Lesson Plan 3: Leaves

Remember these points from the Lesson Plan Homepage:

(1) These lesson plans are not rigid requirements, but a starting point for the Nature Counselor's plan for teaching a particular day's experience.
(2) The activity should be fun and emphasize active learning on the student's part: ask a question, don't just state a fact.
(3) You should employ hands-on as much as possible.
(4) Plan each session to also allow time for making entries in the Nature Journal.

Prior to the session

(1) Read the section on the web site on Leaves and the section on Plants on the page about Animals and Plants. You cannot teach what you do not understand.
(2) Leaves abound at Caz and they are full of lessons about nature. The purpose of the Leaves Session is not just to find things, but to understand why and how they are there, and how they function in the ecosystem of the redwoods.
(3) One of the leaves NOT to collect is poison oak, so check out your location for poison oak. If you don't know what it looks like, check out the section on the web site on poison oak. If leaves of three, leave it be. Remember: the leaves are usually NOT red (only in the fall). Most areas of camp are free from poison oak, according to my inspection April 23, 2004, and again in 2008. The only place I regularly find it is at the base of the solo redwood at the edge of the baseball diamond, near the edge of the creek, downstream of the main diamond, near the A frame (but not the group of redwoods next to the A frame). If you can't easily avoid it, don't go there. You never know when one of your students will be highly allergic as well as not pay attention to your admonition to stay away. Ask me how I know!
(4) Don't confine your collections to tree leaves, as bracken fern leaves are quite beautiful. Collect only downed leaves, and tell the students not to pick living leaves.
(5) Walk around, find your favorite leaf area, check it out for diversity. Are there better areas? Do you like the alders and willows along the creek? Or is your favorite place a secluded redwood grove? The parking area across the suspension bridge? Don't forget the road out of camp, along which tanoaks are found. (Avoid the road above camp, due to the presence of cars.) Maples are found in many places in camp (esp in Family Camp) and have very dramatic and beautiful leaves. Bay leaves are very smelly and are always fun to scrunch up and sniff. Try to collect and scrunch only down leaves or our bay close to the dining room will be dead by the end of summer (look for it about 10 feet downstream from the family group of redwoods).
(6) Assess your favorite area for other issues. Will this be in shade or sun at the time of the class? Will it be hot or cold? Quiet or will there be nearby music sessions?

(1) Hike out to your favorite leaf area at Caz.
(2) Start out with some general collecting, seeing how many different kinds of leaves they can collect. Tape them in their Journals.
(3) During the session, ask students questions such as:

(4) You can help the students to "see" what they are looking at and help them focus their learning about leaves by asking them questions about what they see. For example, ask questions such as:

(5) Leaves are a very important part of the machinery of the ecosystem, changing sunlight into sugars. Leaves are the chemical factory of the plants! This grade level has not had biochemistry, but that does not mean we cannot teach them something about the chemical function of leaves.

(7) If you have time, check out another area that has different plants (see list at top).

(8) Don't forget the Nature Journal: have the students tape their treasures into their books and draw pictures of what they are finding.

Acknowledgement: Most of the questions and much of the material for this page came from the reference Scient Net Links.

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