues, including STEM issues relating to teaching NGSS and implementing meaningful STEM learning. Each brief is separated into digestible sections and includes recommended actions for educators.
Help learners understand why it is sometimes necessary to cut trees in order to get wood, protect other trees, or reduce tree hazards. The book Why Would Anyone Cut a Tree Down? is geared for students in grades 1–3 and also provides tips for planting a new tree.
This video blog post from Go Wood presents a clear summary of what happened to the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), what is being done in the scientific realm to make a recovery of the species possible, and how you can help bring the American Chestnut back to the American forest. Go Wood seeks to educate people on the value of wood in society and is supported by professors at Penn State University Extension.
A free app that can be downloaded onto Apple and Android devices. A more technical application, SoilWeb allows users to access GPS based, real-time USDA-NRCS soil survey data. Using your geographic location, this app retrieves soil type summaries, including soil series names and image profiles.
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