Implementation of “We’re going for a tree hunt” (SOI-GR-367)

Author: Trasani Vassiliki, Physical education teacher/ Primary school

Kateris Lambros, Special Education teacher/ Primary School

School/Organization: 2^nd Poros primary school

An olive tree at the Poseidon temple

The learning scenario “We’re going for a tree hunt” created by Ivana Busuttil was used as a starting point for an environmental project which is part of the curriculum of the 4C’s skills workshops and more specific “Global and local natural environment”. The workshop is called “An olive tree at the Posidon temple” and incorporates local history in the environmental studies.

The implementation was done by the Greek physical education teacher Trasani Vassiliki in collaboration with special education primary teacher Lampros Kateris, as he supports  children with learning difficulties and therefore he operates as a second teacher in the classroom. The students attend the 4^th grade of 2^nd Poros primary school, Greece.

The project aims to make students aware of dangers and protection referring to forest, nature and sustainability.The implementation took three classes of 45 minutes as we changed some activities to adjust them to the interest of our students. Students were familiar with teaching outside the classroom and ICT.

Introduction

• Activity 1: We divided the whiteboard in half and named each side. The one anthropogenic and the other natural environment. By brainstorming we wrote keywords in each side, which after we used to construct a conceptual map.
• Activity 2: The children listened to the sounds provided by the Learning Scenario and then classify on the whiteboard. A discussion was made according to which sounds children prefer between the two.

Introduction lasted twenty minutes.

Going for a tree hunt

We strolled outside the school in order to observe the trees, the flowers and the nature in general and to collect leaves and blossoms for our next activity. This activity lasted thirty minutes so we can combine it with medium effort physical activity

Processing data and organizing the material Carrol’s diagrams

• Observation:

The students gather in the classroom around the material (leaves and blossoms) and observe it. A discussion is made about the shape and the trees and flowers they come from. Also they discuss whether the leaves and blossoms come from evergreen or deciduous trees.

• Drying the material:

The leaves and blossoms are placed between white sheets of paper and then a weight (for example books) is placed above them in order to press and dry them. This procedure can last up to 72 hours.

• Carroll diagrams:

After that, the students proceed to categorize the material, using the Carroll diagrams. A Carroll diagram, Lewis Carroll’s  square, bilateral diagram or a two way table is a diagram used for grouping things in a yes/no fashion. Numbers or objects are either categorized as “x” (having an attribute x) or not “x” (not having an attribute x). A diagram is given to each pair of students and they have to put it in the correct box of the diagram. After that, the diagram of each pair are presented and discussed in the classroom.

The whole activities lasted fifteen minutes

Looking in Europeana /on line

In computer room students divided in pairs and every pair selected a leaf or blossom

• Activity 1: Searching in Europeana’s collection

Students are asked to and search for leaves and trees in the Europeana’s collections. They are asked to compare their findings to the leaves we found during our walk.

• Activity 2: Children search on internet about the Greek and Latin name of the selected plant.

These activities lasted forty five minutes

Creating a modern herbarium

Students kept the same peer as before glued the dried leaves or blossoms on a coloured sheet and then at the bottom of it they wrote with nice letters the name of the plant in Greek and Latin language. Then the students helped the teachers to laminate the sheet. This procedure lasted twenty five minutes.

Students self reflection and feedback

For the self reflection and feedback the exit ticket of the Learning Scenario was used.

Collaboration with other teachersThe SoI was implemented by two teachers who worked together and at the same time. The collaboration has been very successful and productive.

In the end of the implementation, students have

• Improve physical condition through walking
• Learned working in pairs
• Use mathematics and scientific thinking (collecting and categorizing data)
• Learn to use safe on line information
• Being creative

Tip: it’s a very well-structured script, but one that can be easily modified to suit different ages and curricula. Τhe combination of teaching in and out of school gives students the opportunity to come into contact with an alternative way of learning.

Conceptual Map

Gathering leaves and blossoms

Comparing, discussing, preparing

Carroll’s diagrams

Outcomes for the ducator

• The platform is an inexhaustible source of material
• It has diverse material (photos, sounds, videos, etc.)
• Because the material is rich, to choose something small and easy to use in the initial stages of using the platform.
• Pay attention to the use of rights

Collaboration with other teachers always enriches teaching and learning outcomes.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? “We’re going for a tree hunt” (LS-MT-302) created by Ivana Busuttil

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like: 

• Τα δέντρα, η ζωή μας (EL-CUR-752), implemented by Κούτρα Εύα,
• Tree for the mind (LS-HR-736), implemented by Sanja Ždralović,
• Forests and Meadows: Inverterates (LS-FI-445) implemented by Karoliina Mutanen

Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

Public Domain Mark 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Rijksmuseum.