Grade 4, Lesson 4 – The Story of Amrita deals about the importance of trees and its conservation

The Story of Amrita deals about the importance of trees and its conservation. In this story, amrita along with her village people sacrificed their life for saving the trees. This document has some Interesting activities and games about trees and related ecosystem.One game is about animals finding their home and food. Another one deals about food web. Likewise there are other games which would create interest among the students. It has already been tried in GPS, Veeerampattinam, where the students not only enjoyed but also learned about trees and its importance. Mr. Sivakumar, PST, facilitated the EVS class for grade 4. 

Lesson Objective

• Understanding the diversity of plants and trees among students
• Exploring tree ecosystem and its characteristics
• Interdependence of trees and plants with other organisms

 Find your home

  This is a thinking activity for students helping them to understand the habitat of the organisms.

  Object – To identify their place for living

  Game play – Two student groups are formed – organisms & habitat. Groups shall be made to stand separately. They must         choose their ideal place for living.

  Discussion – Understanding diversity of species and their habitat preferences. Debating on the reason behind the habitat         selection by the organisms. What happens if the habitat is destroyed? Can two organisms live together?

  Find your match 

  This is a thinking activity for students helping them to understand the eating habit of the organisms.

  Object – To find the right food.

  Game play – Students are made into two groups – organisms & food. Groups shall be made to stand separately  and asked to choose the right food items. One organism should choose only one food.

  Discussion – Debating on the choice of food items by the organisms with the reason. Discussion on the decrease  of certain species and its impact on food and ecosystem. Role of human beings in the ecosystem.

  Tree tag

  This is a fun variation of tag that helps the players learn to identify different tree species.

  Object - The players (squirrels) try to keep away from the predator (Eagle) and make it to the safe area without         being tagged.

  Game Play - The players are designated as squirrels and predator (Eagle). The game leader will call out the name of a tree or its description  (depending on the age of players) within the game area, and squirrels must race to the correct tree without being caught by the predator. Once the  squirrel is touching the correct tree they cannot be caught. If the squirrel is caught by the predator before touching the tree, he/she becomes predator  and try to catch remaining squirrels. The game is continued until there is only one squirrel remaining.

Discussion – After the game, talk with the players about the types of trees that were in the game area and their unique attributes. See if the players can distinguish trees and ask them what they noticed that made the trees identifiable. Discuss about the role of squirrel and eagle on our environment and what happens when there is decrease in population of any species. Discuss the role that trees play in the forest and the food and habitat they provide to wildlife.

Nature hunt

This activity encourages participants to view the school as an interconnected ecosystem. Players observe the relationships between the animals and the trees.

Object – The players must use their observation skills and imagination to find links within the school.

Game Play – Take a walk through your school or local park (if there is not much diversity within your school campus) and try to imagine the types of organisms that live in/depend on the trees around you. Observe their homes like burrow, tree holes, nests, etc., and then talk about what you think might live there and why. Make sure that everyone has a chance to observe the findings up close. Encourage participants to look high and low, and make sure that they are considering creatures both big and small. Allow participants to elaborate on other players’ findings.

Discussion – When the group finishes the walk, take a minute to discuss what everyone found. Talk about the different types of creatures that might live in the school/park and be sure to discuss the often seen insects and plants that depend on trees. Ask the participants if they noticed much diversity in the trees of their school or park, and how this would affect an ecosystem. Talk about ways that trees support life through habitat and food production.

Find Your Tree

This activity encourages participants to experience the natural world using all of their senses. Participants discover details of the forest that might otherwise be overlooked.

Object – A player is blindfolded and led to a tree then taken back to the starting point. The player’s blindfold is removed and he/she must find his/her way back to the tree that he/she had experienced without sense of sight.

Game Play – The group splits into pairs. One partner is blindfolded. The other partner then leads the blindfolded player to a tree of his/her choice within the game area. The blindfolded partner is given a few minutes and must use his/her sense of touch, smell, and hearing to familiarize him/herself with the tree. The blindfolded player is then led back to the starting point. The blindfold is removed, and the player is then asked to find the tree to which they had been led. The partners then switch and the game is restarted.

Discussion – When both partners have had a chance to be blindfolded, ask the partners to discuss their experience with each other. Prompt them to share the things that they noticed while blindfolded that made their tree stand out, and, while leading the other player, the details that were missed. Bring the group together and discuss how the players used their alternate senses, and what they noticed. Talk about the ways the trees in the game area were unique, and ways that they were similar.

Create an organism

This craft uses things that are found in nature to create forest characters that you bring to life!

Things needed

• Fallen Leaves, small sticks, bark and tree nuts that are found on the ground.
• Construction paper or card stock
• Glue (Craft glue is fine for lightweight items, but hot glue works best for the woody and heavier items)
• Colored Pencils or Crayons
• Scissors

Activity

Arrange what you collected on the construction paper to form bodies, legs, arms, feet, etc. Use your imagination with the placement of these items! Large leaves can be bodies, and small round leaves can be feet. Twigs can be legs and arms, and acorns and acorn caps can be a hat or a face (just draw on the eyes). Feel free to use the scissors to cut the forest supplies down to size, and use the pencils/crayons to draw on the head, face, or any other missing part. When you have created your forest friend, glue it into place. Make sure to give him/her a name! As an added challenge, try to identify the types of trees that provided your woodland supplies.

Leaf Tracing

This art project utilizes a technique that transfers the imprint of a leaf onto paper, and brings the beauty of nature into your home

Things needed

• Construction paper
• Assortment of fallen leaves collected from the ground (do not pull leaves from living plants)
• Colored pencils or crayons

Activity

Place the leaves with the raised vein side up on the table. Gently place a piece of construction paper on top of the leaf making sure that the leaf is where you want it to appear on the paper. Use a colored pencil or crayon to color back and forth across the leaf starting at one side and working your way to the other. The leaf imprint will appear on your paper! Repeat this process with different leaf shapes in different places on your paper to create a beautiful leaf collage. As an extra challenge, try to identify and label the tree species of the leaves.

Project Idea – Tree Album

This is a project idea for teacher to make use of students and document the tree/plant species present in their locality.

Object – To document the native tree/plant species and discuss their role in the environment.

Process

• Form student groups, preferably heterogeneous.
• Elaborate each groups, names of the plant/tree species in and around the school campus and home.
• Use pictures of trees/plants while explaining.
• Each group can collect the names of the plant/trees present in and around their campus and home.
• Teachers can assist each group by taking photographs of the tree/plants using the mobile phone.
• Document the names of tree/plants with names, both Tamil and English name.
• Draw a relationship map of each plant
• Discuss the role of trees/plant in the environment.

Observation sheet

Fill the observed data in the observation sheet given below. Remarks column is to fill the observation noted in a tree/plant. E.g. I spotted a nest in the tree, An insect was sitting on a flower.