Pussy Willows

Ideas to help you and your students learn more about Pussy Willows, catkins, and trees in general.

Keys, Twigs, and Leaves

In "20 Questions for the Pussy Willow", students learn how dichotomous keys work and some tree terminology, then put those ideas to work as they use an on-line interactive pictoral key to identify the willow and potentially other plants.

Exploring Pussy Willow Buds and Flowers

Separate, but Equally Important

Lesson Plans and Activities On the Web

Can your students key out a willow with this on-line dichotomous tree key for kids? This would be a good computer lab exercise after the Pussy Willow leaves have come out.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has a wonderful website. In addition to learning games for kids to do at home or school, there are lesson plans, community ideas, and a field guide to common trees. Kids will find fun learning games at Carly's Kids Corner.
University des Arbres -This Canadian site (in english!) is rich with the biology and ecology of trees. It is interesting for both kids and adults. Tree life cycles and biology, biodiversity and habitats . . .
Minnesota Teacher's Guide to Arbor Month curriculum has activities for grades K-8
The Minnesota DNR has a variety of links to educational activities.

Activities In Published Curricula

The Minnesota DNR has created a K-9 curriculum about trees called "Where are All the Trees?" It includes lots of kid and teacher friendly lessons, student pages to run off, etc. A 44-page "Minnesota Primer" of tree biology, forest history, and forest management can be used by teachers for background or midd le school students as reading text. Lesson plan units include "What is a Tree?", "It Takes All Kinds - Exploring Different Kinds of Trees, "What is a Forest," "Standing Proud - Meeting Our Minnesota Trees," and "People and the Web - Living Together and How it Works." Call (651) 296-3406 for more information.

There are several relevant activities in the Project Learning Tree Environmental Education Activity Guide.

"Bursting Buds" (activity number 65) has students observe twigs and buds over time.
"Name That Tree" (activity number 68) teaches tree identification by leaves, twigs, flowers, fruits, and seeds.
"The Closer You Look" (activity number 61) asks students to first draw a twig from memory, then draw it in detail from a real twig, learning twig parts and patterns of growth as they draw.

Plant Classes at Wolf Ridge
Consider scheduling your students for the Wolf Ridge Plant Study Class. Students will explore the world of plants in three main categories: identification, ecological roles, and potentials as resources for humans. Although memorization of names is not required, once names are learned, students will be able to move on to the next level of learning. Plants demonstrate interrelationships in nature, such as the symbiosis between plants and animals and the strong affect of habitats on species. Finally, the students will learn about plants as resources first hand by creating medicines, foods, drinks, perfumes, or dyes.

You can also take the Trees and Keys Class at Wolf Ridge. Trees and Keys is an ecology class. Students will learn how to construct and use a simple dichotomus identification key. Given a map and a simplified tree and shrub key, students will travel between trees and attempt to identify them correctly. Temperate and tropical forests will be compared and students will learn about species diversity. Students will receive a tropical forest tree seed to plant to remind them of the value of maintaining biodiversity.