All of YMCA Camp Cherokee’s Environmental Education classes are adjustable to your students’ needs. We have hands on activities for students who are just beginning school to those entering high school. Read below to find out more!

 

Forest Ecology

Goal: Encourage students to work together and use their senses to observe the forest and identifiy adaptations.
Objectives:

  • Students will obtain and communicate information from the tree boring activity to explain how natural events and human activities impact the environment (3.E.4B.3).

  • Students will construct explanations for how the structural adaptations allow plants to survive and reproduce (4.L5B.2).

  • Students will identify and summarize the basic structures and functions of deciduous plants required for survival, reproduction, and defense (6.L.5B.4; 6.L.1.1).

  • Students will explain how the environmental conditions help or hinder the plants in the forest (3.L.2.2).

  • Students will learn, remember, and understand the structure of a tree and why it is necessary for survival (3.L.2.1).

  • Students will analyze and interpret data gathered from boring trees in order to determine resource availability for the plants in the forest (MS-LS2-1).

Topics:

  • Deciduous
  • Conifer
  • Ecosystem
  • Forest
  • Photosynthesis
  • Biodegradable
  • Adaptations
  • Nurse Tree
  • Tree Cookie
  • Increment Borer
Mastery:

  • Students will define and identify examples of  conifer and deciduous trees.
  • Students will observe and discuss adaptations plants use to survive their environment.
  • Students will use an increment borer and describe the life of the tree using the core.
Links for Teachers

Teacher Planning Packet

Registration Form

EE Waiver

For more information, please contact Will Gilmore.