Seeing the Trees of the Forest

Essential Questions

What trees are common in Pennsylvania ?

How can these trees be identified ?

How do trees grow and reproduce ?

Name _______________________________

Period _____________  

 

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Types  of  Leaf  Arrangement  

         

           

             

Simple

Compound

 

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 Trees  of  Pennsylvania  Leaf  Collection  

   

Requirements    1.    Collect  leaves  that  represent  ten  species  of  Pennsylvania  trees.    Determine  whether  the  tree  has  leaves  that  are  arranged  alternately  or  oppositely  on  the  tree  and  whether  the  leaves  are  simple  or  compound.    Then,  using  these  characteristics  and  others  that  we  learn  about  in  class,  identify  the  tree  by  its  common  name  and  scientific  name.    2.    When  you  turn  in  your  leaf  collection,  each  page  should  include  the  information  shown  below.      

A  single  species  of  tree  should  be  represented  on  each  page.      At  least  one  entire  leaf  should  be  used,  but  at  times  you  may  wish  to  use  as  many  as  three  or  four  per  page.    Each  page  should  include  all  of  the  following  in  this  order:  

        A.    Common  name           B.    Scientific  name           C.    Alternate  or  Opposite  leaves       D.    Simple  or  compound  leaves       An  example:     A.    Red  Maple           B.    Acer  rubrum           C.    Opposite  leaves           D.    Simple  leaf    3.    All  species  must  appear  on  the  list  of  approved  trees.    4.    The  collection  should  be  submitted  in  a  3-­‐ring  binder  or  photo  album.    The  appearance  of  the  collection  will  be  graded  according  to  the  rubric  on  one  of  the  following  pages.    5.    The  Leaf  Collection  Grade  Sheet  MUST  be  included,  with  the  index  on  the  back  completed,    as  the  FIRST  PAGE  of  your  leaf  collection.    

         

 

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 Grading This project is worth 150 points. Grades will be determined as follows: 1. 60 points for the correct identification of common names. (6 points per leaf) 2. 60 points for the correct information for your answers to B, C, and D from above (2 points for the scientific name, 2 points for the leaf type, 2 points for the leaf arrangement). 3. 20 points for the general appearance of your collection. 4. The grading sheet, with the index of your leaves completed on the back, must be included as the first page in your collection. (10 points)     Leaf Collection Appearance Rubric 20 points Leaves are neatly displayed and are flat on the page. All leaves are whole with no pieces missing. 18 points Leaves are neatly displayed and with most flat on the page. Most leaves are whole with few pieces missing. 15 points Leaves are somewhat neatly displayed, only some are flat on page or some leaves have pieces missing. 12 points Leaves are not neatly displayed. Most are not flat on page or most leaves are torn and/or have pieces missing. 10 points Leaves are not neatly displayed. No leaves are flat on the page. All leaves are torn and/or have pieces missing.

       

 

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List of Trees Allowed for the Leaf Collection

All the trees used in the collection MUST be on this list

1. Black Ash 2. White Ash 3. Bigtooth Aspen 4. Quaking Aspen 5. American Beech 6. Paper Birch 7. Sweet Birch 8. Yellow Birch 9. Buckeyes 10. Butternut 11. Catalpa 12. Black Cherry 13. Choke Cherry 14. Fire Cherry 15. American Chestnut 16. Cucumber Magnolia 17. Flowering Dogwood 18. American Elm 19. Slippery Elm 20. Black Gum 21. Witch Hazel 22. Honeylocust 23. Bitternut Hickory 24. Mockernut Hickory

25. Pignut Hickory 26. Shagbark Hickory 27. Shellbark Hickory 28. American Linden 29. Black Locust 30. Norway Maple 31. Red Maple 32. Silver Maple 33. Striped Maple 34. Sugar Maple 35. Red Mulberry 36. Black Oak 37. Chestnut Oak 38. Northern Red Oak 39. Pin Oak 40. Scarlet Oak 41. White Oak 42. Redbud 43. Sassafras 44. Sycamore 45. Tree-of-Heaven 46. Tuliptree 47. Black Walnut 48. Black Willow

 

 

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LEAF COLLECTION GRADE

Name: ________________________________ Period: ______________ Date Turned In: _________________________

Common Name /60 Scientific Name /20

Leaf Type /20 Leaf Arrangement /20

Appearance /20 Grade Sheet /10

Total /150

You must complete the index chart on the back of this sheet. A check will be placed in the appropriate location if points were missed for that leaf.

This form MUST be placed as the first page in your collection.

 

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Index of Trees in the Collection

 

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SCIENTIFIC  NAMES  BACKGROUND  INFORMATION:    Scientific  names  are  all  written  in  Latin.    This  method  of  naming  organisms  is  called  binomial  nomenclature.    It  was  developed  by  an  eighteenth  century  Swedish  scientist  Carolus  Linnaeus.      We  will  learn  more  about  him  later.    These  names  provide  a  common  language  for  scientists.    This  helps  to  reduce  two  problems.    First,  it  allows  scientists  who  speak  different  languages  to  communicate.    Second  it  reduces  confusion  that  arises  when  an  organism  has  more  than  one  common  name.    Tips  for  Writing  Scientific  Names  1.    Each  scientific  name  has  two  parts.    They  are  the  genus  and  species.    Always  write  both  of  these.    2.    The  first  name  is  the  genus.    Only  the  first  letter  of  the  genus  should  be  capitalized.    3.    The  second  name  is  the  species.    All  letters  in  the  species  name  should  remain  in  small  case.    4.    Both  the  genus  and  species  names  should  be  underlined  if  they  are  written  by  hand  or  typed  in  italics.    

             

 

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PRACTICE  PROBLEMS    Using  a  Common  Trees  of  Pennsylvania  book,  write  the  scientific  name  for  each  of  the  following  common  names.    1.    Black  Walnut     _____________________________________________________________________    2.    Common  Honeylocust     ___________________________________________________________    3.      American  Linden    (Basswood) __________________________________________________    4.  Witch  Hazel     _______________________________________________________________________    5.  Black  Oak    __________________________________________________________________________    6.    Red  Maple     ________________________________________________________________________    7.    Paper  Birch     _______________________________________________________________________    8.  Black  Cherry     ______________________________________________________________________    9.    Sycamore     _________________________________________________________________________    10.    Shagbark  Hickory    _______________________________________________________________    11.    American  Chestnut     _____________________________________________________________    12.    Quaking  Aspen    __________________________________________________________________    13.    Red  Pine     _________________________________________________________________________    14.    Eastern  White  Pine     _____________________________________________________________  

   

 

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Classification  Reading  and  Notes  (Chapter  1,  section  2)    Define  the  term  classification.        How  are  things  organized  in  a  classification  system?        How  does  using  a  classification  system  help  people?          What  is  taxonomy?      What  is  binomial  nomenclature?      What  3  rules  must  be  followed  for  writing  scientific  names?      Correctly  write  an  example  of  a  scientific  name.    How  is  the  example  you  wrote  different  from  the  example  in  the  textbook?      What  are  the  7  levels  of  classification  commonly  used  for  living  things?  

1.    ____________________________________________________  

2.    ____________________________________________________  

3.    ____________________________________________________  

4.    ____________________________________________________  

5.    ____________________________________________________  

6.    ____________________________________________________  

7.    ____________________________________________________  

 

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Why  do  you  think  the  genus  and  species  names  are  used  for  naming  an  organism  in  binomial  nomenclature  rather  than  using  the  phylum  and  class?          What  scientific  developments  have  had  an  influence  on  the  way  we  classify  organisms?          According  to  the  book,  what  is  a  taxonomic  key?            Other  classification  notes:    

 

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Wacky People Dichotomous Key Practice The purpose of using the key is to name the creature shown. Stick with one character until the name is reached, then go to the next. A dichotomous key gives instructions in pairs of statements. For each character, start with the first pair of statements. Decide which description describes your chosen character best and follow the line to the right. There will either be a number or a name. If it is a number, go to the pair of steps with that number, for example, if the number is 3, go to steps 3a and 3b. If the line ends in a name you have identified your character, so write it down by the creature. Continue until each creature has a name. There is only one creature per name, and no creature has two names.

Wacky People Key 1a Two feet 2 1b Some other number of feet 3 2a Does not look at all human 4 2b Looks a lot like a human 5 3a One leg 6 3b Three or four legs 7 4a Fly-like Mosk Cara 4b Not fly-like 8 5a Seems to be a girl Rita Nita 5b Not a girl 9 6a Leg is curled , two feet Ru-ela.Brella 6b Leg is straight, one foot Giggles

 

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7a Three legs 10 7b Four legs 11 8a Has webbed feet Hex Oculate 8b Clawed feet 12 9a Curly hair, no toes Lugio Wirum 9b Wiggly looking mouth, three toes on feet C. Nile

10a Very long nose, open mouth Elle E. Funk 10b Some other appearance 13 11a Has duck bill, two pinchers Tri D. Duckt 11b No arms or pinchers 14 12a Has ears, tail, and beak Grif Leon 12b Four eyes on stalks Eggur Ondy 13a One eye, webbed feet Cue Kide 13b Four stalked eyes, four pinchers Quadrumenox 14a Three toed feet, nose like a flower Tunia petalos

14b Spider-like, has spots Patterned mulywumpus

 

 

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Norits  Classification  Worksheet    Organism   Key  Pathway   Organism  Name  

A      

B      

C      

D      

E      

F      

G      

H      

I      

J      

 What  characteristics  do  all  Norits  seem  to  have  in  common?  

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What  characteristic  do  biologists  seem  to  feel  is  most  important  when  classifying  Norits?    Why  do  you  think  this?  _________________________________________________________________________________________  

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Why  might  the  key  used  to  classify  Norits  ever  change?  

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How  might  observing  Norits  change  the  way  they  might  be  classified?  

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Draw  a  picture  of  what  a  Rossi  multiops  might  look  like.  

 

 

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Name__________________________

Period _______ Date_____________

THE KINGDOM OF PASTA You and your lab partners are scientists who have been hired by the Kingdom of Pasta. You have been charged with developing a classification system for all the different kinds of organisms in the kingdom. Your system must include scientific names for each of the groups and your final product must include a classification key so the residents of the Kingdom of Pasta will be able to classify the organisms after you have left. Your bag contains one member of each kind of organism. Develop a dichotomous classification key which can be used to classify the organisms of the Kingdom of Pasta. Be sure to test your key to make sure that it works for all organisms. Hand in one neat and error free copy of your key for evaluation (one key per team). Suggested procedure: 1. Sort your individuals into related groups. These groups may be members of the same genus. 2. Give the individuals tentative scientific names. Try to make the names descriptive and Latin sounding. 3. Construct a key so that someone else can identify your individuals. 4. Test your key by having another team try it while you try their key.

 

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Use this page to draft your dichotomous key

 

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Name  of  Key  Designers:    _____________________________________________    ________________________________________     _________________________________________    Name  of  Key  Evaluator:  ____________________________________________    

  Scientific  Name     Sketch  of  the  Species    1    ____________________________________________            2    ____________________________________________            3    ____________________________________________            4  ____________________________________________            5.    ____________________________________________          6    ____________________________________________        

 

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Do  your  answers  match  the  key?    If  they  do  not  explain  why  they  do  not  match.  _________________________________________________________________________________________  

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Is  the  scientific  name  written  in  the  correct  form?    If  not,  explain  what  should  be  done  to  correct  the  error.      _________________________________________________________________________________________  

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Do  members  of  the  same  genus  have  common  traits?    Explain  your  answer.  

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What  are  the  common  traits  for  each  genus?     _____________________________________  

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What  did  this  group  feel  was  the  most  important  characteristic  when  classifying  pasta?  _________________________________________________________________________________________    

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Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall? (http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html) We all enjoy the beautiful show of colors as leaves change each autumn. Did you ever wonder how and why this happens? To answer that question, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do. Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.

 

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The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall. 1. What purpose do leaves serve for a tree? ___________________

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2. What gas do leaves take from the air? _____________________

3. Plants turn break apart water and carbon dioxide and reassemble

the atoms into molecules of _______ which is a type of ______________ .

4. Why do plants use glucose? ______________________________

5. Why are plants green in color? ___________________________

_____________________________________________________

6. What triggers trees to start getting ready for winter? _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

7. Photosynthesis doesn’t happen in the winter because there isn’t

enough ______________ or ________________.

 

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8. Why do leaves of some trees turn yellow or orange in the fall?

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9. Why do the leaves of some trees, like maples, turn red in the fall?

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10. Why do the leaves of oak trees turn brown in the fall?

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If the tree has go to

1a. Leaves needle or scale-like 2

1b. Leaves broad and flat 12

2a. Leaves scale-like 3

2b. Leaves needles 4

3a. Scales pointed, twigs not flat redcedar

3b. Scales blunt, twigs flat white cedar

4a. Needles (leaves) single on twigs 5

4b. Needles (leaves) in bundles, tufts, or rosettes 7

5a. Needles flat, blunt 6

5b. Needles four-sided and sharp-pointed spruce

6a. Needles with small stalks(attaches needle to twig) hemlock

6b. Needles without stalks fir

7a. Needles in bundles with sheaths at base 8

7b. Needles in tufts or rosettes larch

8a. Needles in bundles of 5 white pine

8b. Needles not in bundles of 5 9

9a. Needles in bundles of 3 pitch pine

9b. Needles in bundles of 2 10

10a. Needles about 4 inches long 11

10b. Needles 1.5 to 3 inches long Virginia pine

11a. Needles sharp-pointed and flexible Austrian pine

11b. Needles stiff, snap apart when bent red pine

12a. Leaves opposite or whorled on stem 13

12b. Leaves alternate on stem 18

13a. Leaves opposite on stem 14

13b. Leaves whorled on stem catalpa

14a. Leaves simple 15

14b. Leaves compound (leaf made up of leaflets) 16

15a. Margins entire dogwood

15b. Margins lobed maples

16a. Pinnately-compound 17

16b. Palmately-compound horse chestnut

17a. Leaf divided into 3 to 5 leaflets box-elder

17b. Leaf divided into 7 leaflets ash

18a. Leaves simple 19

18b. Leaves compound (leaf made up of leaflets) 39

A

B

C

D

E

F

Some trees to beidentified by their leaves

A

 

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If the tree has go to

19a. Margins entire 20

19b. Margins deeply cut, lobed, or toothed 22

20a. Leaf base heart-shaped redbud

20b. Leaf base tapering 21

21a. Leaves 2 to 5 inches long, leathery black gum

21b. Leaves 5 to 10 inches long, thin cucumber

22a. Margins deeply cut or lobed 23

22b. Margins coarsely or finely toothed 28

23a. Leaves with five deeply cut lobes, star-shaped leaf sweet gum

23b. Leaves not star-shaped 24

24a. Leaves square or notched at top tulip poplar

24b. Leaves not square or notched 25

25a. Leaves from same tree may be entire,or with one or two lobes; aromatic sassafras

25b. Leaves with more than two lobes 26

26a. Leaf veins pinnate 27

26b. Leaf veins fan-like mulberry

27a. Lobes rounded white oak group

27b. Lobes sharp-pointed with a hair-likebristle on end of each lobe red oak group

28a. Teeth coarse, one at end of each lateral vein 29

28b. Teeth fine, several for each main lateral vein 30

29a. Leaves slender, 3 times as long as broad chestnut

29b. Leaves not more than 2 times as long as wide beech

30a. Leaves very narrow, 4 or 5 times as long as wide willow

30b. Leaves broad 31

31a. Leaves not over 1.5 times as long as broad 32

31b. Leaves about twice as long as broad 33

32a. Unequal heart-shaped leaf base, round stem basswood

32b. Leaf base not heart-shaped, sides equalat base, stem tends to be flattened aspen

33a. Leaves smooth, single serrate, fine teeth 34

33b. Leaves rough or hairy 35

34a. Leaf stalk with one or two glands(small bumps on stem); has a sour odorwhen twig is broken cherry

34b. Leaf stalk without glands(serviceberry) juneberry

G

H

I

J

K

L

Some trees to beidentified by their leaves

A

A

A

O

O

O

 

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If the tree has go to

35a. Rough leaves 36

35b. Soft, hairy leaves 37

36a. Leaf margins double-serratefrom base, pinnately veined elm

36b. Leaf margins single-serrate fromabove base, tips long-pointed, fan-veined hackberry

37a. Leaf margins double-serrate, base blunt toslightly heart-shaped, some aromatic birch

37b. Leaf margins double-serrate, base tapered or rounded 38

38a. Leaves nearly as broad as long alder

38b. Leaves narrow and pointed hop hornbeam (ironwood)

39a. Sap milky (in stems) sumac

39b. Sap not milky 40

40a. Terminal leaflet usually larger than other leaflets hickories

40b. Terminal leaflet as large or smallerthan other leaflets, or it may be lacking 41

41a. Leaflet round-tipped black locust

41b. Leaflet pointed 42

42a. Leaves smooth 43

42b. Leaves hairy 44

43a. Leaves not over 7 inches long mountain ash

43b. Leaves over 12 inches long ailanthus

44a. Terminal leaflet as large as other leaflets butternut

44b. Terminal leaflet small or lacking black walnut

M

N

O

P

Q

R

Some trees to beidentified by their leaves

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

O

Alternate

Opposite

A. white pineB. pitch pineC. Virginia pineD. red pineE. hemlockF. catalpaG. dogwoodH. mapleI. horse chestnutJ. black gumK. tulip poplarL. sassafras

M. red oakN. white oakO. beechP. elmQ. willowR. aspenS. cherryT. birchU. hickoryV. black locustW. black walnut

Answers