Curriculum Area 1000: Natural Resources
Activity 1000A: Life on a Dead Log
Designed by Jerry Piche, from Michael Link's Tree Projects
(Link, Michael. (1978). Outdoor Education: A Manual for Teaching in Nature's
Classroom. Prentice-Hall, Inc: Englewood Cliffs, NJ.)
Objectives:
1. To show students that decomposing matter is habitat for many plants and
animals.
2. To show students the interdependence of things in nature.
Materials needed:
- Clipboards
- Work gloves (cotton work well)
- Dissecting sticks (small stick used to move the log and/or lift up parts of it)
Instructions:
- Have students pick a log that is decomposing and can easily be reached.
- Answer the questions on handout 4 by examining the log using the dissecting
sticks and while wearing the gloves.
- After completing the handout, have the students return the log to its original
state as much as possible.
Question for Study:
- What types of trees decompose the fastest?
- What are the factors that effect decomposition?
Activity Handout 4: Life on a Dead Log
Name___________
Date____________
1. This log was originally what type of tree?
_______________________________________________________________
2. List the different types of plants that are now living off your log.
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_____________________________________________________________________
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3. List the different types of animals that are now living in or on your log.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
4. Can you tell how old your log is? Estimate the age of your log and explain why you
think so.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
5. What are the plants and animals that live on the log doing to the log? Why is this
important in nature?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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