One of the major aspects of Place Based Education is learning from your physical place. So, when it comes time to learn about trees, what better way to start than to teach students about the types of trees that surround them.
In this post, I will give instructions for completing the “What types of trees are around me?” activity, as well as ways to tweak it for different settings and ages. This activity has students take one leaf off of two or three different trees, and then determine what type of tree it is from the leaf. I did this activity with Kindergarten age in a homeschool setting. It was OK to do one on one, but would likely need to be done with a bit older elementary students if you are in a traditional school setting.
Preparation
Below are the items you need for the activity. After discussing them, I will put a checklist at the bottom of the section. To begin, you will need to print off two or three copies of the worksheet pictured below. You can access it for FREE from the free printables library. Just click the link and download.
You will also need some type of “leaf guide” that shows what type of leaves come from each type of tree. I did a simple internet search with the word “Leaf Guide” and below are a couple examples of what I found:
This one also has 60 different types of leaves. Once you find out what you have, you can make your own.
For us, I ended up making one like the examples pictured above with the types of trees we had in our yard as well as a few we didn’t mixed in. This, along with the “Leaf Investigation Sheet”, are the two major things needed for this activity. Below is a checklist of everything, so you can take a screenshot or make a quick list.
Checklist of all items needed:
- Copies of the “Leaf Investigation Sheet”
- Copy(ies) of a leaf guide
- Crayons to do a leaf rubbing
- Pencil or marker to write on worksheet
- A leaf from each type of tree
- Clipboard if you want to do the activity outside
The Activity
We completed this activity in the following order:
- I took the kids to get a leaf off of each type of tree in our yard.
- We came back in and I gave each of them crayons, a pencil, and the three “Leaf Investigation” sheets.
- We took the first leaf and did the leaf rubbing while also discussing different aspects of the leaf.
- Then, they completed the drawing of what the tree looked like as well as answering the questions about the leaves.
- Then, I went over the leaf guide and had them pick the matching leaf; it took some guidance, but they caught on quickly.
- Then, we did it with the other two leaves, for a total of three sheets.
- We ended by discussing how every type of tree has different leaves and that now they know what types of trees we have!
Variations
If you are in a larger group setting, this activity would be ideal for 2nd grade and higher. You could take your class outside to pick leaves, or, if it worked out better, you could pick enough of them yourself that morning. The fresher the leaves are, the better. You can also put the students in small groups and have one Leaf Guide per group to save paper.
I did this lesson at summer school with 3-5th graders and below is how we did it:
- We split the students into groups of three
- Each student in the group picked one leaf from each type of tree
- When we came back in students decided within their group which leaf they wanted to study
- They each filled out one Leaf Investigation Sheet about the leaf they chose with the Leaf Guide provided
- After each group member was finished, they knew what all three types of leaves were
- They each made what you see pictured below. They had a great time!
Hopefully you can make this work in your specific setting.
Video
Below is the one minute video I made of this project in case you’re interest in watching or sharing.
In closing
I hope this blog post was helpful and could be something you can use! To learn more about Place Based Education:
- Follow me on Instagram
- Click here for blog post explaining PBE specifically as well as other resources
- Check out this Pinterest board for a few more articles and examples of PBE
Thanks for reading, and feel free to share!
All the best,
-School by the Silos
A little about the site: School by the Silos combines my passion for education, curriculum making, and Place Based Education. You can learn more about me here. Also, be sure to check out the free printables and visit the shop!
