September 7

September 7, 2018/Forest/forest, September 7/Amy Carr

Hello Forest families!

I hope everyone had a wonderful labor day weekend! We had a busy short week.

This week’s focus was learning about trees.

We learned:

The four main parts of a tree are roots, stem/trunk, branches and leaves.
You can calculate the age of a tree by counting its rings on the inside of its trunk. Trees that don’t experience changes in climate grow all year and do not produce rings.
They are the largest plant
They help support a large community of living things. Many animals eat the fruits, seeds, leaves, sap, or even the wood of trees.
Trees provide many species of animals with habitat, nesting space, and protection from predators.
Trees help modify climate. They provide shade in hot weather and shelter from the wind. In some places they help to cause more rainfall and condensation of fog.
Trees can help hold snowfall in place to prevent avalanches and mudslides.
Trees provide food in the form of fruits and nuts and wood for fires, tools and shelters
Trees provide useful products like wood, paper, rubber and cork.
Trees are grouped into two basic categories. Deciduous trees also called broadleaf. The maple, oak, elm, hickory, aspen and birch are all examples of deciduous trees. Most deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall and begin the cycle of growth in the spring.
The other type of tree is evergreen. Cypress, eucalyptus and pine are all examples of evergreen. Evergreen trees remain green for most of the year tand they are continuously losing and growing the needles or leaves.
Some of the worlds largest trees can be found in California. The Giant Sequoia is over 275 feet tall. The great Redwood trees in California can be as wide as 20 feet!