By making a tree costume, your students will gain an awareness of a tree’s structure and functions.
This is one of 96 activities that can be found in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. To get the activity, attend a training either in person or online and receive PLT’s PreK-8 Guide. Below are some supporting resources for this activity.
Download the copyright-free student pages that are included with this activity:
Living Labels (PDF)
Spanish Student Page(s):
Eqiquetas Vivientes (PDF)
Expand your students’ learning and imaginations. Help students meet their reading goals, while building upon concepts learned in this activity, with the following children’s book recommendations:
Try a simple variation of this activity to engage children in the outdoors at home. Download this fun and easy-to-do family activity.
The following tools and resources may be used to enhance the activity.
Go on an adventure with Rick Crosslin, a science teacher in Indiana, to investigate forest management in this video Forests at Work: An Indiana Expeditions Special. Students will learn how the genetic traits of seedlings can turn result in a tree farm full of magnificent hardwoods—similar to how our DNA can determine athletic ability, height, and muscle growth. Students will *virtually* follow foresters into the woodlands to learn about management practices and how these practices are changing the state’s forest composition, health, and overall recovery.
Shared by Sandy Greene, an environmental educator in Virginia, this Woodlands Siesta activity helps connect students to the outdoors as they create a sound map and see the forest from a different perspective (while lying in a hammock!). Greene suggests this activity be enjoyed as part of a summer afterschool program or day-time camp. It does require some funding to purchase hammocks or you could use blankets or a tarp instead so students feel comfortable lying on the ground.
Greene was named a National PLT Outstanding Educator in 2006.
In this short video from PBS Plum Landing, see how students work with a local arborist to plant a tree in their community. Underneath the video, you’ll find some simple conversation starting questions and additional resources to inspire your students.
Help students visualize the inner layers of a tree trunk and better understand the function of its different parts by creating this easy-to-make visual aid – a cross-section of a tree trunk.
This animated presentation for students in grades 3-5 explains in detail how an acorn becomes a tree. The audio is available in English and Spanish.
Help students visualize and better understand the function of the inner parts of a tree trunk by creating this easy-to-make visual aid.
These stories will not only help students learn about trees, but more importantly, appreciate their significance and value. These books can help start a conversation about our relationship with nature, conservation, and life cycles.
As the pandemic has disrupted countless traditional learning environments, many have begun to move classes outdoors. But as Project Learning Tree educators know all-too-well, taking lessons outdoors offers many more benefits than just germ control!
Photosynthesis can be a difficult concept to grasp, that’s why we’ve compiled a selection of hands-on activities and experiments to help show students some of the concepts in action.
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