Category Archives: Winds of Change

Do trees travel?

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This week 4C asked the question “Do trees travel?“

To try and answer this question we looked at sycamore trees which were apparently introduced into this country by the Romans and now grow all the way across the UK. So perhaps our question was already answered?

The seeds on a sycamore tree are called samaras and we examined them carefully, taking photos and drawing them so that we could identify all their features. Here are some of our drawings and photos:

  • Iqra
  • Ryaan
  • Yana
  • Yara
  • Zaim
  • Celia
  • Azza

We also made a paper “helicopter” so that we could compare how well our samaras flew compared with our paper ones:

Alex
Celia
Grace

We then took our Samaras and helicopters outside and tried to film them as they fell, whirling through the air.

Our conclusion?

Trees do travel, but very slowly. A sycamore tree can produce huge numbers of seeds which can travel on the wind a reasonable distance from the parent tree but it then takes many years for that see to grow into a tree which can produce more seeds to travel the next section of their journey. In this way, trees have moved north and south with the Ice Ages have changed the climate over thousands of years. Climate change caused by humans may be too rapid for a lot of trees so we may need to give them a helping hand …. just like the Romans did with the sycamores!

Exploring Trees

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For the past few weeks 4C have been exploring trees on a Wednesday afternoon. We have had a look at some of the different trees around the school grounds, collected some leaves and tried to identify some of them using the Woodland Trust app. At this time of year we can identify trees using their leaves or their fruit or seeds.

  • Can you identify this tree?
  • This one should be easy!
  • Photographing trees
  • Different types of leaves
  • Using the Woodland Trust app

Trees are incredibly important in our environment and we need to protect the ones we have and grow as many more as we can. If you want to know more about working with trees and what is happening in Leeds about tree planting then there is an event on Friday 10 November.

Alwoodley2030 also have lots of events being planned, some of which involve caring for or planting trees.

Incredible Bees

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Today, 4C researched bees. They are amazing!

We started with an AR (Augmented Reality) bee flying in our classroom

AR Red Tailed Bumble Bee

And here is a real bee feasting on a dead nettle:

The class then spent some time researching bees and they discovered some amazing things like:

  • bees have five eyes – two are compound eyes and three are small, simple eyes pointing upwards. Their eyes work completely differently to ours and are more sensitive to certain colours
  • bees use their antennae to smell things and they leave a smell behind on flowers they have visited using their feet
  • their wings beat at about 200 times per second
  • bees that live together in colonies are called social bees. Some bees live alone and are called solitary bees

Here is some of their reports:

  • Amy
  • Erin
  • Kaira
  • Kareem
  • Logan
  • Maryam
  • Valerio

Bad dreams?

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Some Native Americans / First Nation peoples from the Great Lakes area of North America have made willow hoops with a web woven into them to act as a “dream catcher”, a protective charm that was hung over sleeping children.

Today, we tested our resilience, our ability not to give up and our knotting skills as we made our own versions of dream catchers. Our webs should catch bad dreams and a hole in the middle should let only good dreams through!