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Seeing the Forest For the City

The following lesson plans were provided by Andy Lipkis of TreePeople, an environmental education group based in Los Angeles. TreePeople can be reached at 12601 Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, (818) 753-4600, and on the web at http://www.treepeople.org/. The accompanying Hebrew texts were provided by Luisa Latham.

In thinking about the elements that make up a city, one immediately thinks of buildings, streets cars, telephone poles, sidewalks, freeways and parking lots. But what about the natural components that exist here as well? What about the forest? The city forest includes trees, gardens, lawns, parkways, vacant lots, and wildlife--animals, birds, bugs and bees. And, of course, the very basic elements--sun, soil, water and air.
These natural components, including people, are what make up the living, breathing, heart of the city environment. Take a good look: Was your city carved out of the forest or was the forest planted in and around the city?

OCEAN ALERT The ocean is a part of our city forest. When rainwater or other excess water flows through the streets, it enters a large storm drain system that forms rivers and takes this water to the ocean.

AGES K-6 grade TIME 45 minutes PURPOSE To broaden the students' awareness of the natural components that exist in a city. MATERIALS Overhead projector "City" and "City Forest" transparencies (PDF) Envelope labeled "Secret" Books A Tree Is Nice (K-2) by Janice May Udry In My Tree House (K-2) by Alice Schertle Sky Dragon (K -2) by Ron Wegen Have You Seen Birds? (K-2)       by Joanne Oppenheim Only the Cat Saw (K-2) by Ashley Wolff The Garden in the City by Gerda Miller Our Yard is Full of Birds       by Anne Rockwell How Trees Help Me       by Bobbie Kalman & Janine Schaub Farewell to Shady Glade by Bill Peet City Leaves, City Trees by Edward Callob The Tremendous Tree Book       by Barbara Brenner & May Carelick Maya and the Town that Loved a Tree       by Kiki & Kathryn Shaw A Tree in a Forest by Jan Thornhill Once There Was a Tree       by Natalia Romanov The First Forest by John Gile I am the Sun       by Jose Luis Garcia Sanchez       (also in Spanish) All Wet, All Wet by James Skofield Oak and Company by Richard Mabey

PREPARATION

1. Prepare an overhead projector to show the "city" transparency.
2. Make a copy of the "Forest Riddles" sheet (PDF). Cut the sheet apart into individual riddles and place in the envelope.

MOTIVATOR

Place the "city" transparency on the overhead projector. Ask the students what they see (the city). Hold up the "secret envelope" and tell the students that inside the envelope are the secrets of the city that they will soon be asked to figure out.

PROCEDURE

1. In groups or as a class, have students list everything that is part of a city.
2. Identify any natural components that were listed. Explain that "these are the 'secrets' of the city."
3. Hold up the envelope and say: "In this envelope there are riddles that
4. Read each riddle, allowing the students to give the answers out loud. Reiterate, after each answer, that it is a part of the city forest.
5. Look at the "city" transparency again. Ask the students, "What is missing?" (Forest) Explain that "in order to see the forest in the city, we need to put on our 'forest-colored glasses.'quot;
6. Tell the students to close their eyes and imagine that they are putting on glasses.
7. After you have replaced the "city" transparency with the "city forest" transparency, ask the students to open their eyes. "What do you see?"
8. "Let's keep on our forest-colored glasses and go for a walk outside to see the forest in our school." Proceed to identify the natural components around the schoolyard.

ASSESSING THEIR LEARNING

"What parts of the city forest did we find at our school?"

STRETCHING THEIR THINKING

• "What parts of the city forest make you feel good? Why?"
• "What parts of the city forest make you feel bad? Why?"
• "What do you think existed here before the city?" (Oak trees, river...)
• "How is our city forest like a mountain forest?"
• "What do you think are ways we could increase the forest in our city?"

THE NEXT STEP

Journal Activity
Students can write about how the forest changes the city, or have students observe the city forest around their home and write about their observations.

Student Activity Booklet
On page 1, students can color a forest in the city picture.