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Living in a Tree |
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Recommended Age Groups: Early Elementary
About this
Lesson from the University of Michigan's Nichols Arboretum
Guiding Questions
- Do you know who lives in trees?
- Why don't we live in trees?
- What are some physical characteristics of animals who live in
trees?
Objectives
Concepts:
- There are many animals who build their houses in trees.
- Animals have special characteristics that help them
use the trees as their home.
Principles:
- Animals need a place to live as we do. Some live in the water and
others in holes in the ground, but many animals live in trees.
- We cannot live in trees because we do not have the special
characteristics that are needed to move about in trees.
- If we were to take away trees, we would leave many animals without
homes.
Facts:
- Many animals have claws that grip to the
trees.
- Squirrels build their nests high up on the treetops, or in the
tree's canopy. They have small claws on their feet that help them
hold on to tree trunks and branches, even upside-down!
- Sloths also have claws. Their claws let them
hang on tight to the trees for a long time. This is important
because they move very slowly and spend most of their lives hanging
upside-down from branches.
- Iguanas spend much of their lives in the canopy,
searching for food. They also have sharp claws that help them
climb.
- Other animals have tails that can grab onto
branches.
- Monkeys have tails that they use as an extra hand when swinging and
climbing through trees.
- Tamanduas are anteaters that use their long tails
and claws to move about the tree and look for ants to eat.
- Some animals have special toes that stick to the tree.
- Tree frogs spend most of their lives in trees and
have tips on their toes that grip the surface of trees. These toes
glue themselves to the tree. Their toes let them move around the
tree without falling.
- Tarsiers have friction pads on their toes that
help them grab onto branches and tree trunks.
- Some animals glide through the trees.
- Flying squirrels have flaps of skin that let them glide from branch
to branch and from tree to tree.
- Flying dragons are lizards that also have flaps of skin on both
sides of their bodies to help them glide.
- Many animals have wings to fly.
- Most birds live in trees and use their wings to help them get to the
branches and their nests.
- Most insects and bugs have wings so they can fly to leaves and
branches.
Skills:
- Making Observations
- Making Comparisons
- Making Inferences
- Drawing Conclusions
- Communicating Observations and Findings
Preparation
Materials:
- A tree for every child
- Drawing paper and a book that you can use as your table, while you
are drawing outdoors
- Pencils and crayons
- Optional: may want to have cushions or something to put on the ground to
sit on when children go outside
- Bag or box to keep materials in
- Jar with holes poked through the lids so you could keep some insects
that are interesting
- Handout
Room Preparation:
- No room required! Need to find many trees so every child or pair can
look at trees and find animals. (It would be difficult to have many
children trying to look for animals in one tree.)
- When children complete drawings or posters and make presentations, have
them sit in a circle so all can see, hear, and share in discussions.
Safety Precautions:
- Be ready to deal with varying weather conditions.
- Some insects and bugs could be dangerous when touched.
Procedures and Activity
Introduction:
- Do you know who lives in trees?
Listen to the children as they give ideas on animals who live in trees.
Depending on where you live, they might mention squirrels, bugs, or
lizards.
- Why don't we live in trees?
Listen to the thoughts that children have. Explain how difficult
it would be for us to live in trees.
- What are some physical characteristics of animals who live in
trees?
Explain the different characteristics that animals have that help them
live in trees, including claws, tails, sticky toes, and wings. Pass out
the handout that has drawings of different animals who live in trees.
- Let's be scientists today!
Tell the children that they are going to be scientists today.
We will look at trees and try to observe what kinds of animals live
in or visit trees. Then we will look for the kinds of physical
characteristics animals have that live in trees. We will draw
pictures of animals and point out their special features.
Activity:
- Go outside and have children pick a tree to "study."
- Make observations like a scientist.
Look around and find animals that might live on or in the tree.
Sometimes they could be very small, so you have to look very carefully.
- Identify the animals.
What kind of animals did you find? Do they fly, glide, or stick?
Do they have tails, wings, toes, or claws?
- Document your observations like a scientist.
Scientists need to write down what they see so that they can remember
it later and share it with other people. Draw pictures of the animals
and their homes that you see on or in the treebirds, nests, etc.
If you like, you could get a jar and keep samples of some small
animals. Be sure to let them go later so that they can live.
Evaluation
Back in the classroom, ask again:
- Do you know who lives in trees?
- Why don't we live in trees?
Let children make their presentations and share their drawings. Let
them pass around jars with any small animals that they might have
found to share them with each other. You may ask them which of the
animals that live in trees they like the best. Remind them how
important trees are to these animals and to people.
Extension Ideas
- The handout shows some animals
that live in other parts of the world. The children might want to see a
map and point out where these animals live on the globe.
- The children might want to visit a zoo to see some of the less common
animals.
- To learn more about trees, the lesson Have You
Ever Met a Tree? explains more about the characteristics of
trees.
- Children might be interested in building a tree house with the help of
an adult.
- Visit the National Audubon Society's Birder Homepage to learn about bird
watching, habitats, bird feeders, migration patterns, rare and common
birds, and current bird research. You can also link to bird museums,
magazines and organizations!
- Other books related to this topic that might be interesting:
- Anybody Home? by Aileen Fisher
- Wild Animals by Tony Chen
- Animal Builders by David Nockels
- Plan an environmental field trip:
Careers Related to Lesson Topic
Prerequisite Vocabulary
- characteristic
- A special quality or trait something has that makes it different from
others
- claws
- Sharp nails at the end of the fingers or toes of an animal
- iguana
- A large, dark-colored lizard that lives in Central and South
America
- sloth
- A slow-moving animal that lives in the rain forests of Central and
South America. It hangs from trees upside down and eats leaves and
fruits.
- tail
- A long body part that continues off of the back of an animal
- tamandua
- An animal living in Central and South America that eats ants
- tarsier
- An animal living in Asia that sleeps in the morning and is awake at
night
- tree frog
- A small, usually loud, frog that lives in trees
- wings
- Movable limbs like arms, often covered with feathers, that some
animals use to fly
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