Sensational Trees
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Sensational Trees: Grades K-2 Activities
PLT’s Activity Collection provides content in support of an identified theme for a particular grade level. Designed to be flexible, the activities that comprise each collection can be used as individual, stand-alone lessons, or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction using a storyline technique.
Sensational Trees is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades K-2 that uses sensory exploration to understand objects, spaces, people and interactions.
Three hands-on activities connect children to nature in the city and the outdoors while integrating core discipline areas, including STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies. Students learn to investigate trees and develop a greater appreciation for their local environment. The activities can be used as individual, stand-alone lessons, or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction using a storyline technique.
Using their five senses, young learners can investigate trees – and learn about nature – through:
- Touching bark, seeds, and other natural objects
- Seeing shapes and colors
- Hearing birdcalls and nature sounds
- Smelling flowers and leaves
- Tasting tree food products such as fruits and nuts
Adopt a Tree
Students select individual trees to observe over time, deepening their awareness of tree changes and developing a greater appreciation for their local environment.
Peppermint Beetle
Students explore their sense of smell and discover why smell is important to animals, including beetles and humans.
The Closer You Look
Even though students may be very familiar with trees, they may not have thought much about the actual structure of a tree. In this activity, your students will go outdoors or view pictures to take a closer look at trees and their parts.
Activities incorporate STEM, reading, writing, and social studies, and teach students how to think, not what to think about environmental issues for developing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Classroom educators and nonformal educators alike need to ensure that instruction helps diverse learners meet rigorous academic benchmarks. Each PLT activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts mandated by the following national academic standards. See example below.
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Picture a Tree
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.
Habitat Pen Pals
Students learn about the diversity of habitats in their state and write letters from the perspective of organisms living in those habitats.
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.