Grades : 3 - 5
Essential Academic Learning Requirements:
Reading:
1. The student
understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.
1.2
build vocabulary through reading
Communication:
1. The student uses
listening and observation skills to gain understanding.
1.1
focus attention
1.2
listen and observe to gain and interpret information
1.3
check for understanding by asking questions and paraphrasing
Science:
2. The student knows
and applies the skill and processes of science and technology.
2.1
develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
2.2
apply science knowledge and skills to solve problems or meet challenges
VOCABULARY:
xylem:
the water and mineral conducting tissue of the tree
phloem:
the food conducting tissues of a plant; located outside the cambium and beneath
the bark of a tree
cambium:
layer of cells between phloem and xylem which produce new cells
sapwood:
another term for the functioning xylem cells
heartwood:
a term used to refer to older xylem cells that no longer function
dendrochonology:
studying the past by studying tree rings
growth rings:
rings formed in wood by the formation of early and late xylem each season
Activity: Tree
Cookies
- reinforces the information about tree growth learned in How a Tree Grows
Materials Needed: - slices of different types of tree trunks, push pins
Procedure:
Distribute tree cookies of various types of trees to groups of students.
Have students look at cookies and find the annual growth rings of early
xylem cells and late xylem cells. Ask
them to count the rings they see on smaller cookies.
Questions:
Why are there rings?
Is it easy to count
the rings? How old is the tree your cookie is from?
Why might rings be
small and hard to count?
Why might rings be
uneven on one side?