Forest Products and Recycling

Target Curriculum: Science

Target Grade: 4

SOLs: C/T.GR5.3   E/W.1.12   E/W.2.9   E/W.K.11   SCI.1.8   SCI.2.8   SCI.3.10   SCI.4.8   SCI.K.8  

Objective:

Title of Lesson Plan: Unit Plan for Forest Resources and Recycling
Target Curriculum: Science
Target Grade: K-4
SOLs: Sci K.8, 1.8, 2.8, 3.10, 4.8
Time: Five lessons, 60 minutes per lesson
Objective: Students will be able to observe, classify, measure, compare, and describe forest resources
and forest products.
Students will be able to construct different projects by reusing, and recycling products made from natural resources.

Lesson 1: Investigate Trees

Purpose: Students will be able to investigate trees, and identify forests as a natural resource useful to people.
Discuss products we receive from trees, including paper and wood. Take students outside to make observations about a tree using their five senses. Make a bar graph showing the different types of trees, and how many of each type were found. Give students a piece of lumber, and a piece of paper, which they compare to the tree outside.

Students take a science journal or worksheet outside when they study trees. Students write or draw what they observe. Then students draw the bark, branches, leaves, and exposed roots. They make a leaf or bark rubbing of the tree, and touch, smell, and see all parts of the tree, and the ground underneath it. Students collect leaves to use in other activities. Students then investigate different kinds of trees, and compare the leaves, bark, size, shape, and texture of several different trees. Students dictate the results to the teacher, while the teacher makes a graph of their results.

Materials: Access to trees on the playground, paper, a piece of lumber, crayons, notebooks or science journals

Procedure: Teacher Activities: Discuss products we receive from trees, including paper and wood. Take students outside to observe the trees growing on the playground at school.

Students take a science journal or worksheet outside when they study trees. Students write or draw what they observe. Then students draw the bark, branches, leaves, and exposed roots. They make a leaf or bark rubbing of the tree, and touch, smell, and see all parts of the tree, and the ground underneath it. Students collect leaves to use in other activities. Students then investigate different kinds of trees, and compare the leaves, bark, size, shape, and texture of several different trees. Students dictate the results to the teacher, while the teacher makes a graph of their results.

Lesson 2: Trees are a renewable resource

Purpose: Students will be able to explain how wood can be renewed as a natural resource
Materials: Plastic containers for each student, rock or gravel, potting soil, pine seeds, paper products that have been recycled (students can bring these in)
Procedure: Teacher Activities: Provide different paper and wood products (include paper towel and toilet paper rolls, paper and paper towels, cardboard and paper bags). Lead student discussion of how these products were made. Explain to students that trees are cut down and taken to a mill. Trees are cut down to make lumber and paper, which are important for people to use. Explain to students that trees are then planted, so there will be a new crop of trees to harvest in about ten years. Planting trees ensures that we will have trees to use in the future.
Students pretend that “their” tree will be cut down to make wood products. The students draw pictures or write about their tree, and describe the wonderful things that could be made from the wood. Students then speculate on what would happen if all the trees were cut down to make other products. Students use pine tree seeds, and plant them in large plastic containers. Place rocks at the bottom of the container to provide drainage. Add potting soil and pine seeds that have been soaked in water overnight. The seeds are grown in the container for several weeks. Keep seeds away from direct sunlight, and cover with plastic for several weeks. Students keep containers at home, and water them often. Students plant seedlings outside after they have grown in a container for five or six months.

Lesson 3: A project from a tree

Purpose: Students will be able to plan and produce a product using parts of a tree.
Materials: fabric paint, glue, paper, leaves, pine needles, which students collect from outside, T-shirt which each student has brought from home to decorate, or paper to make a collage.
Procedure: Teacher Provides fabric paint, glue, and opportunities to collect items from nature. Challenge students to find patterns or categories in nature to use in their collages.
Students use leaves, bark or other items, which can be dipped into fabric paint, and pressed on a white T-shirt that students have brought to school. Students design their T-shirt around a theme or category they see in nature. Instead of decorating a T-shirt, students can make a collage using different items from nature. Items are glued on a sheet of paper or cardboard. Students look at each other’s shirts and collages, or T-shirts, and try to find the other person’s pattern.

Lesson 4: Reusing Paper Products

Purpose: Students will be able to construct a structure using recyclable paper products.
Materials: Internet access for students, any products the students have recycled at home including paper towel and toilet paper rolls, paper cups, cardboard boxes, paper, newspaper, cardboard egg cartons
Procedure: Give suggestions to students of projects they could do using their recycled material. Place bookmarks on the Internet at appropriate science projects using recycled materials (paper towels or toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, paper cups, paper, Some examples for students can be found at www.pbs.org ZoomSci, and include making a tower out of newspaper, cups, or making a chair out of newspaper. Challenge students to come up with their own projects similar to the ones they see on the Internet.
After looking at projects on the Internet with teacher help, students formulate a plan for constructing their projects, and hypothesize how the structure can be made stronger or taller. The students work in groups to plan, and construct their own project using the recyclable materials they have collected. After constructing the project, students measure their structures, and assess which structure was tallest, or strongest. Students evaluate what made the structures sturdy, and why.

Lesson 5: Making cardboard

Purpose: Students will be able to produce their own paper by recycling newspaper.
Materials: newspaper, glue, disposable plates or bowls to mix pulp (recycle freezer dinner containers), a screen, paint to decorate the paper
Procedure: Students will be able to investigate how paper is made, and usefulness of recycling paper products.
Extend the concept of recycling by explaining that paper can be reused. Provide materials and directions for making cardboard. Students use newspaper, and soak it in a mixture of one part glue, one part water, until it turns into a wet pulp mixture. Students press the mixture against a screen to press the water out of it again. The mixture will need to dry overnight. Students see that they have made their own paper. They can then write on it, paint it, or decorate it again. Students should be able to see that they can recycle paper, and the paper can then be made into paper, cards, cardboard or paper bags.
Observations: The student will make a small booklet, draw pictures, and write words to describe each day’s activities. The students should be able to draw a seed, a seedling, a tree, a product that can be made from trees, and a way to reuse, or recycle a paper product.
Conclusions: : Students will be able to conclude what products are made from trees, and how they can best be used.
Objective: Students will be able to value replanting, recycling, and reusing to preserve our forest resource
For Your Information:
Extension: Invite a guest speaker from the Virginia Department of Forestry, a local saw mill, or paper products company to conduct a program on forestry and wood products. Conduct a field trip, which includes visiting a nursery where tree seedlings are grown, and land that has been planted with new pine trees, as well as trees that are being harvested to make other wood products. Visit a local lumber yard, or store that sells lumber and pressboard.
Students take a first-hand look at the forest industry, and ask questions.
Class Discussion Questions: Where does paper come from? How is paper made? How can we use wood, and paper, and not run out of trees?
Cautions and Concerns: The forest industry is an important part of Virginia’s economy, and it is important for students to realize that trees in Virginia are constantly planted to replenish this resource. Students need to know that they can help to recycle, and preserve our resources.
Comments from Author: While teaching this unit, we had several guest speakers from the forest industry, which made this unit exciting and fun for students.
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