Learning outcomes
- Students will gain knowledge of the structure of a forest.
- Students will identify the component parts that form the structure of a forest and learn the related terminology for each part of the structure.
Curriculum links
Science: Nature of science
Level 1 and 2
Investigating in science: Extend their experiences and personal explanations of the natural world through exploration, play, asking questions and discussing simple models.
Communicating in science: Build their language and develop their understandings of many ways the natural world can be represented.
Science: Living world
Level 1 and 2
Ecology: Recognise that living things are suited to their particular habitat.
Learning levels
- Early childhood education
- Primary
Topics
- Forests and green spaces
Activity instructions
Download the Forest structure activity (PDF, 128K)
Look at the forest you are in now. Does it look a little bit like a house? There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Draw this ‘house’ that you are in and try to use the terms in the glossary below.
- Canopy: the top layer of a forest
- Epiphytes and creepers: these grow on the trees
- Leaf litter: dead leaves, fallen branches
- Forest floor: the ground part of the forest
- Trunks of trees: These are the solid wood, tube-like parts of the trees
- Mid-layer: the plants growing under the canopy layer
- Roots: These are what trees and plants use to get water and nutrients from the soil up into their shoots and leaves
- Can you see any windows?
- What else can you see?