Grades:

1-6

Objective:

Compare and contrast the ways trees were used in the past and today.

Method:

Students will discuss the uses of trees they observed at Hanford Mills Museum as well as the modern uses of trees that they observe in their daily lives.

Materials:

• A variety of wood-based objects (examples: paper, pencil, paper bag, cardboard, piece of firewood, furniture, etc.)
• A variety of objects that used to be wood-based and are now made of different materials.

Time:

• Preparation Time: 10 minutes
• Class Time: 25 minutes

Procedure:

• Have a discussion about how trees fit into our lives.
  Questions to ask:
  • Why are trees important to us?
  • What do trees supply us with?
  • When trees “breathe,” what do they “inhale?”
  • What do they produce when they “exhale?”
• At Hanford Mills, the students saw many ways that wood was used one hundred years ago (as butter tub covers, milk crates, etc.) Prompt a discussion of this in class
  Questions to ask:
  • What parts of the tree did the people use at Hanford Mills Museum?
  • What kinds of things were made out of wood at Hanford Mills?
• Prompt a discussion of the differences between uses of wood when the Mill was active one hundred years ago and uses of wood today.
  Questions to ask:
  • Do we use wood the same way today that they did at Hanford Mills one hundred years ago?
  • How are the uses similar?
  • How are they different?

Assessment:

• Participation in class discussions (listening and speaking) (listening and speaking).

NYS Learning Standards:

• ELA Standard 1
• Math, Science and Tech. Standard 4
• Social Studies Standard 1

Vocabulary & Spelling Words:

Bark – n. the outside covering of the trunks, branches, and roots of woody plants.

Branch – n. a woody part of a tree or bush that grows out from the trunk.

Cambium – n. the thin layer between the inner bark (phloem) and wood of a tree. It helps both grow.

Growth Rings – n. the layer of wood made by a tree during a single year; annual ring. It is possible to figure out the age of a tree that has fallen or has been cut down by counting its rings.

Heartwood – n. the center part or past growth of a tree.

Leaf – n. one of the usually green, flat parts of a plant or tree that grows from the stem or branch.

Lumber – n. logs cut into boards or beams for use in building.

Phloem – n. the layer of the trunk through which the tree’s food flows. It is located between the outer bark and the cambium. It is also known as the “inner bark”.

Root – n. the part of a plant that usually grows underground, absorbs water and food, and attaches the plant to the soil.

Sapwood – n. the newer layers of wood between the bark and the heartwood that conduct water and sap in a tree. A new layer is added each year, forming growth rings.

Sawdust – n. the tiny bits of wood that fall away when wood is sawed.

Shavings – n. very thin slices or shaved-off pieces, as of wood.

Slabwood – n. the rounded, bark covered pieces of wood left over after a log is sawed into lumber.

Tree – n. a woody plant that has a long main trunk and many branches.

Trunk – n. the main stem of a tree.