The Wonder of Trees

"Between every two pines is 

a doorway to a new world."

John Muir

 

"Look at me!" Kyle called as he stood on his tiptoes.  "I can reach so high. If I jump I can reach even higher!"

"That's nothing. I bet I can reach higher," Asher responded.

"Ok, let's see you do it!" Kyle laughed. "I can reach this high." He jumped and slapped a spot on the tree.

Asher copied the movements, jumping and tapping the tree in a different place.

"Who was higher?" they called to me.

"I'm not sure," I answered. "It's hard to tell where you each touched and compare the spots. You'll have to think of a way to mark and measure to be accurate."

Harper had been standing next to me watching the boys. 

"I know," she said. "What if you each hold a piece of chalk in your hand. When you jump you can touch the tree and leave a mark."

"Oh good idea!" I answered. "And we can check our wonder wagon to see if we have any tools that measure."

"Like a measuring stick!" Harper answered.

Spending time outside in nature each day is important for children's growth and development. There is a misconception that a robust outdoor program needs numerous tools and materials in order to be successful. However in my practice I have found that often the best inquiries spark from examining and exploring natural elements in our play yard. One of the most intriguing artifacts that children love to explore is a tree. Trees are usually easy to find, diverse, and offer endless possibilities for child-centred inquiry. Responding to children's observations and wonderings about trees can inspire rich math, literacy and science work. 

Interested in exploring the trees in your surroundings with children? Here are some ideas for getting started. 

Tell stories about the interesting markings you find on trees.  Children love to hypothesize about unique things. Ask children to imagine how a spot ended upon a tree, or look for the math within the markings (here the knot on the tree appears to be made from concentric circles).

Explore the different textures you feel on trees. Many children are sensory learners who enjoy exploring their surroundings through touch. Encourage children to feel different parts of a tree (e.g., bark, leaves, blossoms) and describe what they feel. Sensations can be categorized and sorted (e.g., making a pile of smooth leaves).

Research the different objects that grow on trees. The life cycle of trees often results in the creation of flowers and fruit. This growth pattern can be observed and tracked over time.

Inquire about what living things make their homes in trees. Each area is unique with specific animals and insects using trees as shelters. Nests can be observed and described (e.g., a robin's nest is perfectly circular). Children can be encouraged to draw pictures detailing what they see.

Hypothesize the age of a tree using different clues. The rings on a stump can help determine the age of a tree as well as its type and size. Look for stumps and ask children to count as many of the concentric circles as they can see. They can estimate the age of the tree. If a tree is still standing children can estimate how tall or old it might be.

Build gross motor skills and perseverance by climbing trees. Building resiliency, grit and perseverance helps children in all aspects of their learning. Climbing trees encourages these skills as well as being a great physical experience that many children enjoy.

Investigate how trees change over time by exploring decomposition. Logs left over time provide a wonderful opportunity for children to become curious about how it has transitioned from tree to rotting wood. Many insects make their homes in and under logs. Ask children to tell stories about what they think might have happened to fell the tree, or investigate who has been using it as shelter.

Search for clues on the tree to guess who might have visited before you. Holes in the bark can tell stories of what animals have been searching for food in the bark, or using the tree as shelter. Children can observe bark for changes over time and conduct research.

Ponder why some trees stay green all year while others lose their leaves. Coniferous trees do not usually drop their needles. Ask children to describe and categorize the trees in the yard or neighbourhood, and observe them over the course of several weeks or months.

Use materials gathered from the tree as loose parts for imaginative play. Pinecones, twigs, leaves, needles and acorns are great manipulatives for math or creative work outdoors. These can be collected from the yard or donated by families, adding variety and interest to process-based play.

Measure, record and compare the sizes and shapes of different trees. Find the largest or smallest tree in your area and challenge children to find different ways to measure the trunk's circumference. Keep track of the measurements by recording them in a nature notebook or chart paper.

These suggestions are just a starting point for using trees as the basis for rich inquiry during outdoor learning. Listening to the observations and wonderings of children can spark amazing projects. Children often have the best ideas!

Puddle Play - Rethinking the 'Math Classroom'

We are always looking for opportunities to head outside and enjoy the weather, even when it might be a little wet or cold. Last week our area enjoyed quite a bit of heavy autumn rain. The children spent much of the morning peering through the window and marveling at how much rain was falling. After a few hours they noticed a giant puddle forming in the corner. As the rain continued to fall and the puddle grew, the children became concerned that their outdoor play time would be hampered by the rain.

Fortunately by the early afternoon the rain tapered and the children were able to head outdoors. We are lucky to have a class set of rain boots purchased by the school parent council for use in our outdoor classroom. This way children can enjoy playing in our school yard, even when they might forget to bring their boots to school that day. We are always prepared and the children ready to explore the world outdoors. Even the giant puddle would be no problem that day!

The children scurried outside after eating lunch - many wearing mismatched school boots because they couldn't get them on their feet fast enough because they were so eager to explore the water.

 

As I approached them I was amazed by the authentic math talk developing in this natural and authentic learning environment. As I listened into their conversations I overhead children wondering with each other about amazingly big math ideas...

How many children could fit in the puddle?  Did each person's feet have to be touching to be counted? Did children who were jumping in and out of the puddle count too?

How deep was the water? How much water was there really in the big puddle? Could it fill a bath tub? How could it even be measured?

Who could make the biggest splash? How would they even judge how big the splash was? Could it be measured? Was the biggest splash the one that soaked the most children standing nearby?

Could the water be used to make soup? How much water was needed in the recipe? Would anyone even want to eat mud soup?

How much water was in one's rain boots after a big splash? How long did it take to dump it out? How did all that water get in there in the first place?

How much more water was needed to cover the stump? Was the stump floating or sinking in the water?  How tall was the stump? What if it rained more...would the stump be under water?

How long would it take to run across the puddle? Who could run the fastest over the water? How could we measure and record the puddle races?

The children were making connections between their puddle play and math in the world around them. The questions they were posing about their experiences in the water were meaningful to them, supporting and strengthening their productive disposition towards math. As an educator involved in their play, I was able to listen to their questions and facilitate conversation and critical thinking about the big math ideas. How could we figure out who could make the biggest splash? What experiences did the children have measuring the size of something irregular. What tools and resources were available to help support this inquiry? Could technology play a role? Would children be interested in revisiting these math questions at a later time or would their interest only occur when playing in the puddles?

As the children and I engaged in conversations about their questions they were developing adaptive reasoning skills - this is the capacity for logical thought, reflection and justification in their math thinking. As children connected what they were observing and experiencing in the puddle play to their own unique experiences and ideas, they were engaged in rich learning as they reflected upon and justified their questions, ideas and strategies to solve the puddle math problems.

Even though many of the children's questions were not answered, the purposeful outdoor math exploration encouraged children to develop a strong conceptual understanding of a variety of developmentally appropriate math topics related specifically to our curriculum including measurement, counting, capacity, classification, time and quantity. I was able to support their conversations and provide suggestions and strategies in the moment. I became a play participant together with them by playing in the puddles myself.

What had originally looked to be a damper on our outdoor fun turned into a complex and layered opportunity for rich math thinking during an activity that most children love to do - explore the rain. It just shows that math can happen anywhere, anytime, when we are willing to rethink what the 'math classroom' should look like.

The Mitten Measurement Task

It's amazing the kinds of questions children can ask...

 

One of my favourite books to read in the winter in "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. The story is appealing to young children who love to retell the text and marvel at how big the mitten grows as each animal squeezes into it.  This week I read the book again upon request by one of the children.  At the end of the reading one child shared that she felt that the book wasn't really about "real things, because there was no way all those animals could fit into one small mitten". 

 

Sensing an opportunity for something rich, I questioned the children. I asked them to consider whether a mitten could really stretch that large to accommodate all the animals, and if it couldn't, how big did they think it would have to be in order to do so.

 

The children engaged in a lively discussion and agreed that the mitten would have to be very large - much larger than the one portrayed in the book - and it would be very time consuming to knit. We agreed that one would have to know exactly how big it had to be because if it was too small the animals wouldn't fit, and if it was too big it would waste the knitter's yarn and time.

 

I challenged the children to create a mitten the exact size it would need to be in real life to fit all the animals in the text: a mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear and mouse.  They readily accepted my challenge. The first thing we agreed upon was that we needed to know exactly how big each animal really was. The children weren't sure how to do this so I suggested researching their sizes on the internet. I helped them with this search.

 

Once we knew the size of the animals I helped the children measure out large butcher paper so that their drawings would be as realistic a size as possible. We discovered that the bear was the largest!

 

 

 

Here are the animals (excluding the bear) after the children researched, drew, and cut them out.

The next thing we needed to do was calculate how big the mitten needed to be. We referred to the book to see if the animals were side by side or on top of each other and then taped together large pieces of butcher paper to create the mitten.

The papers needed to be securely fastened...

...the outline of the mitten cut...

 

...and the seams stapled closed.

The children noticed that when complete the mitten was almost as big as our carpet!

The children enjoyed decorating it too!

 

We felt that it would be fun to retell the story while we placed each animal inside the mitten. We were eager to see if we were right and the animals all fit inside.

The children waited until it was their animal's turn and then gently placed their animal inside.



Once the retell was complete the children had one more question they asked to explore. Would a mitten that was large enough for all those animals hold 14 kindergarten children? They were quite eager to find out! One by one they hid inside the mitten, squeezing to the end and making room for their friends to join in!

 

This was also an incredibly rich math activity. The children had to consider the area of the mitten and if there would be enough room for all the children. They counted as each child entered the mitten and calculated how many more children were waiting on the carpet. They discussed how to preserve the integrity of their design as they entered the mitten so that it held together so all children could have a turn.

 



They were right! All 14 children did fit into the mitten!

 

But the best part of all? Getting out of the mitten!