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 _____________
Types of Leaf Arrangement
Simple
Compound
1 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. 2 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.
3 List of Trees Allowed for the Leaf Collection
1. Black Ash
25. Pignut Hickory
2. White Ash
26. Shagbark Hickory
3. Bigtooth Aspen
27. Shellbark Hickory
4. Quaking Aspen
28. American Linden
5. American Beech
29. Black Locust
6. Paper Birch
30. Norway Maple
7. Sweet Birch
31. Red Maple
8. Yellow Birch
32. Silver Maple
9. Buckeyes
33. Striped Maple
10. Butternut
34. Sugar Maple
11. Catalpa
35. Red Mulberry
12. Black Cherry
36. Black Oak
13. Choke Cherry
37. Chestnut Oak
14. Fire Cherry
38. Northern Red Oak
15. American Chestnut
39. Pin Oak
16. Cucumber Magnolia
40. Scarlet Oak
17. Flowering Dogwood
41. White Oak
18. American Elm
42. Redbud
19. Slippery Elm
43. Sassafras
20. Black Gum
44. Sycamore
21. Witch Hazel
45. Tree-of-Heaven
22. Honeylocust
46. Tuliptree
23. Bitternut Hickory
47. Black Walnut
24. Mockernut Hickory
48. Black Willow
All the trees used in the collection MUST be on this list
4 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.
5 Index of Trees in the Collection
6 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. 7 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 _____________________________________________________________ 8 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. ____________________________________________________ 9 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: 10 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
1b Some other number of feet
2
3
2a Does not look at all human
2b Looks a lot like a human
4
5
3a One leg
3b Three or four legs
6
7
4a Fly-like
4b Not fly-like
Mosk Cara
8
5a Seems to be a girl
5b Not a girl
Rita Nita
9
6a Leg is curled , two feet
6b Leg is straight, one foot
Ru-ela.Brella
Giggles
11 7a Three legs
7b Four legs
10
11
8a Has webbed feet
8b Clawed feet
Hex Oculate
12
9a Curly hair, no toes
9b Wiggly looking mouth, three toes on
feet
Lugio Wirum
10a Very long nose, open mouth
10b Some other appearance
Elle E. Funk
13
11a Has duck bill, two pinchers
11b No arms or pinchers
Tri D. Duckt
14
12a Has ears, tail, and beak
12b Four eyes on stalks
Grif Leon
Eggur Ondy
13a One eye, webbed feet
13b Four stalked eyes, four pinchers
Cue Kide
Quadrumenox
14a Three toed feet, nose like a flower
Tunia petalos
Patterned
mulywumpus
14b Spider-like, has spots
C. Nile
12 13 14 15 16 Norits Classification Worksheet Organism A Key Pathway Organism Name B C D E F G H I J What characteristics do all Norits seem to have in common? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ What characteristic do biologists seem to feel is most important when classifying Norits? Why do you think this? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Why might the key used to classify Norits ever change? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ How might observing Norits change the way they might be classified? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Draw a picture of what a Rossi multiops might look like. 18 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.
19 Use this page to draft your dichotomous key
20 Name of Key Designers: _____________________________________________ ________________________________________ _________________________________________ Name of Key Evaluator: ____________________________________________ Scientific Name Sketch of the Species 1 ____________________________________________ 2 ____________________________________________ 3 ____________________________________________ 4 ____________________________________________ 5. ____________________________________________ 6 ____________________________________________ 21 Do your answers match the key? If they do not explain why they do not match. _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Is the scientific name written in the correct form? If not, explain what should be done to correct the error. _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Do members of the same genus have common traits? Explain your answer. _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ What are the common traits for each genus? _____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ What did this group feel was the most important characteristic when classifying pasta? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ 22 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.
23 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? ___________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
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 ________________.
24 8. Why do leaves of some trees turn yellow or orange in the fall?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
9. Why do the leaves of some trees, like maples, turn red in the fall?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
10. Why do the leaves of oak trees turn brown in the fall?
_________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Some trees to be
identified by their leaves
If the tree has
1a. Leaves needle or scale-like
1b. Leaves broad and flat
2a. Leaves scale-like
2b. Leaves needles
A
white cedar
7
6
5b. Needles four-sided and sharp-pointed
spruce
6a. Needles with small stalks
(attaches needle to twig)
hemlock
6b. Needles without stalks
fir
8a. Needles in bundles of 5
8b. Needles not in bundles of 5
8
larch
white pine
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
15b. Margins lobed
F
5
5a. Needles flat, blunt
7b. Needles in tufts or rosettes
16a. Pinnately-compound
E
4
3b. Scales blunt, twigs flat
7a. Needles in bundles with sheaths at base
D
12
3
redcedar
4b. Needles (leaves) in bundles, tufts, or rosettes
C
2
3a. Scales pointed, twigs not flat
4a. Needles (leaves) single on twigs
B
go to
16b. Palmately-compound
dogwood
maples
17
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
26 If the tree has
Some trees to be
identified by their leaves
19a. Margins entire
19b. Margins deeply cut, lobed, or toothed
H
O
20b. Leaf base tapering
21
J
K
L
O
A
A
black gum
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
25b. Leaves with more than two lobes
I
22
redbud
21b. Leaves 5 to 10 inches long, thin
O
20
20a. Leaf base heart-shaped
21a. Leaves 2 to 5 inches long, leathery
G
go to
sassafras
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-like
bristle 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 equal
at 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 odor
when twig is broken
cherry
34b. Leaf stalk without glands
(serviceberry)
juneberry
A
27 If the tree has
Some trees to be
identified by their leaves
M
A
go to
35a. Rough leaves
36
35b. Soft, hairy leaves
37
36a. Leaf margins double-serrate
from base, pinnately veined
elm
36b. Leaf margins single-serrate from
above base, tips long-pointed, fan-veined
hackberry
37a. Leaf margins double-serrate, base blunt to
slightly heart-shaped, some aromatic
birch
37b. Leaf margins double-serrate, base tapered or rounded 38
N
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
A
40a. Terminal leaflet usually larger than other leaflets hickories
40b. Terminal leaflet as large or smaller
than other leaflets, or it may be lacking
O
A
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
P
A
Q
A
R
A
41
ailanthus
44a. Terminal leaflet as large as other leaflets
butternut
44b. Terminal leaflet small or lacking
black walnut
Answers
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
white pine
pitch pine
Virginia pine
red pine
hemlock
catalpa
dogwood
maple
horse chestnut
black gum
tulip poplar
sassafras
A
Alternate
O
Opposite
M.
N.
O.
P.
Q.
R.
S.
T.
U.
V.
W.
red oak
white oak
beech
elm
willow
aspen
cherry
birch
hickory
black locust
black walnut
28