9-12 Stewardship Lessons

Introduction

Along with helping students develop a sense of connection with trees and a stewardship ethic toward them, teachers can also connect lessons in science, math, and environmental literacy to stewardship tasks. These hands-on lessons can help turn abstract concepts into real and engaging activities for students. We have gathered lessons and activities here that were developed by established organizations and practitioners in the field of outdoor education. 

For practical how-to information and tips on engaging students in the tasks of caring for trees, see the resources in Stewardship Tasks with Students.

Click on the links below to navigate directly to each subject area or scroll down to browse.

 

© city of Vancouver, WA

Watering

© ayesha Ercelawn

Common Leaf Characteristics — KidsGardening
Students can closely observe and draw leaf veins, key structures for transporting water and food in a plant. This resource helps them identify veins as parallel, pinnate, or palmate.

Follow the Drop — Earth Partnership
Students investigate the movement of stormwater runoff on their schoolyard, comparing impervious and pervious surfaces, examining topography, creating maps, and calculating runoff volume.

Leaf Transpiration (English) and Transpiración de las Hojas (Spanish) — Canopy
This simple experiment on transpiration by leaves explores the role of a tree in the water cycle. 

Moisture Makers — Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies (OBIS)
Students use cobalt chloride paper to test and compare moisture from upper versus lower surfaces of living leaves. 

Water from Trees — LEAF - Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program 
Students calculate the mass of water transpired from leaf samples over a 24-hour period.

Weeding

Morphology Bingo — Lena Strewe (Botany Depot)
In this botany lesson, small teams of students head outside to find the correct plant parts for their bingo card. The activity can be adapted for any level of plant studies.

Parts of a Plant — Learning through Landscapes
Students use an uprooted weed to study the parts of a plant. This activity can be adapted as needed for the botanical terminology being studied.

Passive Quadrat Sampling, PDF page 132 — Eisenhower High School
This classic scientific sampling tool for studying biodiversity can be adapted to study the abundance of weeds and other species on the school grounds.

Roots and Shoots — Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies (OBIS)
Students use uprooted weeds to compare taproot and fibrous root systems.

Mulching

How to Get and Apply Mulch —TreePeople
Use this math resource with students to measure the planting area and calculate the volume of mulch needed. 

Mulch and Evaporation — Green Schoolyards America
In this simple experiment about water evaporation, students test changes in soil moisture over several days, comparing soil covered with mulch to soil that is bare. 

Pruning

Fractal Trees — Fractal Foundation
In this math activity, students explore the natural fractal branching of a tree, measure branch lengths and angles, and calculate quotients and ratios. 

Monitoring Tree Health

Tree Health: Survey Your Trees — Green Schoolyards America
Students can use a detailed worksheet or a one-page color photo guide to conduct a survey while learning about possible symptoms caused by insects, disease, animals, or weather. This activity develops observation skills and also connects to units about food chains, ecosystems, and climate change. 

Schoolyard Forest System℠

The Schoolyard Forest System℠ Resource Library is a set of practical tools for schools and districts working to increase tree canopy on public school grounds to shade and protect PreK-12 students from extreme heat and rising temperatures due to climate change. Funding for the first phase of this initiative was provided by a grant administered by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Urban and Community Forestry Program, and private philanthropy.