Tree observation activity for grades K-2
Engage your students in a hands-on activity to go outdoors and observe the structure of a tree.
Picture a Tree worksheet and activity
This hands-on activity helps students in grades K-2 observe the structure of a tree. In this activity, students will go outdoors to take a closer look at trees and their parts.
This activity is part of Project Learning Tree's new e-unit, Treemendous Science! for grades K-2, so be sure to check out the full curriculum!
About Project Learning Tree
Project Learning Tree helps develop students’ awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of the environment, builds their skills and ability to make informed decisions, and encourages them to take personal responsibility for sustaining the environment and our quality of life that depends on it.
For the last 40 years, Project Learning Tree has trained 700,000 educators to help students learn how to think, not what to think about complex environmental issues.
Download the free Picture a Tree worksheet and activity
Want more activities and lesson plans focused on natured trees?
Whether you regularly use the outdoors as a classroom or tend to hesitate every time you take your class outside, this unit is an invitation to increase the quantity and quality of your K-2 learners’ contact with nature and trees.
Treemendous Science! students will explore, experience, observe, and collect tree data to develop understandings about how trees grow, the roles trees play in ecological systems, and the ways in which trees and humans interact.
Hands-On Activities
Get students excited about science through hands-on activities, rather than simply memorizing facts.
Meets NGSS Standards
The e-units are constructed around targeted performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Flexible Curriculum
The curriculum is organized around three levels geared to children’s different stages of development.
The Treemendous Science! e-unit explores these essential questions:
- What patterns can we see in trees over time?
- How do humans and trees interact?
- What role do trees play in ecosystems?
- What can we learn about trees and their habitats by closely observing them?
- How are habitats alike and different?
The overarching goal of this Treemendous Science! unit is for students to use prior experiences to reflect on patterns found in the natural world.
Each e-unit contains:
- Detailed step-by-step lesson plans
- Downloadable student pages to guide learning
- A range of assessment tools, including pre- and post-assessments and evaluation rubrics
- Easy-to-understand teacher background information
- Comprehensive, interactive connections to academic standards
- A self-paced online workshop with video demonstrations of the activities and lesson planning exercises
- Suggestions for fiction and non-fiction books to enhance the activities
- Links to websites, videos, and other supplementary resources
Teachers who subscribe to an e-unit from Project Learning Tree will have access to quality learning activities anytime, anywhere.
What teachers are saying about Project Learning Tree's new curriculum
“The lessons are laid out well and materials are easy to attain. I have seen the excitement of so many children during these activities. Students are full wonder and amazement about all that is going on outside their door.”
--Dawn Hammon
Teacher in Indiana
“It is easy to do, not a huge amount of preparation, and can be done even in an urban environment.”
--Laura Baker
Teacher in Indiana
“It was hands-on, easy to follow, and can be easily manipulated to fit a teacher's time, materials, and teaching preferences.”
--Heather Tate
Teacher in North Carolina
Get instant access to the Treemendous Science! e-unit for grades K-2
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