Place-based Science for Educators: Module 2
Part 2: Trees
In this part of module 2, we’ll zoom in to focus on the most visible characters of our local woodlands: trees! Our goal is to begin to develop some basic tools to identify common trees in our region. This skill, in turn, allows us to better understand our natural communities. Tree identification is like being able to recognize the “letters” as we read the landscape, which allow us to distill forest patterns – the “words” and “sentences” of the book of nature.
Whether you know a lot about trees or a little, I hope to give you some new tools and ideas that you might use with your students. That said, these are just starting points! Check out the resources page for ideas of how you might dive deeper.
Step 1: Watch Tree Identification Starting Points Video
This video provides a few tree identification starting points for beginners, and I share how I use some of these with my students. Apologies for the audio snafu at the end!
Step 2: Watch Common Trees of New England
In this video I share several resources I recommend for diving deeper on tree identification and I share some preliminary tips for identifying a few common trees in our region. As I go over a variety of trees, please feel free to fast forward or skip through some of video; prioritize what is most useful for you.