Drought and Trees: Plant Adaptation Lesson
Lesson Plan
1 hour 35 minutesGrades3, 4, 5Social Studies
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Written by Alice Severson
About this lesson
Students make connections to local culture and consider how native plants are adapting to drought by reading graphs and making a model.
Inquire: Students find personal meaning in an oak tree and learn about the significance of oak trees to certain First Nations people.
Investigate: Students create a model to explore drought adaptation solutions of native plants and connect this to how trees adapt globally.
Inspire: Students find oak trees in their community and use their learning to inform others about their adaptations and cultural significance.
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Suggestions
- This lesson encourages students to look at a native Wisconsin plant in a new light; with a view towards the historic importance and the symbolism granted to it by First Nations, and as a resilient and complex organism.
- The Peace Collage invites students to continue reflecting on the messages of the lesson as they make connections to their communities.
- This lesson can be further connected to social and climate justice by following up with lessons on equity of tree coverage in urban and suburban areas and heat islands, as well as lessons on the First Nations that reside in Wisconsin.
- For more information on the significance of the Council Oak from Rick St. Germaine, an Ojibwa (also referred to as Ojibwe) tribal member’s perspective, see this interview transcript.
Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of climate change. To provide students with some background, teachers can use "Saving Planet Earthly" or Introduction to Climate Change.
- Students should have an understanding of systems thinking. From Wikipedia: Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.
- Gather materials needed for oak tree system modeling:
- Initial build: small paper cups, yarn or string, green paper, paper straws, tape, scissors
- Possible suggestions for additional materials for engineering revision: pipe cleaners, more paper, plastic wrap or tagboard, hole puncher, or other assorted craft materials
- Print or project the three maps for students to refer to.
Differentiation
- For a lesson on the equity of tree coverage, use the Tree Equity Interactive Game.
- Classes that do not have access to oak trees can watch this video of a walk through the UW Wisconsin arboretum.
- Groups of students with mixed abilities can collaborate on tree models.
- When possible, group same-language peers together to allow for translanguaging during collaboration and sensemaking.
- As an extension, watch the video, How plants ‘remember’ and survive drought (0:49-1:46) and discuss how oak tree and crop adaptations are similar or different.
From the scientist review
Students can study about trees in the lesson, map and analyze common trees that are subjected to drought, and use a systems approach to create a model that will assist endangered trees in responding to severe drought in the context of a changing climate. We reviewed this lesson and found out that it has passed our science reliability process and is suitable for learning.
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About the teacher writer
Alice Severson
Alice Severson (she/her) has been an elementary teacher in Madison Wisconsin for 20 years. She has co- written climate and equity lessons for the (OECD) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, CREATE for STEM, and spearheaded a project to collaborate with teachers to add the the equity framework from Cultivating Genius to school adopted curriculum. She enjoys taking long walks with her dogs.
