"Tell Me Tree"
by Gail Gibbons

The large watercolor pictures,
peopled by children of various
ethnic backgrounds, make it a
perfect book for classroom
sharing.  Learn all about trees,
bark, fruits & seeds!
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Nature Journal
Step 1
Line your paper sacks up, alternating which side
the folded bottom is on.  (see photo below)  
Stack them and fold them in half, creasing in the
center.
Step 2
    Using your hole puncher, punch in four
    holes along the center line.  Use a piece
    of yarn or string to tie the pages
    together.  
  • 3 (or more) Paper Lunch Sacks
  • Construction Paper
  • Yarn or String (small amount)
  • Hole Puncher
  • Glue Stick
  • Pen or Pencil
  • For younger children,
    you'll want to
    prepare the journal
    cut outs ahead of
    time for them.
  • What are the two types of trees?
  • Why do some trees loose their leaves?
  • What are the rings of a tree?
  • How do roots help a tree?  How can we
    be rooted in Christ.  (Parable of the sower)
Step 3
(Optional)  If you like you can cut out the different
shapes and papers you'll use in your journal
beforehand.  (I did this for my children because I
wanted them to focus on the writing aspect of the
journal)  But if you have older children, they can
certainly plan out their pages in advance.
Step 4
Design a cover for your journal.  We used some
fun scissors to make patterned edges on the
construction paper.  Title your journal and add
some artwork.
Cut Out
Decide on a color you'd like for the cover of
your nature journal.  Use fun scissors or even
carefully tear the edges for a fun look.  (wet the
edges with a paint brush before tearing)
Step 5: Roots
    We learned about roots, so our first page
    was about them.  On one side is an
    illustration of the roots of a tree, and on
    the other is some information we learned
    about them.
Cut Out
Cut out a small rectangle you can use for
writing information.  Then using dark
construction paper cut out some wiggly roots.
Step 6: Growth Rings
On the left we added in some growth rings, some
were thicker to show a year with rain, and some
were smaller to show a year of drought.  Then we
wrote information about the growth rings on the
right.
Cut Out
If you learned about bark and growth rings, cut
out a circle from brown, and a smaller circle
from tan.  Then cut out a square for writing
information about what you learned.
Step 7: Conifers
After we learned about Conifers we made a page
all about them, with their types of seeds, and
leaves.  Then we listed different types of conifer
trees as well.
Cut Out
Use green and brown to cut our some tree
shapes.  Try to remember what kinds of leaves
(needles) and seeds (cones) to put on your
conifer tree.  Cut out another space for writing.
Step 8: Broad-Leaf
After we learned about Broad-leafed trees we
made a page all about them as well, with their
types of seeds, and leaves.  Then we listed
different types of broad-leafed trees as well.
Cut Out
Think of what makes a broad-leafed tree
unique?  Cut out the tree shapes, and some fall
colored leaves to remind you of this special
season.  A square for writing too!
Step 9: My Backyard
And of course, we just had to do a little
meandering around our yard in search of the
different kinds of trees we just learned about.  
We worked on a "tally" system for counting up
the trees and drew a picture of the yard.
Cut Out
Using blue and green, make a backyard scene.  
Cut out a Blue background for the sky, and a
small green rectangle for the grass below.
Step 10: Collection
Because we used paper bags for our journals,
there are various places that have little pockets
to store things.  So we put those to good use by
picking up some leaves and seeds we found
along the way.
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