LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

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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Learning outcomes

The student will:

  • examine the 400-year history of communal forests.
  • conduct a social study of the school yard trees.
  • will 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

  • Obtain a map of your school grounds, preferably an aerial photo from the school system or county tax office. (www.mapquest.com 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.

Technology resources

None

Pre-activities

Copy Handouts, one per student. (Exclude Answer Key)

Activities

Day 1

Have students read the essay History of Urban Forestry and complete Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2. This will give students an overview and foundation for the rest of the activity.
Day 2
Hang the map up so all students can see it. Decide how you are going to divide up the trees to be surveyed. Hand out clip boards, pencils and measuring tape. Go over Sample Tree Survey and Sample Tree Key. Send students out to survey.
Day 3
Upon completion of the tree survey, have students present their most notable tree information and add their tree key to the map.
Day 4
Have students read Cooperative Forest Assistance Act of 1978. Then, using the Act and the Tree Survey results have the students as a group fill in the outline of the Tree Ordinance Brief for the school yard.
Day 5
The Reflective Exercise has the students use creative writing to assimilate the activity content. The Application and Integration 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

Forest and Woodlot

Miller, Robert W. Urban Forestry: Planning and Managing Urban Greenspaces, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1988.

Related websites

Forest History Society: http://www.foresthistory.org
Urban and Community Forestry: http://www.urbanforestrysouth.org
Urban Forestry: http://hortwww-2.ag.ohio-state.edu/ODNR/Urban/Urbanfor.htm

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. For access to other modules please visit: http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/curriculum/.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 8

  • Goal 9: The learner will explore examples of and opportunities for active citizenship, past and present, at the local and state levels.
    • Objective 9.01: Describe contemporary political, economic, and social issues at the state and local levels and evaluate their impact on the community.
    • Objective 9.03: Describe opportunities for and benefits of civic participation.