Look At Those Leaves! Purpose To observe, measure, and sort tree leaves, and to examine leaves individually, in groups, and in relationship to the entire tree. Context This lesson begins with students observing leaves in hands-on ways. In the second part of this lesson, students will become more familiar with the seasonal changing of leaves. Planning Ahead Please note that the website used in this lesson has an "Audio Enhanced Version" as well as a "Graphics Only Version." Motivation To help students become excited about leaves, take a group "Leaf Walk." For the "Leaf Walk," each student can bring a bag for collecting leaves. During the walk, ask students questions such as: Where do you see leaves? You could also ask students to notice these kinds of things about the leaves around their homes. Development Part I: Observing, Sorting, and Measuring Leaves Place the leaves (or pictures of leaves) that the students collected between clear contact paper. Do all the leaves look the same? Ask questions such as: Assessment
Science News, Articles, and Information - Scientific American Weddell Seal Population Count Activity | Polar Geospatial Center Weddell Seal Population Count Activity An adult Weddell Seal on the sea ice in Antarctica (photo: Michelle LaRue) Background Knowing ‘how many’ of any animal is one of the first questions researchers seek to answer when they study a population. Getting that answer is not always easy. If you wanted to know how many robins were in your county how would you do that? Many people think seals are easy to count. Activity: Introduction Students can help scientists in the field monitor the Weddell seal population in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Teachers & Students: Help us count seals! We have created a Seal Counting Activity for students to do in the classroom. Activity: Downloads The ZIP file below contains all the project files, zipped into one convenient download. Download all project files as a ZIP ZIP contents Individual downloads: Right-click and "Save Link As..." or click to open in browser. All satellite imagery © DigitalGlobe, Inc.
Leafsnap on SciStarter Leafsnap is an exciting new mobile app that is designed to help citizen scientists identify and locate tree species from photographs and ultimately help the scientific world develop a better understanding of biodiversity. Developed by Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution, Leafsnap contains a unique visual recognition software that helps users identify species from the photographs taken straight from your iphone or ipad. The app is completely free and will be the first in a series of apps that takes advantage of the newly developed recognition software. The app also contains high-resolution photos of the leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds, and bark of all sorts of species, and is a wonderful visual field guide. The app is very user friendly and easy to use. This Leafsnap website shows the tree species included so far, a visual map of the collectors that have recently contributed, and more information on the project.