Trees as Habitats
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From their leafy branches to their tangled roots, trees provide habitat for a host of plants and animals. Students will inventory the plants and animals that live in, on, and around trees and discover how plants and animals depend on trees in many ways.
Objectives
Students will
- Observe animals and plants that depend on and influence trees.
- Identify interrelationships between different organisms that depend on trees.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase the Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide at Shop.PLT.org and/or attend a professional development training in your state.
Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
The Memory Tree
Teaching young children about the loss of a loved one can be a difficult topic. In this picture book, a fox lives a long and happy life in the forest, but he is now ready to sleep and closes his eyes forever. As the fox’s friends begin to share memories and tell stories, a tree starts to grow taller and stronger with every memory.
My Forest is Green
Follow along a curious young boy who explores the urban forest near his home and describes the shapes, textures, and colors of the plants and animals that live there and encourages young children to observe and appreciate the nature around them.
Bee My Friend
Poppy is afraid of bees until she begins to learn about all the essential ecosystem services that pollinators—and bees, in particular—provide.
Bird Count
This book is a fictional narrative about a girl who participates in the Audubon Bird Count each year. The story follows Ava, her mother, and their team leader, Big Al, through a full day of the Bird Count.
Forest World
Forest World Grades 6-8 Written by: Margarita Engle Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-1481490580 Recommended Reading Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American author of many verse novels, memoirs, and picture books. From 2017-2019, Engle served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate, a two-year appointment made by the Poetry Foundation. The Young... Read more »
Deep in the Woods
Deep in the Woods Grades K-2 Written by: Christopher Corr Published by: Francis Lincoln Children’s Books ISBN-13: 978-1847807274 Recommended Reading Spend time in the woods and meet many new animal friends! This modern retelling of the traditional Russian folktale “Teremok” is a joy for adults and children alike. In Russian, the word teremok means... Read more »
A Day in a Forested Wetland
A Day in a Forested Wetland Grades K-3 Written by: Kevin Kurtz Illustrated by: Sherry Neidigh Published by: Arbordale, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-1628559125 Recommended Reading A continuation of Kevin Kurtz’s award-winning “A Day In” series once again delights readers with a rhythmic, scientifically-sound look into a typical day for the animals that call the soggy forest... Read more »
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects Grades 3-5 Written by: Matthew Clark Smith Illustrated by: Giuliano Ferri Published by Two Lions, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1477826324 Recommended Reading Learn about a quiet village in the French countryside. Learn about a famous naturalist. Learn about the significance of observing species in their natural habitats.... Read more »
Wishtree
Wishtree Grades 3-5 and 6-8 Written by: Katherine Applegate Illustrated by: Charles Santoso Published by Feiwel and Friends (Macmillian), 2017 ISBN-13: 978-1-250043-22-1 Recommended Reading This book’s narrator is a “two hundred and sixteen rings old” oak tree named Red. Red is a community wishing tree—and every May 1, adults and children alike bring their... Read more »
Tall Tall Tree
Tall Tall Tree Grades K to Grade 4 ISBN-13: 978-1584696018 Dawn Publications, 2017 Recommended Reading Teachers and parents alike can use this book, Tall Tall Tree written by Anthony Fredericks and illustrated by Chad Wallace, to take children on a virtual fieldtrip into the dense redwood forest. Not only will readers experience the grandiose... Read more »
Wild Ones, Observing City Critters
Wild Ones, Observing City Critters Grades K to Grade 5 ISBN-13: 978-1584695547 Dawn Publications, 2016 Recommended Reading A new children’s picture book called Wild Ones, Observing City Critters offers readers a tour of wildlife that can thrive in urban areas. The main character is Scooter, a dog who wanders away from home. Readers are invited... Read more »
Over and Under the Snow
Over and Under the Snow Grades K to Grade 4 ISBN-13: 978-0811867849 Chronicle Books LLC, 2011 Recommended Reading Even if children do not live in an area that experiences seasonal change, videos and books about snow can help students imagine and understand something they have never experienced first-hand. In this book, a young girl... Read more »
Increasing Bird Habitat in Forests
SFI and American Bird Conservancy joined forces to create a free booklet—Bird Friendly Forests: Opportunities for Private Forest Landowners in the Southern United States—that showcases ways landowners can manage their forests for bird habitat.
EE Resources
Video Demo: Tree’s as Habitats
Watch the Trees as Habitats video demonstration (10 minutes), developed in partnership with Alaska PLT and PBS Kid’s Molly of Denali for a day in the Boreal Forest.
America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell: Wisconsin Northwoods
This full-length 26:17-minute video is an episode of the series America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell, hosted by Rolling Stones keyboard player and Georgia family tree farmer, Chuck Leavell. Following are approximate time stamps and possible connections to specific PLT activities: 2:00-7:07 – Overview of Wisconsin Forests. Chuck meets with a forester, and they talk about... Read more »
A City in the Forest
How is a forest like a city? This 4-minute video, A City in a Forest from PBS Plum Landing, explores a child’s perspective of a forest and what they see living and growing on trees—from the top of the canopy to their roots in the ground, to dead trees lying on the forest floor. Aligned... Read more »
Adopt a Tree Journal
Encourage children to “adopt” a nearby tree. It could be a tree in their backyard, in a city park, on a street in their neighborhood, or at school. Ask students to keep a journal about their tree they have “adopted” to study. Share or adapt this Adopt a Tree Journal, suitable for grades 1-4, with your students.... Read more »
Poster: Animals at Risk from Climate Change
Animals at Risk from Climate Change is an educational poster developed by the Global Education Project. The poster presents a succinct overview of the fundamental impacts of greenhouse gases and features 25 animals currently at risk because of climate change. Through illustrations, symbols and brief explanatory text, learn about the biological traits and environmental conditions that... Read more »
Disneynature Explore
The free Disneynature Explore application for iPads and iPhones combines an augmented reality experience with animal behavior gameplay to encourage young students (grades PreK-3) and their families to get outside and connect with nature. In the app, 3D images of animals appear in the camera’s viewer, providing students with “wild adventures” in their own backyard.... Read more »
Paper Plate Habitat
Use Florida PLT’s Paper Plate Habitat template as the basis for learners to create their own microhabitats.
Junior Ranger Activity Book
In 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) celebrated a milestone birthday, 100 years! In celebration of its centennial, NPS created the Centennial Junior Ranger Activity Book. Explore the history of the National Park Service and complete fun activities with this printable book. While this book is geared for 4th-grade students, all are welcome to enjoy it.
Go Plant a Tree!
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.
Living with Wildlife: Snags
What is a snag? How do dead and dying trees benefit the ecosystem? Learn how dead trees can actually provide more habitats for wildlife than when they are alive with Snags—The Wildlife Tree, published by Washington state Department of Fish & Wildlife. The article highlights species that use snag trees to survive, what kinds of... Read more »
Identify Trees from Leaves
Leafsnap is a free app that uses visual recognition software to help identify tree species from leaf photographs you take in the field. Leafsnap currently focuses on tree species found in the Northeastern United States and Canada, but expansion is underway to include all U.S. regions.
Create a Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat
The Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gives step-by-step recommendations for creating a wildlife habitat at site, based on on-the-ground experience from successful projects.
Bird Sleuth
The BirdSleuth Guidebook from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers step-by-step instructions to enable families, school groups, and others to get outdoors and connect with nature. Use this booklet in conjunction with PLT lessons, for example, go on a habitat scavenger hunt (Trees as Habitats), create a sound map (Sounds Around), and identify backyard species... Read more »
Color the World!
Coloringnature.org offers more than 500 realistically illustrated coloring pages that can be downloaded and printed for use in PreK-8 classrooms. Choose from categories such as amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, insects, animal homes, biomes and habitats, and trees. Consider pairing the pages with PLT activities as diagrams, models, or assessment tools.
Earth from Space
This Smithsonian Institution website provides students (and teachers!) access to views of conditions and events on earth that are nearly impossible to document from the Earth’s surface. The site proves interactive; explaining how satellite imagery is gathered and used to better understand the world around us.
Ordinary Extraordinary Junco
Introduce yourself to one of North America’s most common groups of songbirds, the Juncos. Readily observed in backyards, city parks, and forests alike, these little gray birds—sometimes called “Snowbirds”—can be easily overlooked. But for scientists who study animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology, the Junco is a rockstar. Use these video shorts from The Junco... Read more »
Encounters: Wild Explorer
The public radio program Encounters: Radio Experiences in the North explores the natural history of Alaska and the Far North. An accompanying website offers K-12 teachers links to the episodes as well as resources, such as slideshows, videos, and sound clips, introducing the animals and habitats of the regions: beavers, bears, caribou, humpback whales, boreal... Read more »
Schoolyard Habitat Program
This US Fish & Wildlife Service initiative helps teachers and students create wildlife habitats at their schools. Their Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide offers teaching and learning opportunities in many discipline areas and provides opportunities for long-term data collection. Additionally, schools and organizations serving K-12 students may apply for grants of up to $8,000.
WildLab Bird
A free app that can be downloaded onto any Apple device (try iBird Lite for Android). Use WildLab Bird to learn the basics of bird identification. This application uses audio, photographs, maps, and the process of elimination to help identify over 200 bird species. Sightings can also be entered into a national bird watching database for... Read more »
Forests, by Cathryn Sill
Look to Forests by Cathryn Sill to introduce early learners to forest habitats and the organisms found there. Each page presents one sentence describing a particular forest habitat: boreal forest, tropical rain forest, cloud forest, temperate rain forest, deciduous forest, or tropical dry forest. Each description is accompanied by a realistic illustration. The afterward also... Read more »
Habitat the Game
The Wildlife Conservation Society and Rainforest Alliance have created a free, new app designed for students 7-12. Habitat challenges students to care for virtual endangered animals while they earn points by completing real-life missions, like recycling or visiting a park zoo.
PBS Kids Plum Landing
A PBS KIDS environmental science project, PBS PLUM LANDING offers educators fun and engaging resources to get kids outside and connected to nature. Encourage kids to explore their local water systems, find out what happens to life in the desert, and investigate nature’s sounds and smells. Download PLUM LANDING’s free summer camp resources, including interactive... Read more »
Bears of the World: Interactive Range Map
Blue Raster and Bear Trust International’s interactive world map shows students and educators in grades 9-12 where eight different species of wild bears live. The map includes photos and facts on American and Asiatic black bears, brown bears, giant pandas, polar bears, sloth bears, and sun bears.
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Students draw a picture of tree from memory. As they explore trees close up through the other unit activities, they will draw new pictures and compare them with the original pictures they drew.
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Schoolyard Safari
Students look for signs of animals living in and around trees in the schoolyard, observing how a tree can serve as a habitat or as one part of habitat.
Trees as Habitats
Students inventory the plants and animals that live in, on, and around trees and discover how plants and animals depend on trees in many ways.