Inside a Tree Mini Unit Study

We proudly get to enjoy Mother Goose Time Curriculum as blog ambassadors. Each month Mother Goose Time has a new theme. This month the theme is In The Orchard. What a perfect theme for fall as leaves change colors and food comes into harvest. One of the days of October goes into the inside of trees.Take a look inside a tree with your kids.

This day’s topic gave us the opportunity to learn about the inside of trees, how to learn the age of trees, and to learn about the food that comes from the inside of a tree.

 

 Get hands on with the inside of a tree.

Find and old tree stump and examine it. How many rights are their? How big are the rings?

Discuss how each ring represents a year of the trees life and the thickness of each ring represents how much nutrients and water the tree received that year. Ask your child to point out the healthiest year of the tree’s life. The least healthy? Talk about how the rings on the outside are the oldest while in inside is the youngest.

Make your own tree rings.  Mother Goose Time came with a set you tree rings you can make at home easily. Just cut strips of brown construction paper each about an inch smaller than the last. Glue edges together creating rings. Nest the rings together to explore tree rings piece by piece.

Onion ring experiment. Another way we love to get hands on with the inside of trees is to cut an onion in half. We look at the rings of the onion and use them for stamping tree rings onto paper. We cut and pull apart the rings, nesting, stacking and exploring each ring. This project is best outdoors due to the odor of the onion.

Food that comes from inside a tree.

Maple comes from inside maple trees. Give your child a taste of real maple syrup made from the sap of a maple tree. Discuss the job of the sap and how it helps the maple tree grow tall and strong. This is a great way for kids to connect with where their food comes from.

 

 

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