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Plan Arbor Day Events & Activities at School
Key Points for Teachers to Know
Arbor Day presents an annual opportunity for Georgia 's communities to reach across barriers of age, income, geography, culture, and politics to learn about the benefits of trees and to work at improving the state's tree population.
Teachers and students have always been important to Arbor Day. In fact, if you polled people on the street about their thoughts of Arbor Day, most will probably recall their fun school yard moments of planting trees.
No matter what your resources are for your class or school, we have developed various materials, activity ideas, and resources to help you teach the value of healthy trees with fun in mind. Activities can be planned for individual students and class exercises. In fact, these various types of activities can blend with one another to form various aspects of school-wide programs.
Better yet, your students will be able to go home and teach their families about the value of healthy trees. They can even direct their parents to the homeowner/consumer portion of these Arbor Day Web pages to plan a tree planting in their yards and to join neighborhood public tree events.
To get you started, the major issue points for students to learn about healthy trees are:
- Georgia grows trees for two reasons. Rural trees are managed through sustainable forestry to create one of Georgia 's greatest commercial industries - wood and wood products people need in daily life. In our towns and cities, trees are grown and cared for to provide economic, environmental, and social values for everyone.
- Approximately 50 acres of forested land is lost each day in Georgia 's urban environments because of rapid land development. While development meets the needs of a growing city, maintaining trees and their health is even more important because of the economic, environmental, and social values trees bring to daily life.
- The health of new and existing trees is dependent on elected officials, businesses, and residents working together to create and enforce best practices for tree maintenance, local tree ordinances, and seeking advice from experts within Georgia's tree community.
- Urban residents benefit from trees in savings on utility bills, increased property values, cleaner water and air, and environments that discourage crime and enhance the learning capabilities of children. Business thrives in tree-lined districts, which attracts more business and adds to the economic vitality of the region.
- Many community values are dependent on the health of our trees. The concern for their health is everyone's responsibility. Everyone needs to take a leadership role in increasing funding and programs for parks, trees, and greenspace. It's your urban forest, learn it, grow it, maintain it, enjoy it.
Individual Student Activities
- Children can write poems, plays, stories, essays, and songs.
- They can draw pictures, posters, murals, and stamps.
- They can even create program handouts for a school tree planting program.
- The emphasis of their work can be on content, original thought, uniqueness, and creative effort.
- You can even turn any of these exercises into a contest that is judged by teachers, the PTA, and/or local garden clubs.
- The suggested topic is "Plant It! Value It! Root for Healthy Trees!"
- Other topics can include: "What It's Like to be a Tree," "A Tree's Role in the Environment," "A View from the Top of a Tree," "How Trees Help Save Energy," "Who Should Plant Trees," and "Who Depends on Trees."
Classroom Activities
No matter what subject, Arbor Day can be celebrated.
Science
• Study the ecosystem of one particular tree.
• Learn to identify trees in your community by using a tree key or having
students create a tree key in class.
• Take a nature walk to identify trees.
• Study the structure of a tree, how it functions, and what benefits a tree
provides.
Social Studies
• Learn about the history of Arbor Day.
• Study the importance of trees in different cultures.
• Correlate the history of the United States or your community to one tree's
growth rings.
Math
• Learn how to measure a tree's height, crown spread, and diameter.
• Have younger children count the rings on a tree stump.
• Look for a pattern of numbers in nature.
Art
• Participate in The National Arbor Day Foundation's National Poster
Contest (fifth grade).
• Collect leaves, put tempera paint on them, and make leaf prints.
• Do bark rubbings and have students trade rubbings to see if they can
identify each other's trees.
Physical Education
• Have students identify trees by their shapes while outside in P.E.
English
• Write an Arbor Day poem or song and perform it for the class/school.
• Have each student write a description of a tree found on the school
grounds; then see if other students can find it using the description.
• Have students write letters to community tree planters, thanking them for
their efforts.
Home Economics
• Find out about spices and other foods and learn about the trees that
produce them.
Drama
• Produce a play recreating the history of Arbor Day (an Arbor Day play can
be found at www.arborday.org/arbordayplay ).
School-wide Activities
- Play "Tree Jeopardy" or "Tree-vial Pursuit," and see which class or group of students can answer the most tree-related questions (visit www.arborday.org for ideas).
- Plant trees on the school grounds and learn how to maintain them. Get the principal to make a Proclamation for the school and display the Proclamation in the main hallway.
- Participate in a community Arbor Day celebration as a field trip.
- Celebrate Arbor Day by writing a story, producing a play, or presenting a skit about trees. Invite older residents in the community to attend, so they can share past Arbor Day stories with the school. Sample plays are at www.arborday.org/arbordayplay .
- Hold a "Read-In" at the library and have all the tree books - both fiction and nonfiction - on display to increase awareness of the tree resources available at school.
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