Trees and Forests

Tree Classification

ConiferousandDeciduousTreesPowerPoint.pptx

Deciduous trees shed their leaves before the cold or dry season. Coniferous trees have needle-shaped leaves. Needles are green all year long. Cone bearing trees. Tamarack is both coniferous and deciduous

Coniferous vs Deciduous

Coniferous

Produces cones not flowers
Needle type leaves
Scaly bark
Mostly SOFTWOOD

Deciduous

Loses leaves in fall
Leaves change colour
Smooth bark or vertical cracks
Mostly produces fruit, although some trees produce cones (Larch)
Mostly HARDWOOD

3 Parts of a Tree:

Crown - consists of branches and leaves. It supplies food and ability to breathe.
Trunk - The woody part that provides strength and height.
Roots - Provide minerals for growth and water

What is a Tree?

4 Main criteria to properly label plant as a tree are:

Perennial (comes back every year)
Must have self supporting trunk
Must be made of woody material (Phloem, Xylem, and Heartwood)
Only has one trunk, unlike shrubs and bushes that have many skinnier stems.

Tree or Not a Tree Activity.pdf

Coniferous vs deciduous.pdf

To review the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees, students will research the characteristics of each and research coniferous and deciduous trees indigenous to Alberta.

Deciduous/Coniferous Review/Research

September 20th- September 24th

Leaf Characteristics

Parts of a Leaf

Pages from Alberta Grade 6 Science Trees and Forests-1-1-2.pdf

The Blade: this is the body of the leaf

The Apex: this is the tip of the leaf

The Margin: this is the outer edge of the leaf

The Petiole: this is the long narrow stem connecting the leaf to the branch

The Midrib: this is the center of the leaf, dispersing water from the branch to the leaf, and food from the leaf to the tree

The Base: this connects the Midrib to the Petiole

Types of Leaves

Simple leaves – single petiole attached to a single base

Compound leaves – Single petiole with many leaf blades

Double compound leaves – Many petioles with other petioles attaching to them

Needle leaves – long thin and pointed, they are either square or flat

Leaf Shapes

Needle Shapes

Leaf Margins

So many leaf margins to also help identify trees!

Smooth
Fine toothed
Course toothed
Lobed

Leaf Arrangements

How leafs are attached to the petiole is called leaf arrangement:

Needle Arrangement

• Bundle of 2

• Bundle of 5

• Single on a twig

• Scale like

• Clusters

Dichotomous Key Slide Deck

Dichotomous Key

Students work through the Dichotomous monsters activity to get a sense of using characteristics to figure out what species of creature it is. They will use this to then use a real Dichotomous Key for Alberta plants to figure out the species of plants in our Bird Garden.

October 7, 2021

My Tree Friend

Now that we have spent some time learning about characteristics of trees and specifically their leaves, you are going to work through the "Meet my Tree Friend" activity to identify your chosen tree in the Bird Garden. You will be using the online guide on the iPads and the resources provided. A copy of the PPT and any materials you need for this assignment have been posted in Google Classroom.

October 12-14 2021

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