Trees in your own backyard

This activity lets students discover the benefits of urban forests by looking at trees on the schoolyard. Students will read a synopsis of the 400-year history of communal forests, survey their schoolyard trees, and draft a schoolyard tree ordinance.

A lesson plan for grade 8 Social Studies

By Lucy Laffitte

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Related topics

• Learn more about forestry, mapping, social studies, trees, and urban forests.

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Learning outcomes

The student will:

• examine the 400-year history of communal forests.
• conduct a social study of the schoolyard trees.
• annotate a map of the school grounds with the results of the tree survey.
• prepare a legal brief from which to draft a local tree ordinance for their school yard.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 days

Materials/resources

• A map of your school grounds, preferably an aerial photo from the school system or county tax office. (MapQuest or Google Maps will give you a good enlargement of the streets but no buildings will be marked. USGS Topo maps can be enlarged.)
• One clipboard and pencil for every 2 students.
• A sewing tape or 5-foot string marked off in inches.

Pre-activities

Copy handouts, one per student. (Exclude answer key.)

Activities

Day 1: History of urban forestry

1. Distribute the “History of Urban Forestry” essay, worksheet 1, and worksheet 2 from the handouts.
2. Have students read the essay “History of Urban Forestry.”
3. Instruct students to complete Worksheet 1, which asks students to define vocabulary words used in the article, and Worksheet 2, which has students answer questions about it. This will give students an overview and foundation for the rest of the activity. (Answer keys for the worksheets are at the end of the handouts.)

Day 2: Tree survey

1. Distribute the tree survey handout.
2. Hang up the map of the school grounds so all students can see it.
3. Number every tree on the map, and divide the trees to be surveyed among the students or groups of students. You may need to draw in new trees or cross out trees that have been removed.
4. Hand out clip boards, pencils, and measuring tape.
5. Go over the sample tree survey and sample tree key with the class.
6. Send the students out to survey the trees, following the instructions on the survey handout:
   • Locate the numbered tree on the ground, and tag with appropriate number.
   • Measure the girth (circumference) of the tree at 4.5 feet from the ground. Record in inches.
   • Note any evidence of human interactions on the shape or condition of the tree.
   • List the value of the tree to the school: economic, aesthetic, and/or ecological.
   • Locate next tree on map and repeat steps 4-6.

Day 3: Compiling data

1. After completing the tree survey, have the students present their most notable tree information and add their tree key to the map.

Day 4: Tree ordinance brief

1. Distribute the “Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978″ and “Tree Ordinance Brief” handouts.
2. Have students read the excerpt from the Cooperative Forest Assistance Act of 1978, which calls for increased support for trees and forests in urban spaces.
3. Have the students work as a group, using the Forestry Assistance Act excerpt and their results from the schoolyard tree survey to fill in the outline of the tree ordinance brief for the school yard.

Day 5: Synthesis

1. Distribute the remaining handouts: the “Memoir of a Schoolyard Tree” worksheet, test, and “Application and Integration” activity.
2. Have the students complete the handouts in any order you see fit:
   • The “Memoir of a Schoolyard Tree” exercise has the students use creative writing to assimilate the activity content.
   • The “Application and Integration” activity has students use role play to integrate the content.
   • The test measures the students’ understanding of the value of urban forests.

Assessment

See Handouts (doc | rtf)
for: Reflective Exercises, Application and Integration, and Test.

Supplemental information

Urban Forestry: Planning and Managing Urban Greenspaces by Robert W. Miller

Comments

This is activity 7 of If Trees Could Talk: A Curriculum in Environmental History — under development by the Forest History Society in Durham, North Carolina.