Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: LaBreah Welliver Date: April 29-30, 2021

Group Size: 20. Allotted Time:  2 days, 45 minutes each day Grade Level:  Second grade

Subject or Topic: Trees: Lesson 5, Where have all the trees gone?/ Arbor Day!

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

4.3 2.A Describe the jobs/ hobbies people in the community have that relate to natural resources.

4.5 2.C Identify how people can reduce pollution.

Learning Targets/Objectives:
 Students will be able to define deforestation and what causes deforestation.
 Students will identify the ways deforestation impacts our lives and the planet.
 Students will compile a list of ways they can help save trees.
 Students will write a persuasive letter to their town council using reasoning and previously learned
vocabulary to help back their message.
 Students will participate in planting a tree.
Assessment Approaches: Evidence:
1. Sustainability plan for 1.Students will get into groups of 4 and create a sustainability plan for the
the Once-ler Once-ler from the Lorax. They will share their ideas and as a class we
will discuss the effects it could have.
2. Tree Planting Proposal 2. Students will write a letter to their town council proposing trees be
Letter planted in the town. Students will give reasoning behind their proposal
from information learned in class about the benefits of trees.

Assessment Scale:
Sustainability plan for the Once-ler- in class discussion
Tree Planting Proposal Letter- Content

Subject Matter/Content: 
Deforestation and sustainability
Prerequisites:
 Understanding of benefits of a tree.
 Basic understanding of industry.
 Basic understanding of climate change.

Key Vocabulary: 
Natural Resource- Something that is found in nature and can be used by people.
Sustainability- Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Deforestation- The cutting down of forests or groups of trees which is then turned into non-forest use.
Strategies- A carefully developed plan or method for achieving a goal.
Climate Change- Climate change is a long-term change in the normal weather patterns in Earth's local,
regional and global climates.

Content/Facts:
 What is deforestation?
Deforestation is when we cut down trees to build factories and to make products but don’t plant more
trees to replace the ones we cut down resulting in fewer trees on our planet.
 Trees are a valuable natural resource.
 Arbor Day is a holiday that encourages people to plant trees.
 There are jobs for people who love trees like arborists, foresters, wildland firefighters, tree
surgeons, and more.

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies: 
 Teacher greets the class and says “I want you to think back to yesterday’s class and what we
talked about. We learned a new term. Do you remember what it was? We said that trees are a
what? (Natural Resource). Yes! We learned that trees are a natural resource. What does that mean?
(We get a lot of products from trees!). Teacher gets out anchor chart of all the products we get
from trees that the students came up with. Here’s our list of products that you all came up with!
That’s a lot of stuff we get from trees! So now we know that trees provide a lot of things for us
(provide means to give and supply) but today we’re going to talk about what happens when
businesses that use trees to make their products use too many trees. And sometimes they cut down
trees to build factories and don’t leave any trees behind. That doesn’t sound good, does it?
Especially after we just learned about how important trees are! Do you think that would have a big
impact on us and our planet? (Teacher has students share their thoughts). Well, we’re going to
read a book all about what happens when too many trees are used to make a product.
 Teacher reads The Lorax.
Development/Teaching Approaches 
Day 1
 After reading The Lorax class will discuss what took place in the book.
 Teacher tells students that when large amounts of trees are cut down it’s called deforestation.
 Teacher asks students how many products are being made in the book? (One, the thneed) Only one
product the thneed is being made but they still used up all the trees! Look again at that list we
made the other day. Are there more than one product on that list? Yes! Now imagine how many
trees is must take to make all of those products and how many factories are needed! That’s a lot of
trees you’d need to cut down right?
 How did the trees being cut down in the Lorax effect the forest? (It effected the animals, the water,
and tons of pollution was made from the factory.)
 Making choices that are good for us and for the environment is called sustainability. A good way
to figure out if something is sustainable is to ask yourself “can I do this forever and never have a
problem?”.
  Imagine you have a candy jar. (draws a jar of candy full of candy on the board). A sustainable
candy jar would fill itself up as you eat the candy inside. For every piece of candy you eat, it just
automatically makes another one, (erases one piece of candy and draws another one.) You never
run out of candy! That would great right? This means it’s sustainable because it can go on forever
with no problems. But in the real world, if you keep eating the candy, eventually you won’t have
any more candy to eat. This is not sustainable.
 We’re going to get into groups of 4 and come up with a sustainability plan for the Once-ler.
 What do you think the Once-ler could’ve done differently to be more sustainable? Could he have
prevented all the Truffula trees from being cut down? (Students get into groups and write down
their ideas and sustainability plans then share their ideas).
 You all came up with some awesome sustainability plans for the Once-ler! I’m so impressed!
 Now, let’s look back to our list again. I see a lot of products on here that we use every day. We use
them and just throw them away. Is that sustainable thumbs up or thumbs down. No (thumbs down)
that’s not very sustainable. How can we be more sustainable? (Use less paper, use recycled
products, use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins, etc.)
Day 2
 Teacher: Good morning and Happy Arbor Day! Does anyone know what Arbor Day is? Arbor day
is a holiday all about planting trees! Let’s read the story of how Arbor Day got started.
 Teacher will read Arbor Day Square
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLFtOTUNlW4
 I have a surprise for you. Today we’re going to celebrate Arbor Day by planting a tree together!
(Students and teacher will head outside to a spot prepared along with a tree ready to be planted.
Students will help plant the tree and water it.) Students will be reminded that now they can watch
this tree grow over the years that they’re in the school and beyond that. They should also be proud
to be helping the environment in their community be better for everyone who lives here. Plus, they
can go outside and observe animals and bugs that live in the tree, all thanks to them!
 Students and teacher will return to class and start the lesson.
 Alright everyone I need you think back to a 2 whole days ago when we did our leaf experiment.
(students will take out their observation sheets from that day to help them remember what they
saw). What did we see happen? (Leaves were making bubbles which meant they were giving off
oxygen, some leaves gave off more than others). Which leaves did we discover give off the most
oxygen? (Pine trees and maple trees). Do you remember why that information is important? (The
more oxygen being produced equals the more carbon dioxide being absorbed, The oxygen cycle!
Gives us cleaner air). So, if we wanted to help our town have cleaner air to breathe, what should
we do? (We should plant these types of trees!)
 Did you know that there are jobs where people use information like this every day to help places
all over our country have cleaner air? How cool is that?! These people also consider something we
learned about yesterday…it starts with an “S” (Sustainability!) Great job! They think about
sustainability all the time because they want us to be able to enjoy trees forever!
 These people love trees so much that they chose jobs that let them be around trees all the time.
 Teacher will show students a videos on jobs that have to do with trees.
https://www.southernforests.org/kids-zone
https://www.landscapeindustrycareers.org/discover-the-industry/career-paths/arborist/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdEZGhjBIgo
 Do you think you’d ever want to do a job like that? (have students share their thoughts).
  One of the women in the videos said she’s an arborist and she helps plant trees remember? Well
Today I want you to pretend you’re an arborist! You’re going to write a Tree Planting Proposal
letter to your town’s council. A proposal letter means you’d like something to happen, and in this
case, you’d like more trees to be planted in your town. In your letter you can explain why trees are
important and why they should be planted. (Shelter for animals, provide shade which helps cool
down the Earth, provide oxygen for us to breathe, filter pollution from the air). You can suggest
what types of trees they should plant (ones that produce the most oxygen) and how you think it
will impact the town.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies: 
 You all did such a fantastic job learning about trees. You really are tree experts! I hope you all
enjoyed learning about trees throughout our unit and continue to explore trees at home!

Accommodations/Differentiation:
Follow all IEPs
Student will be provided with a writing prompt to help them write their persuasive letter.

Materials/Resources: 
 Smart board
 Videos:
https://www.southernforests.org/kids-zone
https://www.landscapeindustrycareers.org/discover-the-industry/career-paths/arborist/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdEZGhjBIgo
 The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
 Arbor Day Square by
 Paper
 Pencils
 Shovel
 Watering cans
 Tree (to plant!)

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts