Respect
High School - January 2010
Character Education
Newsletters
Broward County Air
Quality Program
The Broward County Pollution Prevention, Remediation & Air Quality Division continues to incorporate Character
Education into its educational efforts. Each month the newsletter will relate core values to science and the
environment in an effort to educate students about good character and the importance of protecting our natural
resources. The curriculum resources and materials provided include the applicable FCAT Science Test Item
Specifications.
Go Green
Respect is defined as showing consideration, understanding, and regard
for people, places, and things. January’s theme is respect, and Florida
Arbor Day falls on January 15th. The mission of the Arbor Day
Foundation is to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. In
our 2010 “Green Footprints Calendar,” a student from Pembroke Pines
Charter Elementary West nicely captured the Arbor Day Foundation
mission with her drawing titled “Hug a Tree.” Be sure to educate students
to respect animals, plants, the environment, and ourselves by showing
consideration, understanding, and high regard to all that share the planet
with us.
Naturescape Broward
Do You Live In a Tree City?
Sunshine State Standards: SC.D.2.4, SC.G.2.4, LA.9-12.2.2, LA.9-12.4.2
The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest
Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention,
and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more
than 120 million Americans call home.
The many benefits of being a Tree City include creating a framework for action, education, a positive public
image, and citizen pride.
Activity:
As a homework assignment, have students ask three friends and/or relatives where in the United States they
were born, specifically the city and state. Have them include on the list the city they were born in and which city
they currently live in. Once complete, have each student visit the Tree City USA® program website on
www.arborday.org with their list of cities and states. Have the students research their friends, relatives and
personal information to determine if any of their listed cities belong to the Tree City USA® program. If any of the
cities are found on the list, have the students also include the number of years belonging to the program and the
population of the city.
While on the web site, ask students to visit http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/reasons.cfm and
select any two of the fifteen reasons to become a “Tree City.” Have the students write a paragraph for each
benefit with explanations on benefit importance. The list is as follows:
15 Reasons to Become Tree City
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Encourages better care of community forests.
Touches the lives of people within the community who benefit daily from cleaner air, shadier streets, and
aesthetic beauty that healthy, well-managed urban forests provide.
Recognizes and rewards communities for annual advancements in urban forestry practices.
Increases public awareness of the many social, economical and environmental benefits urban forestry
practices.
Provides education to improve current urban forestry practices.
Builds cooperation between public and private sectors to effectively manage urban forests.
Encourages, supports, and strengthens effective urban forestry programs in diverse communities
nationwide.
Can make a strong contribution to a community’s pride.
Serves as a blueprint for planting and maintaining a community’s trees.
Puts people in touch with other communities and resources that can help them improve their program.
Brings solid benefits to a community such as helping to gain financial support for tree projects and
contributing to safer and healthier urban forests.
Helps present the kind of image that most citizens want to have for the place they live or conduct business.
Tells visitors, through signage, that here is a community that cares about its environment.
Sometimes gives preference over other communities when allocations of grant money are made for trees or
forestry programs.
Provides a way to reach large numbers of people with information about tree care.
The Trees of Florida
Sunshine State Standards: SC.D.2.4, SC.G.2.4, LA.9-12.2.2, LA.9-12.4.2, LA.9-12.1.5, LA.9-12.5.2
“Florida has an amazing variety of tree species: from scrub oak on the high central ridges to mangroves
stretching along the southern coasts, from mighty live oaks to the delicate hawthorns, from bald cypress with
their knees poking up from the swamps to the coppery-colored gumbo limbo found in tropical hammocks, from
the sabal palm found all over the state to the rare and endangered Florida yew. Florida, unique among the
states, has both tropical and temperate forests. Most Florida visitors are amazed by the lush tropical trees
planted in cities, suburbs, and public gardens.” Introduction from The Trees of Florida by Gil Nelson.
While all living plant matter absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly
more than smaller plants due to their large size and root structures. In essence, trees have much more “woody
biomass” to store CO2 than smaller plants, and as a result are considered nature’s most efficient “carbon sinks.”
Activity: Assign each student one of the following trees found in South Florida.
Sweet Acacia
Black Olive
Bald Cypress
Crape Myrtle
Frangipani
Gumbo Limbo
Lignum Vitae
Red Mangrove
Pigeon Plum
Seagrape
Tamarind
Australian Pine
Blolly
Carrotwood
Fiddlewood
Geiger Tree
Dahoon Holly
Mahogany
Royal Poinciana
Schefflera
Silver Buttonwood
Ylang-Ylang
Climate Change
Broward County Kids
Corner
Explain to each student that they need to research six key elements about the assigned tree:
1. The origin of the assigned tree, including if the tree is considered to be an invasive species or if the tree
is a Florida Native species. Also have the students include the scientific name for the tree species.
2. The plant hardiness zones the tree can grow in (plant hardiness zones are a general guide to help you
know which plants will grow where due to the temperature extremes they can endure). In South Florida,
there are seven delineations between temperature zones ranging from 9a (20 to 25° F) to 11 (40° F and
up).
3. Watering needs of the tree (low, medium or high)
4. Light range the tree requires (full sun, partial sun or shade)
5. Mature tree size and growth rate
6. Any other interesting facts about the tree. For instance, where the tree is normally found (such as in a
swamp, household yards, statewide versus South Florida), is the tree a flowering tree, a tree used for
any purpose (such as medicine), an endangered tree species, food source for wildlife, distinguishing
features on the leaves or bark, or any other interesting information about the assigned tree.
Once all research is completed, have each student write a brief report on the tree using all six elements. Ask the
students to give an oral presentation to help educate their classmates about their assigned tree. If possible, have
each student sketch a line drawing of the tree’s leaves and/or seeds on a separate piece of paper to pass around
the classroom. Once all students have presented on their assigned tree, ask the class which trees they already
knew about and which trees they heard of for the first time in the presentations. Lastly, ask the students if they
understand the correlation between trees and the fight against climate change. Most scientists agree that the
least expensive and perhaps easiest way for individuals to help offset the CO 2 that they generate in their
everyday lives is to plant a tree.
Source: http://floridagardener.com/misc/zones.htm
Carbon Sequestration is the absorption and storage of CO2. The most effective trees for carbon sequestration
are those that grow large with big trunk diameters and dense wood, have a long life and grow slowly. Invasive
trees and those which require a lot of maintenance are not good choices. Of the following, which tree is the best
for capturing carbon over a long life-time?
A. Brazilian Pepper (invasive exotic species)
B. Bald Cypress (native large tree with a long life)
C. Oleander (exotic small tree)
D. Black Ironwood (native small sized tree)
Answer: B
The Environmental Education Council of Broward
County, with support from the Broward County
School District, sponsors the annual Environmental
Stewardship of the year awards. This ceremony is
for elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers as well as administrators and volunteers. The
nominees, their families and principals will be invited to attend a reception at that time; winners will be announced
during a special program following the reception.
Award Ceremony
May 7, 2010 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Alyce Culpepper Center, South Plantation High
To nominate a teacher, student, administrator or volunteer from your school for this most prestigious award,
please see instructions below. Applications are due to the EEC by January 29, 2010. For more information
please visit www.browardeec.org
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