K-5 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.
There are also many opportunities for nature play and discovery as young children care for their forest, whether it is playing with sparkling water drops, finding bugs amongst the weeds, or using pruned branches for imaginary animal shelters, forts, or flagpoles.
Click on the links below to navigate directly to each subject area or scroll down to browse.
© Ayesha Ercelawn
Watering
Build A Tree — Green Schoolyards America
This classic role-play activity can be used to focus on the function of the roots and trunk as a plant takes up water.
Grades K-2
Build A Tree — California ReLeaf
More advanced vocabulary in this classic role-play activity helps students learn about structures and functions of tree parts while working as a team.
Grades 3-5
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.
Grades 3-5
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.
Grades 3-5
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.
Grades 3-5
© Ayesha Ercelawn
Plants Need a Drink! — Green Schoolyards America
This role-play activity teaches young students about plant water needs and observing wilted versus well-watered plants. Note that this activity applies to broad-leaved species rather than conifers.
Grades K-2
Puddle Scientist — Learning withOutdoors
Students study puddles after heavy watering or rainstorms, exploring their size, shape, depth, and generally having some splashy fun!
Grades K-5
Testing Soil Moisture — Green Schoolyards America
Students learn about wise water use when caring for trees by using moisture meters to test soil moisture near tree roots. Students determine whether plants need water or not before watering. A worksheet is included.
Grades 3-5
Water on Various Surfaces — Boston Schoolyard Initiative
Students experiment with how water interacts with a variety of schoolyard surfaces, such as permeable soil versus impermeable asphalt surfaces.
Grades 2-5
Weeding
Parts of a Plant — Learning through Landscapes
Students use an uprooted weed to study the parts of a plant. This simple activity can be adapted for more complex botany in higher grades.
Grades K-5
Roots and Shoots — Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies (OBIS)
Students use uprooted weeds to compare taproot and fibrous root systems.
Grades K-5
Seed Dispersal — Green Schoolyards America
This outdoor role-play game is a great way to engage students in learning about the diversity of adaptations by plants for dispersing their seeds as well as the interconnections within an ecosystem.
Grades 3-5
© Ayesha Ercelawn
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.
Grade 5
Leaf Skeletons — Learning WithOutdoors
Students learn about decomposition through observing decomposing leaves, sequencing a variety of leaves, and developing experiments.
Grades K-5
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.
Grades 3-5
Outdoor Tic Tac Toe — Housing A Forest
Students use chalk to color individual wood chips and then play a game of tic-tac-toe.
Grades K-2
Simple Outdoor Checkers Game — Housing A Forest
Students use chalk to color individual wood chips and use them for a game of checkers.
Grades K-5
Raking and Sweeping
Leaf Skeletons — Learning WithOutdoors
Students learn about decomposition through observing decomposing leaves, sequencing a variety of leaves, and developing experiments.
Grades K-5
© Ayesha Ercelawn
Monitoring Tree Health
Leaf Percentages — Educate Outside
This activity on fractions, percentages, and decimals can be adapted to quantify a tree health survey, calculating, for example, the percentage of healthy versus diseased leaves or green versus brown leaves on a branch. If the tree is a young sapling, students should do the activity without picking growing leaves.
Grades 4-5
Mystery Marauders — Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies (OBIS)
Students look for evidence of leaf damage by herbivores and temporarily collect any bugs they find, while learning about herbivores and their predators.
Grades K-5
Tree Health: Survey Your Trees — Green Schoolyards America
Students can use the one-page color photo guide to conduct a survey for some of the most common symptoms of insect damage or disease on trees. This activity develops observation skills and also connects to units about food chains and ecosystems.
Grades 3-5
< Return to Educator Resources Home Page
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.
