Ei.

Identify reasons why tre

es and forests are valued. St
udents meeting this
expectation should be aware
that forests serve as habita
t for a variety of living
things and are important to
human needs for recreation,
for raw materials and
for a life-supporting enviro
nment.
E2. Describe kinds of plants
and animals found living on
, under and among trees;
and identify how trees affect
and are affected by those liv
ing things.
E3. Describe the role of trees
in nutrient cycles and in the
production of oxygen.
E4. Identify general characte
ristics that distinguish trees
from other plants, and
characteristics that distingui
sh deciduous from coniferous
trees.
E5. Identify characteristics of
at least four trees found in th
e local environment.
Students should be familiar
with at least two deciduous
trees and two coniferous
trees. Examples should includ
e native species such as sp
ruce, birch, poplar, and
pine and cultivated species,
such as elm and crab apple.
E6. Describe and classify leaf
shapes, leaf arrangements, br
anching patterns and
the overall form of a tree.
E7. Interpret the growth patte
rn of a young tree, distingui
shing this years growth
from that of the previous ye
ar and from the year before
that. Students meeting
this expectation should recog
nize differences in coloratio
n and texture of new
growth and old growth, and
locate scars that separate old
and new growth.
E8. Identify human uses of
forests, and compare moder
n and historical patterns
of use.
E9. Identify human actions
that

enhance or threaten the ex

istence of forests.
Eio. Identify an issue rega
rding forest use, identify di
fferent perspectives on that
issue, and identify actions th
at might be taken.

Glossary

Abiotic:

Non-living components of an environment.

Adaptation:

Modification of an organism so that it adjusts to a new or altered

environment.

Allowable Cut:

ly
The amount of trees which can be taken from the forest annual
without significantly altering the balance.

Bark:

The visible outer covering of a tree which protects the inside.

Biodiversity:

.
Many different species living in balance with their environment

Biotic:

Living components of an environment.

Cambium:

The growing part of the tree where cells form wood.

Canopy:

The top branches and leaves of the trees in a forest.

Carbon Dioxide:

A gas composed of carbon and oxygen, produced during

respiration.

Carnivore:

A meat eating organism.

Cellular Respiration
(aerobic):

The chemical process of releasing energy from sugar and other

organic molecules by combining it with oxygen to produce carbon
dioxide and water as wastes.

Chlorophyll:

used
Green substance in the leaves of plants that traps light energy
in photosynthesis.

Clearcutting:

ed
A method of harvesting trees where all standing trees are remov
from a section of forest at one time.

Cones:

Small, woody structure of coniferous trees which produce the

seeds.

Conifer:

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A tree which bears cones and has needles or scale-like leaves.

Examples are pine, spruce, fir or cedars. Often referred to as
evergreens or softwoods.

87

Consumer:

An organism which feeds on other organisms in an ecosystem.

Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores are consumers.

Crown:

The top of a tree which forms the canopy.

Deciduous:

Trees and plants which lose their leaves annually every autumn.

Decomposer:

An organism which breaks down material and litter.

Direct Seeding:

Putting seeds directly into the forest floor rather than planting
seedlings.

Ecosystem:

An area of living and non-living components which form an

environment.

Evergreen Tree:

A tree which does not lose its leaves.

Food Chain:

A representation of who eats who in an ecosystem (these do not

really exist but serve as a simplistic view of a part of a food web).

Food Web:

Feeding relationships in an ecosystem, the transfer of energy

throughout an ecosystem. It is an inter-related network of food
chains.

Forest:

A group of trees.

Forest Floor:

The area around the base of the trees, usually covered with leaves,
moss and other plants.

Forest Management:

The care and use of forests. Forest management works to protect

the forests.

Forest Products:

Products produced from trees.

Forestry:

The practice of managing, conserving and creating forests.

Growth Ring:

Rings which are present on a cross-section of a tree trunk which

represent and determine the age of a tree.

Habitat:

A preferred place where an animal or plant lives.

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88

Hardwood:

n, birch and
Wood made by broad-leafed, deciduous trees (aspe
poplar).

Harvesting:

The removal of trees for a variety of uses.

Heartwood:

stem which gives

The non-living wood making up most of a tree
the stem strength.

Herbivore:

A plant eating organism.

Inner Bark:

the leaves to parts

The inner layer which serves to take food from
of the tree.

Interdependence:
Lichens:

connected.
The state of being dependent upon each other; inter
between an alga and
The organism resulting from the relationship
a ftingus.

Log:

The stem of the tree after it has been felled.

Logging:

make products.
The cutting and transporting of trees to the mill to

Omnivore:

An organism which eats both plants and animals.

Park:

Forested area used for recreation.

Phloem:

down to the roots

The inner bark tissue that transports nutrients
and back up.

Photosynthesis:

food (sugar).
The process by which a tree produces its own

Producer:

to produce its own

Any organism which uses energy from the sun
food.

Pulp:

s which paper is made

The soft, moist, soupy mass of wood fibre
from.

Recreation:

Activities which are done for leisure.

Reforestation:

reseeding.
The building of a new forest by planting or

89
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Regeneration:

The process of growing back what has been lost. Forests

regenerate after a fire with growth of new seedlings.

Respiration:

The process of exchanging gases with the environment.

Sap:

The fluid part of a plant rich in sugar and starch which moves up
and down the plant in the phloem tissue of the bark.

Sapling:

A young tree.

Sapwood:

The softer outer layer of the wood in the stem between the
cambium and heartwood, responsible for the nutrient
transportation.

Seedling:

A very young tree.

Seedtree Method:

Method of harvesting forests where a few scattered trees are left

standing in order to seed new trees.

Selective Harvesting:

A method of harvesting where certain trees are selected for cutting.

Only these trees are taken.

Shrub:

A low growing perennial plant.

Snags:

A standing tree which has begun to decay or a tree which has been
felled but has caught itself on the way down.

Stand:

A group of trees in a given area.

Stomata:

Little holes on the underside of leaves which allow gases to pass.

Strip-cutting:

Method of harvesting forest in strip like sections, trees left

standing are intended to reside.

Transpiration:

The loss of water through the pores (stomata) in the leaves.

Tree:

A perennial woody plant having a well-defmed stem at least

3mhigh.

Xylem:

Microscopic tubes running the length of a plants trunk that

conduct water and minerals upward from the roots. Xylem makes
up the wood of the stem.

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90

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____________

Name:____________________

Maste#1

Date:

The Forest Ecosystem

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____________________

__

Name:__________________________

_____

Maste#2

Date:

The Forest Ecosystem (contd)

1.

How do trees affect each of the following factors

Abiotic Factor

Effect Trees Have on

The Factor

Temperature

in the forest?

What Trees Do To Affect

This Factor

Soil
Wind
Moisture

2.

What affect does each organism have on trees?

Organism

Living In The Forest

Tent Caterpillar

Affect Organism Has On Trees

Leaf Miner
Deer

Yellow Bellied
Blight (on

Sapsucker

leaves)

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92

Maslei#3

Name:
Date:

Levels of the Forest

In a forest ecosystem, there are several levels of vegetation. Different plants and animals live in
each level. Label the 4 levels of this forest and name one plant and one animal found in each
level.

Level
plant
animal.
-

Level
plant
animal...
-

Level
plant
animal.
-

Level
plant

nrbtt., 011

j
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Name:

MasienJa

Date:

Fungus, Lichen & Conks

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_________________________________________________

Name:______________________________

Master#4

Date:

Fungus, Lichen & Conks

Who Am I?
I grow on the roots of trees and use some of the sugar in the roots to grow. In return, I help the
roots take in food from the soil. I also help to enrich the soil.
I grow very, very slowly and may live for a very long time.
I have growth rings like a tree, but Im not a tree.
I live on the forest floor.

I can be found in the understory and herb or shrub levels of the forest.

You know the air in the forest in quite clean and free of pollution if you see me on the trees.

I look soft, but I am really quite hard.

I am made up of two plants. I am formed by one plant that collects water and nutrients and
another plant which contains chlorophyll.
Sometimes I am poisonous. Other times, I can be eaten by animals and/or people. BE
CAREFUL! YOU MAY NOT KNOW IF IM SAFE TO EAT!

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Name:____________________

__________

Mas1e#5

Date:

The Nutrient Cycle

f
decomposers
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___

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

I
Master#5

_______________

Name:________________
Date:

The Leaf: Our Oxygen Factory

is, which
word photo, which means light, and synthes
the
from
es
com
esis
nth
tosy
pho
d
wor
The
r own food.
is the process by which plants produce thei
means putting together. Photosynthesis
rgy from
water and minerals from the ground. Ene
and
air
the
e
from
xid
dio
on
carb
take
Plants
e and
energy is then used to combine carbon dioxid
the sun is trapped by chiorphyll and this
plants
verted into starches. This process provides
con
then
are
ars
sug
The
ars.
sug
water to form
atmosphere for us to breathe.
with food, but also returns oxygen to the

Light

4____

02

Co
2
Raw materials taken
in from the air.

Water Vapour

lude the labels

cycle between a plant and an animal. Inc
Draw an illustration to show the oxygen
hange of gases.
2 and 02 and arrows to show the exc
CO

if the
What do you predict would happen

majority of our trees were destroyed?

98
1996
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the user.
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Name:

,fgjw7

Date:

The Water Cycle

1?
V
I

I
I

(1
NI

5
V

I I
-47

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99

Mas&v#9

Name:
Date:

What is a Tree?
following terms:
Label the parts of the tree using the

sapwood
innerbark
heartwood
outerbark
cambium
roots
crown

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1996
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Name:

Maste#1O

Date:

Cross-Section of Tree Stem

Label the tree cookie using the following terms:

sapwood
inner bark
heartwood
outerbark
cambium

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103

___________________

Masrer#11

Name:_________________________________
Date:

Deciduous or Coniferous?
TYPES OF TREES

CONIFEROUS

DECIDUOUS

Shedding of leaves

shed leaves in fall

Shape of leaves

Water retention

Temperature resistance

broad-leafed or needle
shaped
leaves waxy topside and
large surface area on
underside, causing
moisture loss
do not withstand
temperature extremes

shed continuously. (Most do

not shed leaves in one season).

needle-shaped leaves

thick, waxy coating reduces

water loss from transpiration

do withstand temperature
extremes

Deciduous loses its leaves in the fall.

-

Conferous cone baring trees.

-

in the fall and is also

A larch (tamarack) is both deciduous and coniferous. It loses its leaves
cone baring.

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104

Maste#12

Leaf Classification
Leaf Parts:

Apex

Margin
Midrib or Midvein
Blade
Veins

Petiole
Base

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105

Master#13

Name:
Date:

Leaf Classification
Leaf Types:
Simple leaves:

Compound leaves:
(more than 1 blade on a petiole)

Double compound leaf:

Needle leaf:

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1996
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ted
gran
copy
to
n
issio
Perm

Name:

Maslu#14

Date:

Leaf Classification

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Masler#15

Name:
Date:

Leaf Classification

whorl
alternate
Leaf Arrangements

opposite

basal

in bundles of 2

scale-like

bundles of 5

singly on a twig

in clusters of more than 5

Needle Arrangements and Types

jog
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user.
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Name:

Maslsi#15

Date:

Leaf Classification Exercise

Directions:
Beside each leaf picture record

1. type ofleaf
2. shape ofleafor needle
3. margin type or arrangement ofneedles

Write N/A (not applicable) on the line if necessary.

A. Willow

B. Plains Cottonwood

1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

C. Western Red Cedar

D. Wild Rose

1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

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Masliv#lScotiI

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I

Name:

Master#lSIj
Date:

Matching Bark Patterns

A

B.

Label the name of each bark

pattern on the appropriate
line.

C.

D.

1
1
I
I
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I

E.

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I
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Maste#1S

Name:
Date:

Tree Bark
Bark Characteristics Chart
A.
TEXTURE

Smooth

Rough

aspen

lodgepole pine

B.
COLOUR
Grey

TReddish Brown

White

aspen

lodgepole
C.
PATTERN

Scaly

-r

Horizontal

lodgepole

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Vertical

Combination

aspen

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Name:

Maslei#20

Date:

Shapes or Silhouettes

ii
.

11

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___

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

Name:______________________________

Maste#21

Date:

Branching Patterns & Tree Shapes

trees have been affected by
How do you think the branching patterns and tree shapes of these
their location, weather conditions or other possible factors?

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Name:

I
I
I

Master #22

Date:

Buds
Terminal or
End Bud

1 years growth
Lenticel

1 years growth

Leaf Scar

Annual growth ring

from terminal bud of
previous year

A leaf scar (face) is left where the leaf from the previous year was attached to the tree. The
eyes and nose are the location of the tubes which carried water to the leaf from the roots, and
food to the roots from the leaf. The bud scales protect the bud during winter.

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____

____

____

____

____

___________

Name:____________________

Master #23

Date:

Characteristics of Four Tree Species

Name of
Species:

Silhouette
(draw
shape)

Bark
Colour
Texture
Pattern

Branching
Pattern

Leaf Shape!
Arrangement

Fruit!
Flowers/
Cones

CONIFEROUS
1.

2.

DECIDUOUS
1.

2.

119
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Name:

Mas1e #24

Date:

Life of a Tree
Observe the numbered tree rings carefully and record your observations accura
tely on Master
#25. Infer a possible reason for the tree to have grown this way.
I

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120

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____

____

____

____

____

____

Name:__________________________

Maslsi#25

Date:

Recording the Life of a Tree

Observations

Inference (Probable Reason)

2.

3.

4.

5,

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Name:

Master#26
Date:

Determining the Life of a Tree

i, (

mqj,

Construction

Dead Branch

Growing On A Slope

From the situations illustrated above,

list 2 possible incidents which may
have caused each of the
following variations in tree rings.

A.

C.

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B.

D.

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Name:

MaSter #272

Date:

Tree Cookies

If.

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_________

____

___________

___________

______

Name:________________________________

Master #211i

Date:

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

Count the rings on your tree. How old is your tree?
OBSERVATIONS (What I see):

INFERENCE (What I think caused it):

HISTORY OF MY TREE COOKIE

19

19

19_

19

19

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124

________

________________

________________

___________

Name:____________________

Mastei#28

Date:

Historical Patterns: Succession of a Forest

Steps

of a
in Succession

Bare Rock Area

A bare rock area exists.

cracks or holes in rocks.
Soil, carried by wind and water, is deposited in
Lichen and mosses grow on bare rock surfaces.
Plant seeds take root in mosses and soil deposits.
grow and dominate.
Sun-loving trees such as pine, birch, and aspen
bs grow and a mixed forest eventually
As shade develops, other types of trees and shru
develops.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Steps

a
in Succession of

Pond Area

A pond with high banks exists.

m of the pond, making it shallower.
Weeds grow and die, accumulating on the botto
bs take root along the edges of the pond.
Willows and other moisture-loving trees and shru
.
These also use up water, making the pond shallower
t material.
The pond becomes shallower with more dead plan
ts take root.
Willows, aspen, and other less water-loving plan
ing an aspen forest.
Pond dries up and aspen crowd out willows, creat

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.

a
in Succession of

Field

or

Meadow

as the only ground cover.

A field or meadow exists with grass and flowers
water-borne, animal-borne seeds, seed cones,
The first trees are produced by wind-blown,
and shoots of aspen.
dominate the area.
Aspen, poplar, and/or lodgepole pine trees soon
seedlings flourish in the shade they provide.
While the older trees mature and die, spruce
dominate the forest.
Soon, white and black spruce of different ages

125
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Name:

Master#29

Date:

The Forest In My Home

What trce products can you lind in this picture?

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______

___________

___________

Name:_______________________________

Master #30

Date:

Enhance or Threaten?
Enhancing the Forest

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Threatening the Forest

127

Name:

Masls!#33a

Date:

Forest Field Guide

Witches Broom
(buds on branches that are
attacked by insects, fungi and
viruses)

Squirrels Nest

4.
...

Snag
(standing dead trees)

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Conk
(fungi)

Wasps Nest

143

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Masler#331,
Name:
Date:

ms
Rotten Log Organis
Things to look for:
be home
Every rotting log will
bitat.
lookfor in your log ha

s. Here are some to

community of organism
to a slightly dfferent

Earthworms

Centipedes

Millipedes

,,
Lichens

Fungi

Mosses

Spiders

Tree Seedlings

gs
Paper Birch Seedlin

(3%)
144
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cop
Permission to

(a

(a

0.

.,

.0

t)

...........

j:.....:.......:........

WJ

..=

Cl)

:.

..

a-.

a
a-.

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.
...

Masle,#33c

Name:
Date:

Soil Animals
Some insect-like animals you may find in soil:

Earthworm

Em

Spider

Daddy
Longlegs

Sowbug

Millipede

Centipede
Underside of a
Centipede
Underside of a
Millipede

Mite

tp
Wireworm

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146