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4th Grade Teaching Kit

In coordination with District 742, the Saint John's Arboretum has developed traveling trunks for teachers.  The 4th grade trunks have activities centered around biomes.  The trunks are available at schools in the district or by request from the Arboretum.

Activities

Habitat Match-up:  St. John's restoration project is unique in that it features four distinct habitats -- wetlands, prairie, forest and oak savannah.  There is less than one percent of prairie left in Minnesota and only one tenth of a  percent of oak savannah.  These habitats are home to a diverse host of plants and animals.  Re-establishing these communities has increased the biodiversity creating a haven for many species.    Children are given a map of the St. John's Restoration project and fifty different plants and animals that live in the different habitats--wetlands, prairie, forest, oak savannah.

Tree Factory:  Trees are amazing living organisms.  Only a small part of trees are living tissue.   The inner core is dense dead wood that provides strength for the tree called the heartwood.  Bark is also non-living tissue that protects the tree from fires and animals -- it is dead phloem.  The living tissue consists of the sapwood (xylem) which brings water and nutrients up from the roots and Cambium which is a very thin layer of growing tissue that becomes new xylem, phloem or cambium.  Phloem carries sap from the leaves to the rest of the tree.   This activity allows the children to form a tree.  Each child is given a part of a tree and when combined with the class form a functioning tree.

Wetland Metaphors:  Wetlands perform many vital functions.  These habitats provide animals and birds food, shelter and a place to raise young.  Wetlands absorb excess nutrients and water as well as mix nutrients and oxygen into the water.  They filter out some of the debris and impurities and neutralizes toxic substances that enter rivers and streams.  To make the functions of wetlands clearer to children, this activity equates household objects such as pillows and cereal with wetland functions.

Learning to Look, Looking to See: Observation is key in experiencing nature.  It is also a vital part of scientific work.  This activity helps kids develop better observation skills so that they can catch the details like raccoon tracks or dragonfly nymphs.   In this activity, students will observe a poster of wildlife.  Then the teacher removes the poster and the kids have to write down all of the things that they remember observing.

Wetland Plinko:  Wetlands are often drained and tiled for development, but wetlands are vital in controlling the flow of water, slowing it down and filtering it.  This function helps prevent flooding during heavy rain or very wet seasons. The destruction of wetlands affects the ability of an area to hold water, causing more erosion because of faster moving water and increased severity of flooding in newly developed areas.  This activity illustrates the wetlands ability to control water flow with plinko boards and marbles.  One board is set up with pegs (representing the wetlands) and the other is left open (represents loss or destruction of wetlands).  The teacher releases the marbles and the children can see how fast the marbles go through the board with no pegs versus the board with pegs.

Birdsong Identification:  There are many species of birds living at St. John's ranging from waterfowl and Bald Eagles to the common Robin.  Many times we hear the birds before we can actually see them.  This activity allows children to become familiar with the calls and songs of 10 birds living in the area.    The kit includes a CD and a set of flip cards.  The children try to match up the bird pictures with the sounds on the CD. 

4th Grade Trunk Contents List



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