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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Signs of Change: Tree Rings

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students identify and experiment with dendrochronology (the study of tree rings to answer ecological questions about the recent past) and come up with conclusions as to what possible climatic conditions might affect tree growth in their...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Using Tree Diagrams to Represent a Sample Space and to Calculate Probabilities

For Teachers 7th Standards
Cultivate the tree of knowledge using diagrams with two stages. Pupils create small tree diagrams to determine the sample space in compound probability problems. The lesson uses only two decision points to introduce tree diagrams. 
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Chicago Botanic Garden

What Can Tree Rings Tell Us About Climate?

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Tree rings are slightly thicker on the south side of the tree because it receives more sunlight. Part two in a series of five lessons helps learners analyze tree rings to determine the environmental conditions that caused size...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life Cycle of Trees

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Turn your students into young tree-tectives with this fun science investigation into the life of trees. To begin, a class volunteer gets dressed up in a tree costume as the different parts of trees are introduced. Then, the class learns...
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Lesson Plan
Mathematics Assessment Project

Sampling and Estimating: Counting Trees

For Teachers 7th Standards
Your task today: count all the trees on a tree farm. To complete the assignment, learners first estimate the number of trees on a tree farm using random sampling. To improve their own response they then evaluate provided responses to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aging of Trees

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine tree rings to determine its age.  In this tree ring lesson, students examine core tree samples, identify the tree rings, and then determine its age. Students complete a worksheet, deciding which of the two core sample is...
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Activity
It's About Time

Paleoclimates

For Teachers 7th - 12th
How do scientists know what the Earth was like in the past? This second installment of a six-part series focuses on paleoclimates and provides an overview of how geologists determine information about past climates using fossil pollen,...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
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Unit Plan
NASA

Wetlands

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Take a little wade in the wetlands. A fun unit has pupils conduct a literature review to learn how climate change and human actions affect wetland ecosystems. They take a trip to a wetland, observe the fauna and flora, and then take and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Methuselah Tree

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars examine how scientists determine the age of living and non-living trees. They simulate the role of a tree-ring scientist, crossdating tree-ring samples and determining which sample is the oldest and the age of the samples.
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Lesson Plan
Actis

Handling Data: Probability, Tree Diagrams

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Clean, but captivating, two online simulations demonstrate probability for middle schoolers. They can choose the number of coins and tosses and watch as the results pile up. They can choose from a variety of spinner types and the number...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trees: Are They Thriving or Surviving?

For Teachers 8th
In this trees survival lesson plan, 8th graders discuss what trees need to grow, brainstorm things that could adversely affect tree growth, and compare characteristics of thriving trees vs. surviving trees. Students learn about the trees...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tree Identification

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers list four ways to identify trees. In this tree identification instructional activity, students use tree identification techniques such as leafs, bark, wood grain, soil type, and climate to create tables and graphs.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Tree-Ring Dating

For Students 5th - 8th
In this tree-ring dating worksheet, students use activity sheets to determine a tree's age and to observe changes in climate from the tree-rings. Students investigate how archaeologists use tree rings to date evidence and they answer 5...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Counting Rules—The Fundamental Counting Principle and Permutations

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Count the benefits of using the resource. The second installment of a 21-part module focuses on the fundamental counting principle to determine the number of outcomes in a sample space. It formalizes concepts of permutations and...
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Unit Plan
Penguin Books

An Educator's Guide to the Works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Middle school years can be tough. An educator's guide for the works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt introduces readers to two texts that discuss the struggles pre-teens face during middle school. Chapter-by-chapter questions and activities for two...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing Tree Rings to Determine Climate Change

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine how to locate and access data sets.  In this climate change instructional activity students import data into Excel and graph it.   
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Lesson Plan
Mathematics Assessment Project

Modeling: Making Matchsticks

For Teachers 8th Standards
Math: The only subject where the solution to a problem is seven million matches. Young scholars first complete an assessment task estimating the number of matches they can make from a tree of given dimensions. They then evaluate provided...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Better Vocabulary Through Derivatives

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Learners create a word tree poster that illustrates the way a root word can serve as the basis for many related terms. Although designed for a Latin language class, the concepts here could be used with any class study of Latin or Greek...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Logs of Straw: Dendocronology

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students investigate the age of trees by analyzing tree rings.  For this dendocronology lesson, students examine sample images of tree rings and identify their age by the amount of rings.  Students complete a chart identifying the age,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tree-ring Dating

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers complete activity sheets and participate in discussions while they study dendrochronology. They determine a tree's age and recognize how the climate varied over time.
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Lesson Plan
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

Pardon Me, Your Modifier is Dangling

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Lost! (or misplaced) a modifier. Last seen dangling at the end of a sentence! Reward offered! To underscore the humor, class members are each given a sample sentence to illustrate (A woman passed by, leading a Springer Spaniel, in a long...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles.  In this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history.  Students investigate a simulated tree ring and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ring-a-ling

For Teachers K - 4th
Students examine a cross section of a tree. They discuss what the rings mean and how they can tell its age. They complete a worksheet to end the lesson.