Tree Teaching

When 4th grade teacher Vicki Schmitz sent a request to the Arbor Day Foundation, she expected to be sent a few saplings to use to teach her students about the growth cycle of trees.

Instead, her class at Lloyd Street School was invited to participate in the Arbor Day Celebration at the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners to learn about trees and supplement their social studies curriculum.

“These kids need to learn from hands-on experience,” said volunteer and master gardener Marianne Malachowski who helped chaperone on the day of the celebration.

Schmitz reached out to the Arbor Day Foundation to supplement the standard social studies curriculum in an effort to get her students engaged.

The Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination tests students by various content areas and grade levels starting in the 4th grade. The WKCE scores in the area of social studies have been declining since 2007 for Lloyd Street School.

The lowest scores were in the 2009-2010 school year with 55% of students at the level of proficient or above, which is 20% below the MPS average of 75% of students being at the level of proficient or above in social studies.

On April 29th, the students left their classroom and boarded a school bus that took them to the gardens. When they arrived, they were greeted by Botanical Gardens director Shirley Walczak who had a full day planned for them.

Before the students arrived at the gardens, they rehearsed their lines for what would be the “build a tree symphony.”

In her classroom, Schmitz taught her students all about the different parts of a tree and how it functions and grows.

They assembled in their assigned groups: each group had the task of representing a different part of the tree: from the roots to the leaves, everyone had a task. Students arranged themselves next to their associated tree parts and then gave a brief description of their purpose when queued.

After the “build a tree symphony”, the kids were guided to a different part of the gardens where they helped plant a tree of their own. Forestry experts from the Parks Department assisted them.

They then went back to the classroom for a guest class led by Walczak to learn about native trees of Wisconsin and then walked out into Potter’s Woods to identify some of the species they had just been introduced to.

The Student Tree

The groups started with the heartwood at the center of the trunk, the xylem, floam, and cambium gathered around them, and were then encircled by the bark. Then the leaves took their place at the top, the roots at the bottom, and the bark beetles danced around the tree while everyone sang their lines.

“Photosynthesis!” yelled the leaves.

Students laughed and danced around with their props. The root held bunches of brown yarn to represent their role in the trees growth. The leaves held their arms up to the sky to reveal green cut out leaves made of construction paper from Lloyd Street School’s art room.

After the “build a tree symphony”, Walczak explained the history of Arbor Day and told the kids some tree jokes.

“What kind of tree drools?” “A dogwood tree!”

Planting Their Tree

The group then walked to a different part of the grounds where they would be planting a tree. With the help of Greg Collins from the Parks Department, the students situated the 5-year-old cherry tree in its place and others took turns piling in mounds of earth.

Collins tested the kids on the tree knowledge they had learned with Mrs. Schmitz.

“What’s coming out of the bottom of this tree?” he asked.
“Roots!” the group shouted back.
“What’s going to help this tree grow?” he asked.
“Sun and soil and light!” the students chimed in.

Master gardener Malachowski looked on proudly as the students nestled the tree into its new home.

“They are going to use these skills to grow their own gardens one day,” she said.

Environmental Impact

The Arbor Day celebration comes just one week after Earth Day, a world wide recognized holiday that is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.

The Arbor Day Foundation works to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees for their positive environmental impact.

While the students enjoy the hands on experience of playing in dirt and enjoying some time out of the classroom, they realize that it has a greater impact than that.

Desty, one of Schmitz’s students, likes planting trees because it helps the environment. She also tries to help the environment by not littering.

“I know that if you leave trash on the ground it hurts the grass so I tell my friends not to do it,” she said.

Back to Class

After Walczak led the students through a tutorial of native Wiscosin trees, the class was split into groups once again and allowed to roam through Potter’s Woods, which borders the grounds of the Botanical Gardens.

After searching for oaks, cherries, and maples the class reconvened to get back on their bus and go back to the classroom.

Even though the only spent one day at the gardens, they can always come back to see the fruits of their hard work.

Walczak sent them off with encouraging words.

“When you all have kids and grandkids, you can bring them here and show them the tree that you helped plant.”