PA Forestry

By: Heather Cornell and Karen Ely-Anderson

Overview

Throughout this fifth grade thematic unit, students will learn about their native Pennsylvania forests over a three week time period. Students will meet 40 minutes a day.

Content

Math Science Technology Environment Industry Geography Arts (Earth Day Advertisement)

Objectives

Students will compare and contrast deciduous and conifer trees

Students will use a key to identify trees Students will collect leaves and make a leaf

collection Students will use mathematic skills to figure out

how old trees are and also use them to find averages

Students will learn about what conservation officers/stewards do to keep forests healthy

Objectives

Students will learn about wood and paper industries and how they are important

Students will gain insight on their native state’s forests

Students will learn about forest elements Students will learn about a variety of

ecosystems that live and depend on forests Students will use an iPad to make an online leaf

collection that can be viewed and discussed by others in the class

Objectives

Students will create an advertisement featuring Earth Day

Standards (Science)

S.5.B.2.1.4 Identify changes in environmental conditions that can affect the survival of populations and entire species

S.5.B.3.1.1 Describe the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers within a local ecosystem.

S.5.B.3.2 Explain how renewable and nonrenewable resources provide for

human needs.

S.5.B.3.2.3 Explain how different items are recycled and reused.

Standards (Mathematics)

M5.E.1.1.1: Display and/or interpret data shown in tallies, tables, charts, pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs and using a title, appropriate scale, and labels. A grid will be provided to display data on bar graphs or line graphs.

M5.E.2.1.1: Determine the mean/average (answer is a whole number), median (answer is a whole number or average of 2 numbers) and range of data (up to 10 numbers).

Standards (Technology & Engineering)

3.4.5.A2. Understand that a subsystem is a system that operates as part of a larger system.

3.4.5.A1. Explain how people use tools and techniques to help them do things.

3.4.5.B2. Describe how waste may be appropriately recycled or disposed of to prevent unnecessary harm to the environment.

Assessments

Formal- Collection of binder, poster, & commercial

Informal- observing daily activities, class participation (promethean board activities), discussions, connections

Day 1

Essential Question (EQ) – What are some comparisons you see about different trees and their leaves?

Introduce forest by taking students on the “tree trail” around the school

Have students make observations about trees and leaves

Explain to students that they will be learning about PA trees and forests

Day 2

EQ – What are the parts of the forest and their surrounding ecosystems?

Introduce the parts of the forest (soil, water & nutrients, wildlife & plants, & decomposers)

Read a short packet Complete written activity in small groups Discuss as closure**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry

Binder**

Day 3 (deciduous)

EQ – What is the difference between conifer and deciduous trees and their parts?

Discuss the 2 main types of trees (conifers & deciduous)

Discuss vocabulary (palmately, whorled, pinnately, entire, serrate, double serrate, opposite, alternate)

Play a matching game on promethean to review terms and definitions

Show you tube video (Tree Identification)

Day 4 (conifers)

EQ – What is the difference between conifer and deciduous trees and their parts?

Discuss the 2 main types of trees (conifers & deciduous)

Discuss vocabulary (needles, scales, clusters, sheathes, flexible, stiff)

Play a matching game on promethean to review terms and definitions

Day 5

EQ – What struggles did you encounter while collecting the leaves? Was it easy or difficult to find different kinds of leaves?

Show you tube video (Kid Song) Using iPads, have students take pictures

and create a leaf collection of as many varieties of leaves as they can find

Day 6

EQ – How do you utilize the leaf identification app on the iPad? How does this app change the way you used to do leaf collections?

Share one example of a deciduous and conifer that you found from collection

Discuss how to use a tree identification key to identify the leaves they found

Allow students ample time to identify the leaves in their collection

Print out their collections from iPad**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry

Binder**

Day 7

EQ – Why do you think trees have rings to determine their age? How does this differ from ages of people and animals?

Introduce what a tree cookie is by passing around various examples of them

Have students draw a tree cookie on a blank piece of paper and determine the age of their cookie

Once completed, share with small group to check for accuracy

**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry Binder**

Day 8 Pass out a tree cookie to every student and have

them figure out the age of the tree When finished, students should write the age on the

promethean board on the tree cookie graph Independently, have students find the mean, median,

range, and mode of all the tree ages from graph on promethean board

Then, when finished, students can share their findings in small groups to see if they were correct

**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry Binder**

Day 9

EQ – How do trees effect businesses in our area? How does it effect us personally?

Introduce the forest industry by allowing students to walk around the school and write down as many wood products as they can find

Share findings Show you tube video (PA Hardwoods)**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA

Forestry Binder**

Day 10

EQ – How do trees effect businesses in our area? How does it effect us personally?

Discuss the wood and paper industry Have students create a web showing how jobs and

wood products are linked together in small groups Share webs and have students make connections

to people they know and products they use**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry

Binder**

Day 11

EQ – What renewable and nonrenewable resources will directly have an effect on us even as kids? What can you do to assist conservation officers and stewards in protecting our forests?

Discuss roles of conservation officers and stewards

Discuss nonrenewable and renewable resources and how they impact living

Discuss your role of how you can help the forest Wrap-up by tying this into our Earth Day activities

they’ve done in the past

Days 12-14

Students will be creating an Earth Day poster and commercial/advertisement that utilizes all the previously learned material

Students will have 2 class periods to work on this (days 12 and 13)

Present posters and commercials to the class (day 14)

**Place materials from today’s lesson in PA Forestry Binder**