Learning Hub

The Arbor Day Foundation's youth education resources introduce early learners to the wonder of trees through digital activities such as "Around the World" and a "Junior Arborist" quiz and printable activity sheets.

Sensational Trees is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades K-2 that invites young learners to investigate trees using their senses. Using their five senses, young learners can investigate trees – and learn about nature – through: touching bark, seeds, and other natural objects, seeing shapes and colors, hearing birdcalls and nature sounds, smelling flowers and leaves, and tasting tree food products such as fruits and nuts.

Treemendous Science! students will explore, experience, observe, and collect tree data to develop understandings about how trees grow, the roles trees play in ecological systems, and the ways in which trees and humans interact.

This publication, with text and color illustrations, is intended for young readers (grades K-3) and tells the story of some of the animals that live in Oregon’s forests.

This illustrated collection of essays addresses topics related to Oregon’s forests, including wildlife, forestry and tree biology. The one-page essays were written by a team of natural resources specialists and then reviewed by teachers for content and readability and scientists for accuracy. Each essay includes reading comprehension questions.

A learning guide developed for teachers to plan lessons and activites for students to understand the importance trees play in our communities.

A collection of lesson plans surrounding the topics of forestry and natural resource, submitted by educators.

Students focus on forests (one of the largest and most complex types of ecosystems) and come to understand some of the interactions present in all ecosystems. In doing so, they learn to appreciate the natural systems on which we depend and begin to widen their circle of compassion to include all of nature.

This illustrated collection of essays addresses topics related to Oregon’s forests, including wildlife, forestry and tree biology. The one-page essays were written by a team of natural resources specialists and then reviewed by teachers for content and readability and scientists for accuracy. Each essay includes reading comprehension questions.

A collection of lesson plans surrounding the topics of forestry and natural resource, submitted by educators.

A learning guide developed for teachers to plan lessons and activites for students to understand the importance trees play in our communities.

This lesson will teach students all about trees, including the life cycle of a tree, the function of different parts of a tree, and the use for and value of different wood products.

Discover Your Urban Forest is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades 6-8 that invites learners to explore their urban environment and investigate environmental issues that affect their urban community. Three hands-on activities, with an emphasis on science and social studies, engage students in learning about the place they live and how we depend on natural systems to sustain us. Students learn to value diverse perspectives about different landscapes whether it is a city sidewalk, an urban forest, or a community park.

Designed for 6th-8th grade teachers, Carbon & Climate provides activities and resources to help educators meet these challenges, introducing students to some of the complex issues involved in climate change.

Students will learn about how trees are an essential part of our lives with a focus on the role they play in urban areas, including energy considerations. They will consider threats posed to trees, including non-native insects, domestic animal waste, and erosion. Students then evaluate the potential impact of local tree conservation efforts and design a plan for their community.

In this lesson, students interact with Google Earth to identify forests that have been logged selectively versus those that have not. They also learn how to distinguish the appearance of forestry methods in satellite images. Outdoors, students create a comprehensive list of all the tree species in their own neighborhoods or local parks. Students collect leaves and work as individuals, then as teams, to identify the trees in their sampling area. Class data is pooled to allow simple calculations of rarity indices for the various tree species.

Deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale. In this lesson, students learn the value of large-scale forest landscapes and their role in the carbon cycle. Tools such as infographics and carbon calculators help students investigate deforestation and its impact on climate. Reforestation also impacts climate change. Students explore how reforestation can help decrease carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby minimizing climate change and improving air quality.

This illustrated collection of essays addresses topics related to Oregon’s forests, including wildlife, forestry and tree biology. The one-page essays were written by a team of natural resources specialists and then reviewed by teachers for content and readability and scientists for accuracy. Each essay includes reading comprehension questions.

American Prehistory has students study the evidence of 8000 years of Native American prehistoric land use practices. By analyzing images of Native American material culture, students will understand how artifacts and architecture reveal environmental attitudes of the culture. Students also will learn about the difficulties historians and other scholars face when attempting to study people who had no written language.

From Forest to Farm and Back Again explores the history of land use from colonial settlement to the emergence of modern America at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts. Students will examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns of forest use and management over a 300-year period.

Fueling the Fires has students examine the role wood played in the American Industrial Revolution. By calculating how much wood was consumed by U.S. railroads before and after the invention of wood preservatives, in addition to reading about the use of barbed wire for fencing, students will observe the connection between technology and forest conservation. Students also will learn how research and development have contributed to the diverse use of forest products in everyday household items.

From Arbor Day to Earth Day has students analyze the influence of diverse forms of public opinion on the development of environmental public policy and decision making from the early industrial age through the postwar era. Students will understand the effects of rapid industrialization on the environment and the emergence of the conservation movement and then compare it to the modern environmental movement.

A New Profession Takes Seed has students study the origination and development of the Forest Service—a classic example of Progressive Era idealism. Students will examine the changing responsibilities and roles of foresters during the 20th century through present-day and also will reflect upon the evolution of forestry as a profession.

From Forest to Farm to Urban Forest has students examine what happens when the post-war urban development boom crowds out the forest. Students will examine the land use history of Duke Forest from 1930 on, and the variety of stakeholder opinions on the future of the forest. Students will also reflect on how science and technology have changed people's perception of the natural world.

Trees in Your Own Backyard has students survey trees in the schoolyard and itemize their various benefits. They will consider human impacts on trees in the city landscape and the responsibility of citizens for reserving the urban forest.

Living in a Global Forest has students compare the ecological footprint of a home constructed in 1950 with one constructed in 2000. Students will learn where our wood comes from now and will analyze global efforts to manage the world's forests.

Wildfires: Fight, Flight, or Coexistence? has students examine the history of wildland fires and their impact on society in America. Exploring our approaches to living with fire, students will examine various fire management techniques including prescribed fires, fire suppression, and fire prevention. Students will take a closer look at the Tillamook burn in Oregon, and conduct a research project on wildfire history in another state. Students will also gain a better understanding of Smokey Bear and the role of symbols in information campaigns.

The significance of Private Forests in the U.S. investigates the history of private forests and the values these lands have to the United States . Students will also examine family forests in America, and take a closer look at the challenges facing private forestland owners.

Behind the Scenes: Forest & Forest Product Research examines research conducted to help us utilize forest resources while managing our forestlands in a sustainable manner. Students will learn about key forest research conducted since the early 1900s, as well as key researchers.

Climate Change and Michigan Forests is a 10-day middle school life science unit based on forest ecology research conducted at the University of Michigan. This curriculum incorporates hands-on data collection, technology in the classroom, exploratory learning, and a field trip to a local forest to enhance student knowledge of forest ecology and climate change research techniques. Optional exercises are provided throughout the unit. Utilize these activities if you have more than 10 days to complete the unit, or if your students need a more thorough review of specific topics.

A complete language arts and science curriculum for grades 6–8. Students take on the role of forensic investigators in this program designed for the science/Earth science classroom. The program will reinforce critical thinking, speaking & writing, scientific inquiry, collaborative learning, and research skills in language arts, social studies, science & technical subjects, and health/safety. These materials were created in 2007 and linked to the appropriate national education standards, Core Curriculum standards and North American Association of Environmental Education standards at the time of their development. Those standards may have changed, but the learning objectives remain the same, as outlined here.

A collection of lesson plans surrounding the topics of forestry and natural resource, submitted by educators.

“Tree-killing beetles” begins with the phenomenon of lodgepole pine forest devastation by mountain pine beetle outbreaks. One scientist observed a potential correlation between tree size and beetle infestation. The driving question is, “How does the average tree size in a forest influence its susceptibility to mountain pine beetles?” The lesson involves discovering the scientist’s hypothesis, graphing and/or data analysis, making a claim, and providing evidence and reasoning to support the claim.

Designed for ages 9-15 but customizable for all ages, virtual field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the classroom. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities. Several of these field trips involve learning about trees and forests, including wildlife exploration in tropical and temperate rainforests and examining the role of trees in cooling urban heat islands.

Unifying Life is a curriculum to help middle school students learn about the street trees that they see daily. Kids walk by trees and other plants every day and many cannot identify a maple or an oak. This curriculum uses Leafsnap (www.leafsnap.com), a cutting edge iPhone tree identification app to help students through careful observation.

Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers includes four hands-on instructional activities to help youth research forestry jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources. The activities are designed to be flexible. They may be taught as individual, stand-alone lessons or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction. Depending on your program, you may teach them in the sequence provided, switch the order around, or pick and choose components from different activities.

Project Learning Tree’s Teaching with i-Tree unit includes three hands-on activities that help middle and high school students discover and analyze the many ecosystem services that trees provide. Students input data they collect into a free online tool that calculates the dollar value of the benefits provided by a tree, or a set of trees.

NASA and the GLOBE Program offers many opportunities for students, educators, and citizen scientists to interact with their local environments by taking ground-based observations of many things, including trees. Students and educators can become part of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, a campaign that focuses on tree height. Designed as a way for students to take measurements of tree heights, the campaign allows students to take measurements, submit their data to the GLOBE Program’s database, use their own data, and the data from other students and citizen scientists, to develop student research projects related to trees and tree height. The NASA GLOBE Observer App Trees Tool allows citizen scientists to take tree heights using a mobile device.

In this lesson plan, students address the impact of unsustainable fishing practices. Salmon runs are an important factor in cycling several nutrients. Overfishing salmon reduces the forest’s capacity for growth and regeneration. Students explore the connection between the size of salmon runs and forest health. First, they test a population model to estimate a sustainable salmon harvest. Second, they simulate variation in nutrient input by comparing growth of plants given inputs of different concentrations of fish-based fertilizer with a control.

This illustrated collection of essays addresses topics related to Oregon’s forests, including wildlife, forestry and tree biology. The one-page essays were written by a team of natural resources specialists and then reviewed by teachers for content and readability and scientists for accuracy. Each essay includes reading comprehension questions.

This classroom poster illustrates the role of forests and wood products in the carbon cycle. The poster shows the major contributors of carbon into the atmosphere, how forests absorb carbon through photosynthesis and how wood products such as lumber and furniture continue to store the carbon absorbed by trees.

A companion to Where’s All The Carbon? poster, the Instruction Guide includes additional activities, lesson plans and background information to help teachers go deeper into the material included in the student publication. The guide also includes a list of additional resources, and it is aligned to state educational standards.

A food forest strives to mimic the relationships found in natural forest ecosystems to sustainably grow fruit- and nut-bearing trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals that provide a food source for humans and wildlife. In this lesson, students explore the relationships found in forest ecosystems, investigate the concept of planting a food forest, and research appropriate plant materials and create a design for a food forest in their area.

This high school curriculum is designed to foster student understanding of — and appreciation for — the forested lands of North America. The lessons provide students with opportunities for hands-on forest study and address concepts in biology, civics, ecology, economics, forest management, and other content areas. Students examine ecological systems of a forest; analyze interdependencies within a forest ecosystem; and explore factors, like fire, that shape the development of forests. As students explore forest issues and develop science content knowledge, they develop critical thinking skills and discover the importance of scientific analysis.

Project Learning Tree and the University of Florida have developed a new secondary module to help educators in the Southeast teach about climate change impacts on forest ecosystems, the role of forests in sequestering carbon, and strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to changing climatic conditions. The module explores these concepts in 14 experiential activities by using research related to the goals of PINEMAP—a regional research, education, and extension program focused on southern pine management and climate change.

Global Connections: Forests of the World provides opportunities for high school teachers and students to gain an increased understanding of — and appreciation for — the diversity of global forests. The lessons emphasize the interactions people have with forests and our dependence on them. The activities provide students with opportunities to apply scientific processes and higher order thinking skills while investigating world forestry issues and conducting service-learning action projects.

Trees are essential workhorses in our environment, providing us with oxygen to breathe; foods such as apples, hazelnuts, and maple syrup to eat; and wood for our houses, paper products, and furniture. In nature, trees provide food and housing for birds, insects, and other animals. They filter water and absorb carbon. Their importance is evident, but how do trees actually work?

A collection of lesson plans surrounding the topics of forestry and natural resource, submitted by educators.

A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees communicate, often and over vast distances.

How can a city function like a forest? What can we learn from Nature to improve the health, resilience, & livability of our cities? How can our buildings and roads sequester carbon, treat polluted runoff, and support biodiversity?

In this second part of a two-part high school ecosystems unit, students investigate the claim that planting trees can help combat climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide and storing carbon in wood. Students’ questions about where and how trees do this, sparks a series of investigations to pursue to track down where the carbon is going as it moves into and through different tissues in the tree (leaves, wood, and roots) that help students develop a model for how matter transformations and energy flow occurs in organisms and ecosystems.

Tree-Plenish supports students in planning a community tree planting event to replenish the environment with the amount of paper their school used during the past academic year… while meeting multiple Tree Campus K-12 program goals!