Creating a Field Guide in the Classroom

As our final project for the Redwood Forest, the students make their own field guides.  When they are done, I laminate them and they can take the field guides to camp.  It is a great activity that incorporates note taking, research, non-linguistic representation, and a little creativity.  Here is the process if you want to make a field guide with your students...

field guide notes in interactive notebook

The first thing my students do is spend time taking notes on the species of the forest.  They used a combination of resources that included pamphlets, other field guides, and the internet.  They put these notes in their interactive notebooks so they can also use them on their test.

When they are finished, we check them over for mistakes, and then they are ready to start the final product!


First, they copy their notes into pre-made boxes.  This is so they don't run out of room on their final piece of card stock and if they make a mistake, they can just get a new box, instead of starting their project all over.

boxes for field guide notes

Then, they get pictures of all the species that are included in their field guide.  I spend A LOT of time on Google images to find black and white pictures or line drawings of all of these plants, trees, and animals.  They are required to color the plants and animals the correct colors.

field guide pictures

Once they have done their boxes and pictures, they are ready to cut and glue.  I give them a piece of white card stock.  It tends to hold up a lot better than just plain white construction paper.  When they are all done, I like to laminate them just in case it rains at camp :)  Here are some examples of the finished products...

front cover of field guide

inside of field guide

This can be done for any biome or ecosystem project.  It could even just include species that you find around your school or in your neighborhood.  They love making them and love taking them out in the field even more!

Teaching Resources for the Redwood Forest

I spent a boat load of time doing research, asking around, and using Google to find anything and everything that I could to develop a Science unit around the Redwood Forest.  Why?  Because I really believe in place based Science education.  I think students should study and understand the environment and community around them before they can understand the rest of the world.  Bottom line:  It is meaningful and they can touch it.  My students also spend a week in the Redwood Forest at the end of the year for 6th grade camp.  When we are done with learning in and out of the classroom, they understand and care about what they learned.

So, if there is anyone else out there hoping to teach their kids about the Redwood Forest, here is what I came up with, all in one place.  Hopefully it saves you some time...

• Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods (also good for tide pool and ocean stuff) this link will take you to their list of publications that are free to download
• Redwood Video/Slideshow - this is a quick, but totally wonderful slideshow set to music that was created by Humboldt State and National Geographic.  It is beautiful and totally leaves an impression with the students when they watch it.  This particular version is through YouTube so hopefully your district has not blocked the site for teachers.
• Save the Redwoods League (of course) they have great resources that can be downloaded for free.  You can also order some of their publications and they will send them to you in the mail.  They also have great links to online resources including loads of info on Giant Sequoias as well.
• Humboldt State University Natural History Museum  This Redwood Ecology website is great for using in a computer lab or if the students have access to IPADs or other devices.  It includes a great Webquest that I do every time that I teach this unit.  
• Redwood Ecology  Great website that has information about the species of the forest, very kid friendly.  Hosted by Humboldt County Office of Education
• Climbing Redwood Giants - National Geographic movie.  Since the district has blocked Netflix, I cannot stream this video from there, but here is the link from the National Geographic channel.  It is about 45 minutes long, but a wonderful video.
• California Forest Foundation - has a ton of downloadable materials, especially if you are into learning more about forest management with your students.  They also have a Critical Thinking section that has great links and more resources.
• Redwood Ed from the California Department of Parks and Recreation - this is curriculum and resources for teachers.  It is a lot to print, so I would download and pick and choose what works for you, but it is a great resource.
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area - This link will take you to the Teacher's Guide for Into the Redwood Forest.  There are also plant and animal guides for download as well as a student journal.  You can also sign up for trainings and field trips to the area through the site.  
• Reading the Rings of a Tree Poster from International Paper - good if you need a visual for dedronchronology
• The Life of a Tree - from Arborday.org.  It is a little animated/slideshow presentation about the parts of a tree and how to read tree rings.  
• The National Park Service provides these great little fact sheets on Redwood Prairies and Forests.  It is a great download to use for non-fiction text features and getting basic facts on plants and animals.
• The Sequoia Park Zoo - this links to their Redwood Forest Edventures curriculum guide, totally downloadable and printable
• Operation Redwood by Terrell French is a great fictional book about a boy trying to save a grove of redwoods.  I personally just finished reading it and really enjoyed it.  They have a study guide with discussion questions for the book.
• Big Basin Teacher Resources Page - includes some of the links that I have here, plus many more.  LOVE Big Basin.  If you have never had a chance to visit, you should go.
• Redwood Forest Plant Guide - I am still trying to remember the original makers of this, but this one is on DocStoc.  If anyone knows the original link, please remind me.
• Humboldt State Institute for Redwood Ecology - Steve Stillett is the rockstar of Ecology.  The kids always think his job is so cool.  Check out the great photo tours.
• Measuring Redwood Giants from KQED Science on the Spot - speaking of Steve Stillett, this is a great short video on how they measure the trees and why.  Again, it is through YouTube.
• National Geographic Photos and short article.  The photos are really beautiful and the point of view can't be beat.

So, this list is a work in progress.   I am constantly updating my curriculum as I find new resources.  If you have discovered anything new that I have not included here I would love to know.

Determining the Age of a Tree Using Circumference

I love this science activity.  It is great for two reasons.  1.  The kids have been doing geometry in math and are already studying circumference and diameter of circles.  2.  They really begin to understand that studying trees is a science and that Math has a practical purpose in life.  So I am sharing this for anyone who needs a great Common Core Math lesson on Circumference, Diameter, and its relationship to Pi or for anyone who just wants to show their kids the science of determining the age of a tree without harming one.

Supplies

You will need a few things to start:

1.  calculators (or not, if you want them to practice mutiplying and dividing huge amounts of decimals)

2.  long pieces of string or yarn

3.  rulers or yardsticks

4.  growth factor charts for different species of trees.  The best one I have found was here at the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

My "fake" trees

5.  Fake trees (mine consist of wrapping cylindrical shaped objects with brown paper) and/or real trees.

6.  An engaging video that shows them what this is like in the field.  I use this one with Steve Stillett measuring Redwood trees.

7.  Blank worksheet that includes the directions, formulas, and a chart to record their data

Calculating the Age of a Tree Worksheet

The students have "fake" tree options in the classroom and a few real tree options outside.  I have them work in partners because using the string and laying it onto rulers or yardsticks sometimes requires four hands. Plus, the conversations about the math often create a few lightbulb moments for some kids.  Essentially, the formula is as follows:

Diameter x growth rate = tree age

They need to measure the circumference, divide that by 3.14 to get the diameter, then multiply by the growth rate on the chart based on what type of tree it is.

I find that students who did not really understand circumference and diameter beyond the formula, have a much better understanding of their relationship once this is done. They also really enjoy what they are doing.  Especially when I let them go outside and try it on real trees.  When they are done, they get glued into their interactive notebooks.

Let me know if you have any questions about the lesson, but if you spend any time on either of these subjects it is well worth the time and effort.

Science Notebooks - Learning About Conservationists

Every few days, we start science by learning about an important conservationist/naturalist.  As she is the mother of the environmental movement, we started with Rachel Carson.  We will of course move on to John Muir, Julia Hill, et al.  I gave the kids a quote to analyze and a little bio to read and take notes on.  It only takes about 15 minutes and it is a good way to also expose them to jobs and opportunities in the Environmental Science field.

This is a simple organizer that I can change for each different conservationist.  It is really nothing more than a bunch of text boxes.  If anyone would like the blank versions, just let me know!  And if you have any suggestions for other conservationists or naturalists that I should be covering, I would love your input.

Living Things and their Environment- science notebooks

I do deviate from our science curriculum because I really like a "place based" curriculum that students can relate to; however, I start with a good foundation of vocabulary and information about environments and living things from the textbook.  I found a great slideshare this year by Mr. Schumaeir and you can link to it here.  It is awesome for introducing the concepts and using your student engagement strategies prior to reading the chapter.  There is no reason for reinventing the wheel when there are so many amazing teachers out there sharing their stuff.  Then, we go through the chapter using this graphic organizer...

Living Things and their Environments

Our second lesson covers the Energy Flow in Ecosystems chapter.  First we do a simple organizer with definitions and notes. Then, the students have to cut, paste, and sort a group of pictures that I give them next to the right category of producer, consumer, or decomposer.

Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers

These activities get the students ready to talk about various types of ecosystems and how the biotic and abiotic factors all work together.  They will spend about three weeks closely examining the Redwood Forest so these chapters are essential to understanding this local biome and national treasure.

Please check my upcoming posts for information and resources for teaching about the Redwood Forest.

Making Posters - PDF style

Here is my latest poster for my unit in the Redwood Forest.  I have taken this beautiful drawing of the layers of the redwood forest by Cynthia Linsenbardt and enlarged it for this poster.  Now I have a big version for the wall and the kids have their own little version in their notebooks.  I am totally behind the curve, but for those of you that are there with me, here are the directions.

I rarely have time to even go to pee during the day, much less take a file over to the local copy place to be enlarged into a poster.  Plus, my posters usually occur on a whim and I am not patient enough to wait around for my poster to be made when I can make it myself.  So, I finally googled how to enlarge stuff and this is what I found...

STEP ONE:  convert your picture to a PDF, if it isn't already

STEP TWO:  open your PDF and select "print" from the File Menu

STEP THREE:  go down to "page scaling" and use the drop down menu, choose to "tile" your pages

STEP FOUR:  decide how much bigger you want it to be and change the tile scale percentage, if you play around a little with different numbers, it will show you how big/ how many pages it will be

STEP FIVE: print, cut, and glue your pages together

This is great for classroom mural projects, making things larger for anchor charts or walls, or just making your own posters!

Picture credit:  Cynthia Linsenbardt, and the field notebook used by http://outdoorscience.com/

SCIENCE IS STARTING!

I am excited to say that we are officially done with social studies around here and science has begun!  I will be posting our endeavors every few days.  We have a special science rotation in the sixth grade and each teacher is responsible for covering an important biome in California.  My specialty is the Redwood Forest and it is my favorite due to the fact that the sixth grade spends five days in the Redwoods of Santa Cruz for outdoor education camp.  So, if you would like to see what we learn and where I get my resources, stay tuned!