Our goal: To name through scientific inquiry the various types of trees on our campus. The children have drawn the trees, taken specimens and used various reference books to identify the mystery of the nameless tree.

The area contained several examples of one kind of pine tree. Groups of four children each worked on one tree. This way they were able to examine every nook and cranny: bark, branches, roots, sap, cones and leaves.

The children drew the specific tree, and came back to the class with an unbelievable amount of questions. The children seemed to be fascinated with the white hard paste-like material on the tree -- they wanted to know what that "goop" was.

They were concerned about an empty skeleton of an insect -- what was that insect? did that insect live on that particular tree or had it gone there only for dinner?

Why are there holes in the trunk? Why are the leaves still attached? etc. The children were instructed to use any of the ten reference books on trees and using their clues (their specimens) they sat in circles, comparing leaves and cones with the illustrations in the books.
They went through various specific types of trees -- they guessed one type of conifer -- but the evidence did not match the illustrations or written information -- then they went to the window to just glimpse back at their tree -- to note the way the branches hung, etc. They went back again to the reference books until there was total excitement and satisfaction.
At last the tree had a name!

 We have many other species of trees on our campus -- we are now on our next venture -- a new tree to be named -- the end of May we will be the Tree Experts at Dodson Intermediate School.

Notes by the staff developer
February 6, 1997. A key element in my view was the question June asked her kids: how can we find out what kind of tree this is?

That question came about because June approached me with cuttings from the tree to request identification. My question to her was "How can we find out?" I refused to say whether I recognized the tree or not. Within minutes, she was engrossed in the tree books herself, trying to discover the name of the tree. It was at this point that I suggested that we put the question to the kids.

After intense work the first day, the children were debating whether the tree was a Norway Spruce or a White Pine. The shape of the cone, and the pictures as they interpreted them, were important to them in their discussions. At the end of the day, June and I found a website which provided us with a picture and description of Norway Spruce.

June wants to become expert on trees herself. She attended an AIMS teacher workshop 2 summers ago. Her expertise at the start was to gather a varied collection of books, to recognize what parts of the tree (bark, twigs, leaves and cones) would be useful to identify the tree, and to organize the kids into groups. That she called the needles "leaves" revealed expertise to me.

Eventually she and the children will identify the tree. It is the search that is exciting.

February 27, 1997. Ms. Rios told me that some children think that the tree is a Black Spruce. During her prep period, we searched for "Black Spruce" and discovered several entries about that species at the Nature Forums webpage. We posted a request for picture and description.

March 11, 1997. Ms. Rios told me that some children think that the tree is a Red Spruce.

Jessica Minuto's note -- Jessica dictated this note to the staff developer.
February 27, 1997. Jessica Minuto, fourth grader, told me that she and Luz MacManus think that the tree Ms. Rios's class has been studying is an Eastern Hemlock.

Here is why she thinks so:
We looked in Luz's book about nature. When we saw the Eastern Hemlock, it told us that it was 60 to 70 feet long [tall]. When we looked at the tree, it took like it was about 60 - 70' long.

Then we went outside. We took a branch, leaves and a pine cone. We looked at our clues. The book said that the leaves have little pine cones on them. The leaves we got from the tree outside have little pine cones.

We observed the color. The leaves were dark green. It said that the habitat would be in moist soil and stuff. The soil here is pretty moist. It said that the Eastern Hemlock would be in the eastern part of the US.

The book said that the bark of the Eastern Hemlock is dark brown, and so is the tree outside.

At first we thought it was a Black Spruce. But it wasn't because usually Black Spruce have furry branches. The trees outside didn't.

I asked Jessica if she would like to learn to how to measure how tall trees are. She said she would.