Tree Homes
Science and Math Activities for Young
Children
Grades Preschool—1
Written by Jean C. Echols and Jaine Kopp
Tree Homes encourages appreciation for trees and for the
animals that live in tree homes. The unit is designed to stimulate
children's interest in the world around them and in the biological
need for warmth and shelter. It introduces different parenting
and nesting strategies, and compares the characteristics and
behaviors of various tree-home animals. In six main activities,
students become familiar with a living tree and then build a
child-size tree from cardboard boxes, paper, and cardboard tubes.
They make paper models of raccoons and owls, and the class role-plays
tree-home dramas about raccoons, a mother bear and her cubs,
and a family of owls. Math concepts of sorting/classifying and
measurement are emphasized throughout.
This GEMS guide was developed by the GEMS PEACHES
program, whose guides Ant Homes
Under the Ground, Penguins
and Their Young, Mother
Opossum and Her Babies, and Elephants and Their Young delve
into specific animal environments and behaviors—and make
excellent follow-up units to Tree Homes.
Time: Eleven 45- to 60-minute sessions.Comment
on this GEMS unit.
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