International Day of the Tree

Actually, it was International Day Against Tree Monocultures which you can read more about here:

http://www.foei.org/en/blog/international-day-against-monoculture-tree-plantations-september-21

In short, this is a day that raises awareness of the harm plantations cause to biodiversity and ecosystems around the world.

In our classroom, we recognized it by thinking about and discussing the many things that trees do to benefit our lives and the world we inhabit. Here's a small sampling of the student work. Enjoy!

Some students focused on how trees provide foods such as fruits, nuts, and maple syrup.

Some thought about how we use trees to make paper.
This brought on a discussion about the need to recycle so that we can preserve our trees.

Trees help to clean our air by stopping airborne particles, reducing heat,
and absorbing pollutants like carbon monoxide. 

Trees are a natural source of shelter and habitat for birds, animals, and insects... and they provide us with shade too!

Tree roots are important because they hold water and reduce flooding. If you were able to dig out an entire tree, you would see that its roots are as big as the tree itself. 

Roots are made up of large roots, small roots and rootlets. As tree roots grow they make large channels for water to move through. 

Tree branches and leaves stop raindrops from hitting the ground too fast so the soil has more time to absorb the rain water.  

Less water will run off the surface and that will reduce soil erosion. 

Trees provide shade so that less water evaporates from the soil.