Sick Week Research:
So I've been out for the count with the nasty bronchitis that's going around. What has that meant? Plenty of time for reading and writing -- and taking walks in the sun-dappled woods near my home that are sighing hopefully for spring (I even saw my first ladybug of the season today!).
I thought you might enjoy a peek at the books that have been keeping me company this week (there's definitely a theme emerging and a new project brewing -- comment below if you think you have an idea what I might be working on).
The Book List:
The Hidden Life of Trees (Peter Wohlleben); The Hidden Life of Trees Illustrated Edition (Peter Wohlleben); The Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaptation (Peter Wohlleben/Benjamin Flao/Fred Bernard).
The Heartbeat of Trees (Peter Wohllenben)
Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America (Jane Billinghurst/Peter Wohlleben)
Seeds of Hope (Jane Goodall/Gail Hudson)
The Light Eaters (Zoë Schlanger)
The Serviceberry (Robin Wall Kimmerer)
Wishtree (Katherine Applegate)
Documenting The Beauty All Around Me:
Some Surprising Forest Facts I Learned:
A walk in the woods is good for your health. There have been studies that show that when we do daytime walks in healthy forests, our blood pressure, lung capacity, and elasticity of the arteries can improve. Check out this podcast episode I did with Jo Joly, where we explored the many benefits of connecting with nature.
The air in young pine forests is almost germ-free. The young trees disinfect their surroundings using phytoncides, which are released by the tree's needles. That's also the source of that yummy pine smell on hot summer days.
Trees "fall asleep" when it's dark. A study of oak trees in one American city found that four percent died due to exposure to nighttime lights. Check out this podcast episode I did with Rushil Kukreja, where we explored dark skies.
Apparently trees can count -- and remember things! How do trees avoid getting faked out by early spring weather like we had last week? According to Wohlleben, they wait until a certain number of warm days have passed before they trust that all is well for leafing out. They also count daylight hours. What does that suggest about trees and memory? I suggest you check out my podcast episode with Katherine Applegate, where we chatted about Wishtree (and if you're more into the idea of counting and building math and literacy connections, check out this podcast episode with Dr. Kateri Thunder).
Trees help each other out through the "wood-wide web." Collaboration, rather than competition, is the name of the game. When you take a walk in the woods, what's going on beneath your feet is just as interesting as what towers over you. The symbiotic relationship between fungi and roots is fascinating, as is the way the trees use these networks to share nutrients and communicate warnings about threats. If you want to dive deeper into the power of connection, check out this podcast episode with Jason Feller and the Boreal Museum.
Some Quick Thoughts On Building STEAM Connections and Learning Through Play:
Can you take your students out, even to meet the trees that ring your playground or neighborhood? Who are the tree neighbors? How long have they been there? What do we notice about the kinds of trees that are around us? Do we notice birds? Insects? Small mammals? Keep a checklist or notebook of your observations. As a math extension, you could build graphs to compare and contrast the different types of things you observed.
Young children. might like using sticks to paint silly faces on trees using water or mud (it's messy but won't harm anything and it's great for fine motor skills AND building executive function).
Can you write a poem or story about a tree you observe? Call on books like Poetree (Caroline Pignat/Francois Thisdale), Poetree (Shauna Lavoy Reynolds/Shahrzad Maydani), Poetrees (Douglas Florian), We Are Branches (Joyce Sidman/Beth Krommes), and Red Sings From Treetops (Joyce Sidman/Pamela Zagarenski) for inspiration and format ideas. You might also draw on Poetry Prompts (Joseph Coehlo) to encourage your reluctant writers! This could be done as an interactive class writing activity, small group brainstorming, or individual work.
Be sure to subscribe to the website so that you receive my occasional newsletter. I'm going to be unveiling a really fun opportunity for your students to follow along on some amazingly wild nature adventures this fall.
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