A Special Tree: Language Arts, Fine Arts, Ecology

Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science activity. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...

Second graders listen to various, grade appropriate stories about trees. They create their own construction paper trees and discuss the importance of trees to the ecosystem and the importance of taking care of them. Finally, 2nd graders...

Students study geometric, naturalistic, and abstract shapes. They discuss how various shapes are used in art. They study The Young Fortune Teller by Joshua Reynolds to find various shapes.

It doesn't have to be Easter to enjoy this egg-stra fun art project. Kids crunch egg shells, saturate them with color, and glue them to boxes or other objects to make egg-stra special gifts.

If the Lorax were to write a letter, what would he write? Introduce your class to systems and feedback loops through the whimsical stylings of Dr. Seuss. Learners take on the Lorax's point of view to write a letter, among other activities.

Elementary artists use a collage and multi-media technique to create textured trees. They study the fall trees, discussing texture and what bare trees look like. They then use a variety of materials to create a textural piece. 

With The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry as the hook learners discuss the rainforest, the animals that live there, and conservation efforts. Then, students write a letter to the man in the story asking him not to cut down the Kapok...

Students examine stained glass art techniques in this introductory lesson provided by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The unit emphasizes student created representations of stained glass art.

Students explore wants and needs. In this ecology and economics lesson, students listen to the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and compile a class list of what the boy got from the tree. Students categorize these items as...

Students investigate the decomposition process. In this ecology lesson, students participate in a play, "Up the Treehouse" where the main idea focuses on a decomposing tree and how food chains are effected by decomposition. After the...