Vir inia's State Parks... Your Back ard Classrooms

A Forest Growslowing in the wind, stuck tofur, or pre-packaged with fer-tilizer, today's seeds are

tomorrow's forests. Through this ac-tivity, students discover some of theforest',s reproductive strategies.

Grade Levels: 4-10

Objectives

Students will investigate variationin seed structure and methods ofdispersal by:~ observing seeds' physical appearan-

ces, evidence of 'trees' reproductivestrategies;inferringpossjble relationshipsamong types of seeds, seeddispersal methods, and locationof seedlings.

Background

Materials

~ large envetlope, bag or box forholding collections

Per team:~ notebook or plain paper~ clipboard~ pencils or pens

clear adhesive tape~ flagging tape or bright ribbons~ 5-10 plain sheets of paper

Procedure

6. Divide the class into teams of 2to 4 students each.

7. Make at least two copies of theseed dispersal chart for each team.

At the Park:1. Lead the class to y forested area

of the park.2. Make sut e everyone can recog-

nize poison ivy, which can cause aterrible rash. It may appear as awoody vine or look more like a lowshrub. The leaves are usuallysmooth and shiny above, and aredivided into three distinct leaflets.The fruits, which usually grow inclusters, are round, slightly fuzzy,about 5 mm v ide and white whenripe. For an illustration, see the pre-vious activity, "Changing of theGreen."

3. Give each team 2 copies of theseed dispersal chart and a roll ofclear tape.

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From the cypress swamps ofCape Henry to the wooded slopesand ridges of the Allegheny Moun-tains, all of the forests within theChesapeake Bay's watershed are es-sential to its health. The most impor-tant reason: forests hold the soil andslow the rush ef rainwater off of theland, minimizing the flow of sedi-ments into streams, rivers and theBay.

The Bay aside, forest values aremany. Forests add to the diversityof plant and animal species. Theyshade streams, keeping shallowwaters cool and free of certain types'of prolific algae. They allow rainwater to percolate into the soil,recharging aquifers and keepingstreams and rivers flowing at rela-tively consistent rates. Forests pro-vide inviting places for people tohike, camp, picnic and hunt, andthey provide the raw materials for avast array of products from lumberand turpentine to paper and flower-bed mulch.

Forests go through a process ofsuccession, where certain species be-come established in an area onlyafter other species have grown therefirst. Pines grow best in open sun-light and are often the first trees togrow in an area. Eventually, pinesare replaced by other species such assweet gums, maples and tulippoplars. These in turn are replacedby oaks, hickories and beeches.When a forest reaches the stagewhere the tree species change verylittle over time �00- 200 years in theBay region!, it is called a climaxforest.

Because a seedling often has a bet-ter chance of surviving if it can growaway from its parent tree, many treespecies have evolved n ays to dis-perse their seeds. Pine, tulip poplar,ash and maple seeds I iave "wings"that permit them to lx carried by thewind as they flutter to the ground.Sycamore seeds have 'parachutes"and can ride the wind for miles.Beeches, oaks, hickori.s and wal-nuts produce nuts that are relishedby squirrels. The squirrels eat manyof these nuts but they also plantsome by burying then' for winterstorage. Tupelo, dogwood, persim-mon, cherry and hollo producefruits which are consumed by rac-coons, opossums and song birds.T' he seeds, adapted to endure therigors of digestive systems, are even-tually dropped, complete with a lit-tle dose of fertilizer.

Before the Trip:1. Discuss with the class the basic

concepts of forest succession andhow it is to the advan:age of manytree species to disperse their seed s.

2. Ask students to y've theirideas about how tree .eeds might-travel and write these ideas on theboard.

3. After the students classifythese methods into groups and sub-groups similar to the listings on theillustrated seed dispel sal chart,write the classified list on the board.

4. Students name cir describetrees or other plants! that theyknow using the methods listed onthe board. Write these beside therriethod s.

5. From this list, make a chartsimilar to the one illu.' trated. Giveeach type of seed dispersaldescribed by the class a block on thechart. Group similar .methodstogether. Do not inchide the namesof trees!isted by the class.

Where,

When

Resources

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4. Instruct the teams to collectone sample of each type of seed orfruit they can find and to tape eachonto the chart in the block for thedispersal method that they think ap-plies to the seed.

5. Set boundaries for the searchfor seeds and fruits.

6. The teams spread out and col-lect seeds and fruits for about 15minutes.

7. Reassemble the students andplace their charts together on theground where everyone can seethem.

8. Discuss:~ Which seed s! seems to be most com-

mon?~ Which dispersal method seems to be

most common?~ Were any of the seeds or fruits taken

directly off the parent tree?~ Could anyone tell if a fruit or seed

was laying on the ground directlyunder the parent treeorifany seedswere obviously not under the parenttree?9. Explain that the next part of

the activity will help them better dis-cover how far seeds might havetraveled from he parent tree.

10. Give each group some flag-ging tape or bright ribbon, plainsheets of paper, and tape. Instructthem to:~ Find a tree seedling or sapling!

two to four feet tall.~ Mark the seedling with a flag.~ Pick one and only one! leaf from

the seedling and tape it to a piece, of paper.

~ Search the forest for a big tIeewith leaves that look like the onefrom the seedling. Consider thisto be the parent tree, though it inreality it may not be. Since itmay be hard to see the leaves onvery tall trees, suggest that theylook for fallen leaves under talltrees as well.!

~ If a leafcanbe reached on the 'parent tree, pick one leaf and tapeit next to the seedling leaf.

~ As one team member stands bythe parent tree, another returns tothe seedling and stands by it. Athird team member walks directlyfrom the parent to the seedling,counting the number of steps be-tween them, and records thisnumber on the paper under theleaves.

A Forest Grows

~ Repeat this process with as manydifferent types of seedlings andparent trees as possible in the al-lotted time.

~ If no obvious parent tree can befound for a particular seedling, 'students should note this on theirpaper.11. Allow 15 to 20 ininutes to con-

duct the activity. Rea.semble theclass and place the col iections on theground where everyone can seethem: Discuss:~ Which seedling was closest to the

parent tree?~ Which seedling was farthest from the

parent tree?~ Were there any seedli ngs for which a

parent tree could not be found?~ How do you think each seedling was

planted?~ Was there any eviden "e that any of

the seedlings came from seeds likethose found in the first part of the ac-tivity?

~ What seems to be the most common

seedling?~ What seems to be the most common

tree in this forest?~ Are the most common tree and see-

dling the same species?~ Based on the above question, will the

forest look very diffen nt when theseedlings are full grown?12. Collect all of the seed and leaf

collections and place them in a largeenvelope, bag or box for the tripback to school. Collect all of thepieces of flagging tape place/ on see-dlings.

Follow-up:1. Tape or tack the papers with

the leaf samples on a wall in rows.Group those with similarly-shapedleaves together in columns.

2. Give each leaf tying an identify-ing letter or number.

3. Each student should study theleaf display and make a bar chartshowing the distance, in footsteps,of each type of seedling from itsparent tree. Students should calcu-late.and use averages for thosespecies represented by more thanone seedling.!

4. Students can use field guidesto identify the seeds and leaves theycollected and, where appropriate, tomatch the seeds to the leaves.

Caledon: forest near visitor center issuitable, particularly interesting isclimax forest accessed by Fern Hol-low and Poplar Gmve Trails � milewalk, round-trip, from visitor center!.Chippokes: succession from pineforest to hardwoods is evident inplantation pine tree stand nearvisitor center.Leesylvania: any woods alongvarious trails are suitable, Powell'sCreek Trail passes thmugh fairly ma-ture hardwood forest.Mason Neck: Kane's Creek Trail pas-ses through mature hardWood forestquite open in some places, permit-ting students to spread out but stillbe in sight of each other.Seashore: certain sections of trailsnear visitor center pass through areasproviding great views of successionin a maritime forest.Westmoreland: Turkey Neck Trail,originating near park office, passesthrough a matura hardwood forest.York River: small stand of pines nearstart of Mattaponi Trail is a goodlocation to observe succession in apine forest, other trails pass throughforests in various successional stages.

At the Park: 45 minutes to 1 hour,plus walking time to and from studysite; any daylight hours.

Time of Year: Late summer to earlyfall is best, since seeds and fruits aremost abundant then.

Grimm, W. C. 1962. The Book ofTrees. Hawthorn Books, Inc., NY.

'Harlow, W. M. 1941. Fruit Key &-Twig Key. Dover Publications, Inc.

Knopf, A. A. 1980. The AudubonSociety Field Guide to NorthAmerican Trees. ChanticleerPress, Inc., NY.

Parry, B. 1985. A Sierra ClubNaturalist's Guide to the MiddleAtlantic Coast. Sierra ClubBooks, San Francisco.

Petrides, G. A. 1958. A Field Guide 'to Trees and, Shrubs. HoughtonMif fli Co., Boston.

cubi'" .'

BeechHickory Black WillowPersimmon

Dogwood

Hop Hornbeam Sweetgum

Sycamore

Water Tup~ lo

Pine

Red Maple

PawparqIronwood Tulip Poplar

A Forest Grows

Common Tree Seeds and Fruits

~ ~C

~% s

~ i ~ ~ ~ ~

~l

~ i~E

Live Oak

Seed Dispersal Chart

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Vir inia's State Parks... Your Back ard Classrooms

Knee DeepGrade Levels: 3-7

Objectives

Students wiH investigate variabon ina habitat by:~ . predicting characterisbcs of a

cypress swamp;~ observing characteristics of a

cypress swamp;~ describing some of the swamp's

unique features in terms of sight,' texture, sound and smell;

~ recording observations in anorganized written form.

Materials

Per stude'nt:~ Sensory Chart~ pencil and clipboardFor teacher:~ watch I

~ Bald Cypress Nature Trail brochure

Wheretudents find out what a cypressswamp is like by closely observ-ing the unique sights, smells,

sounds and textures of this specialenvironment;

Seashore State Park and NaturalArea: Bald Cypress TraiL

When

At the Park: Allow 3060 minutes;morning hours.

Time of Year: Spring, summer, fall.

Background

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Seashore State Park's cypressswamp is an area of timeless beauty.On a leisurely walk along the 1.5mile Bald Cypress Trail, the modernexplorer can make some of the samediscoveries made by English ex-plorers nearly 400 years ago:Spanish moss hanging from cypresstree limbs; American bitterns hirk-ing in the shadows of button bushesrimming tea-colored pools; paintedturtles basking on mossy cypressknee islets; and warblers, vireos,wrens, and bullfrogs joining in achorus accompanied by the rattlingdrum of pileated woodpeckers.

Environmental Education Centerlibrary or purchased fora nominalcharge.

3. With brochure in hand, walkthe Bald Cypress Trail, noting itemsof interest at each marker post andselecting five places where the classwill make careful sensory observa-tions. These places may be at someof the posts or places in-b tween.Try to choose sites with qualitiesclearly unique to the cypr ss swampand maritime forest. Some places tochoose as sensory stops might in-clude:~ on a boardwalk across a cypress

pool~ under a large pine tree~ on the edge of a briar thicket~ close to some cypress knees

projecting from the water~ next to an old;overgrown dune~ at a fallen log

4. For each student, ma.ke a copyof the accompanying'Sensory Chart.

5. At school, tell the class theywill be visiting a cypress swamp,

Knee Dee

Resources

Extensions

Bald Cypress

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one of the first places expl'ored bysome of the very first Englishmen tocome to America, and that in manyways, the swamp is just like it wasthen. Explain that before these menarrived, they must have had their 'own ideas about what the NewWorld would look, sound, smell,and feel like. Upon exploring aswamp, their senses must have beensurprised by all the new things tosee, hear, smell, and touch.

6. Divide the class into groups ofabout four students each. Eachgroup makes four lists � specialsights, sounds, textures, andsmells � that they expect to en-counter in the swamp. Groupsshould list as many things they canthink of, but riot anything thatwould be found in other places.

At the Park:1. Give each student a Sensory

Chart, clipboard, and pencil.2. Lead the class along the Bald

Cypress Trail to the sensory stopsselected during the pre-trip visit.Point out interesting featuresdescribed in the trail brochure alongthe way.

3. At each sensory stop, allow stu-dents to spread out a little and tothen stand or sit quietly for fiveminutes. Students should note onespecial sensory experience for eachof the four senses listed on the Sen-sory Chart, and answer the cor-responding question .

Follow-up:1. Write on the board all or a rep-

resentative sample! of the sensorythings the students predicted theymight experience in the cypressswamp.

2. Take a show of hands to deter-mine which things were actually ex-perienced.

3. Make another h st on the boardof all or some! of the things not al-ready listed, that the students ex-perienced.

4. Compare the lists and discuss:~ What was the most, urprising thing

that wasn't experienced that was ex-pected?

~ What was the most. urprising thingthat was experienced?

~ Using everyone's dcscri ptions, can acypress tree be defined?5. Each student composes a

poem, haiku, or short story incor-porating his or her noted percep-tions of the cypress swamp.

Seashore Natural Area. "SwampSubzone." Passport to Paradise.Virginia Beach, VA.

Sisson, E. A. 19S2. Nature WithChildren of All Ages.-Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

@raw or cut out pictures of plantsand animals observed in the swamp'and make.a collage. Color the pic-ture, blending the animals in withtheir surroundings. This may bedone as small individual projects, oras a class project xising a large posteror bulletin board format.

Handicapped:Since this activity emphasizes sen-sory activities, defining the cypresscommunity in these texms, it issuitable for the visually and hearingimpaired. Photos and'tape record-ings could be made in place of writ-ten records. Sensoxy pexspectivesshould also be of interest to fullysighted students, and be used withinixed groups.

Sensory Cl>art

Instructions: At each designated stop along the trail, describe c ne special thing that you sense for each. of thefour senses listed below and answer the questions. Pick something different each time and only list things youhave never experienced anywhere else.

Sensory Chart cont'd!

Hot Foot

Where,

When

Procedure Resources

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Anyone who has walked acrossthe hot sand barefoot during thesummer realizes the great effect thetemperature might have on beachand dune inhabitants. By measuringdifferences in, temperature along thebeach and dun'es and by observing

' plants and animals. living there, stu-dents can gain a better appreciationfor the environmental stresses andthe special adaptations which allowthese organisms to survive in theirhabitat.

Beach investigation and explora-. tion activities should NEVER be con-ducted on the primary dunes firstrow back from the water!. These,dunes are both extremely fragile andvitally important to the physical and hence biological! stability ofthe beach. Disturbance by humansleaves them susceptible to severeerosion. This activity may quitesatisfactorily be conducted acrossthe open beach and over the back orsecondary dunes. Use only desig-natedd crossings over the primarydunes.

Before the Trip:1. Set up experiments in the class-

room to measure and compare thetemperature differences which occurbetween air and water; betweenlarge and small bodies of water; andbetween dark and light surfaces ex-posed to sunlight. Let students be-come familiar with reading thethermometers. Settle on onetemperature unit for recordingresults. In addition to temperature,other abiotic factors can bemeasured during this field activity ifequipment such as a wind meter anemometer! and or a soil moisturemeter are available. See Living inWater under "Resources" ! forseveral activity ideas.

2. Brainstorm a list of the abioticfactors affecting dune organisms inaddition to temperature. Then com-pile a list of various adaptationswhich would help organisms live ina habitat with these environmentalstresses. Categorize these adapta-tion ideas into groups such as: color,body shape and structures, senses,appendages for digging andmoving, and behavior. Foryounger students, the teacher might

have to list some categories on theboard first in order to facilitatebrainstorming ideas.! Assign orhave students select one categoryand create an imagin ~ry duneanimal which illustrates its adapta-tions.

3. Through class discussion,develop a list of 5-10 predictionsabout temperatures at various loca-tions and depths e.g. on an openbeach with dry sand, temperaturewill decrease 1 C with depth!.

4. Devise data tab]es for record-ing measurements to compare withthe class predictions. See sample.!Students rank the beach sites fromhighest temperature to lowesttemperature based on what theypredict will be the temperature dif-ferences at those sites.

5. Divide the class intoworkgroups for the field trip.

At the Park:1. Begin temperature measure-

ments at each site such as lowerbeach, upper beach, top of secon-dary dune, behind dune in swale!with air temperature. Record airtemperatures at different heights,such as 1 m and 1 cm above the,'sand, making note of any wind dif-ferences. One field g oup shouldmeasure water temps rature as well.

2. Begin measuring sandtemperature at sever il depths, such-as just under surface, 1 cm deep and10 cm deep, or as needed to testpredictions. Results n ill be more ac-curate if the thermometer is shadedduring measurements. Make thesemeasurements in areas of wet sandand dry sand on the lower beach,upper beach, and difterent locations 'in front of, on, and lx hind the secon-dary dunes. Carefully describe thelocation of each temperature meas-urement either quantitatively e.g.every x meter along a transect! orqualitatively e.g. bai k face of asecondary dune, in shade, no wind!.Caution students to I jmit digging onthe dunes to avoid damaging plantroots.

3. Walk along the beach andamong the secondary dunes, look-ing for animal holes, such as thoseof ghost crabs, wolf spiders, diggerwasps and ant lions. Measure thetemperature at the opening of theholes and down insicte the holes.

Seashore State Park is the only es-tuarine state park which offers a well-developed open beach; all othershave. beaches where adapted, less ex-tensive versions of this activity arepossible. Note: False Cape, an ocean-front park, has ekcellent beaches forthis kind of study. Temperaturereadings should be made from thelower beach up through the dunes,with the exception of the primarydunes. Animal holes will be foundmostly among the dunes.

At thePark: 1 to 2hours;canbedone at anytime of the day, but sur- 'face results will vary considerably.

Time of Year: Any time, but evidenceof animal activity will be scarceduring the winter and the differences

. in sand temperature will not be as' 'dramatic as during the warmermonths.

Brown, U. 1983. Investigating Na-ture Through Outdoor Proj ects.Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA.

Chase, U. 1987. Livingin Water-AnAquatic Science Curriculum'forGrades 4-6. N.S.F. and NationalAquarium in Baltimore.

Ranwell, D. S. 1972. Ecology of SaltMarshes andhand Dunes. Cox &Wyman Ltd., Great Britain.

Ricciuti, E. R. 1982. TheBeachupalker's Guide. Doubleday& Co., NY.

Spitsbergen, J. M. 1980. SeacoastLife- an Ecological Guide toNatural Seashore Communities inNorth Carolina. Univ. of NorthCarolina Press, Chapel Hill.

Uon Frisch, K. 1983. Animal Ar-chitecture. Uan Nostrand Rein-hold, NY.

Observe any live animals foundamong the dunes and look for adap-tations which help them survive inthe dunes.

4. Take a close look at the dif-ferent types o f plants growingamong the dunes. Select some d.if-ferent kinds of dune plants tomeasure temperature above the

Hot Fodt

xr xx'Sex '/e

Sea Oats

Russian ThistleSea Rocket

Wax MyrtleLive Oak

85

plant, near the middle of the plant,or at the base of the plant, recordingany temperature differences, espe-cially if the plant's seeds are foundunder the plant. Make observationsof adaptations which may helpthem survive in this dune habitat.'

Follow-up:1. Combine data from different

student groups, taking averagetemperatures where measurementswere replicated. Use bar graphs orother appropriate quantitativegraphic tools! to display results oftemperatures associated with the dif-ferent locations and with the dif-ferent species of plants and animals.

2. Look at results and discussany trends:~ How close were the class predictions

to the final results?~ What would be some reasons for the

differences in temperature the classmeasured?

~ How would you predict thesetemperatures might change duringthe day and throughout tite year?3. Conduct library research on

the life history of any of the plantsand animals observed on the dunes.Make drawings o'f the organismsand identify various adaptations fordune life. I'resent findings orally.

Prickly Pea Cactus

Data Sheet 10 om belowsurface

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