Tree Lesson for Middle School Biology

Author:

I am a Christian. I was an 8th-grade American History teacher. I am currently a freelance writer, public speaker, & homeschooling mom of 9.

This is the 30th lesson in a series of 32 hands-on lessons covering middle school biology from a Christian perspective. This lesson focuses on trees. Count tree rings, sketch branches, and more! I used this plan while teaching a 55 minute middle school biology class. Each lesson plan includes homework assignments and a variety of hands-on activities to make each lesson engaging & memorable. Use these fun lessons with your classroom, homeschool, after-school program, or co-op!

These lessons are written for a class that meets once a week. If your class meets 5 days a week, simply do this lesson one day a week and use the homework assignments (at the bottom of the page) for the work for the other days of the week.

Homework Review

1. Pass out tickets to students who did their homework and who did the extra credit. Go over the homework questions from the book. (I give out tickets for students who volunteer to answer the questions.) * I added in additional information from the book I thought was interesting as we went through the questions from the book.

2. Ask students who did the extra credit last week or this week to share something interesting they discovered while identifying trees. (Students who share should receive a ticket.)

3. Ask each student to share about one of the trees they researched further from the homework from Tuesday. (Students who share should receive a ticket.)

Tree Growth Study

4. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and have them work together to complete the Tree Growth Study worksheets. After most students have finished, go through the answers together as a class.

You will need:

a Tree Growth Study worksheet for each student
a set of tree cookies (sliced piece) from 3 different types of trees for each group of 4 students - We used pine, oak, and pecan.

Sketch a Twig

5. Lead the students in drawing a twig. (I watched the below video ahead of time and then led the students in sketching just as she does in the video.)

You will need:

a sheet of computer paper (with holes punched) for each student

Twig & Tree Identification

6. Head outside to locate the parts we had drawn on the twigs on real trees.

7. (Optional) If you have extra time, pass out more paper and lead students in doing bark and leaf rubbings. Tip: Certain brands of crayons & colors work better than others, so be sure to experiment to find what works best.

You will need:

computer paper (with 3 holes punched)

A Beka's Science: Order & Design science textbook

Homework

(Page numbers refer to the pages in A Beka's Science: Order & Design textbook.)

Friday: Read pp. 445-447 . Answer 4 questions of your choice from p. 448.
Monday: Read pp. 449-454, skipping Check it Out. Answer 4 questions of your choice from p. 455.
Tuesday: Read pp. 455-458. Answer 3 questions of your choice from p. 458.
Wednesday: Read pp. 458-463. Answer 2 questions of your choice from p. 463.
Extra Credit #1: Create a Biomes Concept Map.
Extra Credit #2: Complete the Food Web worksheet https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/food_web_label.html
Extra Credit #3: Complete the Color the North American Biomes worksheet: https://www.biologycorner.com//worksheets/biome_map.html