Read Kate, Who Tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon or enjoy the story online.
On Monday (The Lorax), we looked at how humans use trees and explored the many benefits they have for all living things on earth. In today’s story, Kate uses trees to help make things better for her neighbor.
Today is Arbor Day and what better way to celebrate than to discover amazing facts about trees? Did you know that they help keep rainwater from becoming runoff by absorbing it first and using it to grow and help other plants around them grow, too? If you plant trees around your house, they can help save energy. They keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, so you don’t have to use as much energy keeping your house at a comfortable temperature. Farmers will often use trees to prevent erosion of the soil and keep waterways on their land clean.
As you can see, trees have many different benefits and planting trees is a great way to help your environment now and for the future.
Activities:
Get to Know Your Trees
Find a tree near you and observe it. Look for all the other living things that are on, in, or around it. What is the tree providing for them (food, shelter, etc.)? Go back and look at the tree each day for the next week. Do you see anything changing around it? Draw the tree or take a picture and label its different parts.
Tree Rings
If you have a tree stump in your yard, you can learn a lot about a tree’s life. Do you see the rings? What do they tell us about a tree? Learn more about tree rings here.
Arbor Day
Explore more facts about trees and learn about the history of Arbor Day here.