FOSS at Home
FOSS at Home
®
Trees
LETTER TO PARENTS
The FOSS® (Full Option Science System™) program offers a number
of ways to get parents involved in their child’s science education.
Included here are short descriptions of several ways to bridge from
classroom to home.
Dear Parents,
Our kindergarten class is beginning a science unit called Trees. We will be observing and comparing the trees
in our schoolyard. We will also be caring for a live tree in the classroom and planting it in a few weeks. Your
child may come home with lots of information and questions about trees and their parts.
You can join in the tree study by taking your child for walks in your neighborhood to observe trees and to
compare how they are alike and how they are different. For example, see if you can find two trees of the
same kind. How were you able to tell they were the same kind? Which trees lose their leaves in the fall and
which keep them all year? Look closely at the leaves. What shape are they? Do the trees have buds, flowers,
fruit, or seeds? By making this close examination of trees, you might notice things about trees that you never
thought about before.
Your child’s homework assignment is to gather some tree leaves to press at school. Please help your child
gather six or eight leaves. Put them in a small plastic bag to keep them fresh on the way to school. Thank
you.
Sincerely,
Letter to Parents. The letter to parents can be sent home at the start
of a new science module. The letter describes what children will
be learning and ways that parents can enrich the science-learning
experience.
Dear Parents,
Our kindergarten class is beginning a science unit called Trees. We will be observing and comparing the trees
in our schoolyard. We will also be caring for a live tree in the classroom and planting it in a few weeks. Your
child may come home with lots of information and questions about trees and their parts.
You can join in the tree study by taking your child for walks in your neighborhood to observe trees and to
compare how they are alike and how they are different. For example, see if you can find two trees of the
same kind. How were you able to tell they were the same kind? Which trees lose their leaves in the fall and
which keep them all year? Look closely at the leaves. What shape are they? Do the trees have buds, flowers,
fruit, or seeds? By making this close examination of trees, you might notice things about trees that you never
thought about before.
FOSS Science Stories. FOSS Science Stories is a series of original books
developed to accompany and enrich the FOSS modules. The books
for grades K–2 are written in an expository format that presents
factual information in a clear and concise manner. The books are
designed around instructional photographs that directly relate to the
No. 1—Teacher Sheet
text, calling attention to particular details, suggesting comparisons,
and directing students to think critically about the images.
Your child’s homework assignment is to gather some tree leaves to press at school. Please help your child
gather six or eight leaves. Put them in a small plastic bag to keep them fresh on the way to school. Thank
you.
Sincerely,
FOSS Trees Module
© The Regents of the University of California
Can be duplicated for classroom or workshop use.
Investigation 1: Fall Trees
No. 1—Teacher Sheet
Here are some suggestions for using FOSS Science Stories at home.
• Expository Readings. The expository readings provide
excellent opportunities for students and parents to discuss
the science content students are learning in the module.
Families can reread the articles together. Specific articles
include My Apple Tree, Orange Trees, and Maple Trees.
• Extending the Story. See the Science Stories folio in the
Teacher Guide for suggestions on how to extend the stories
at home. For example, after students read Where Do Trees
Grow?, you might assign students one of the following
landforms: mountains, valleys, rivers, oceans, or deserts.
They can then draw a picture of one or more trees growing
in the assigned environments. Students and their families
can review the characteristics of different landforms
and allow students to look at the photos in the story for
reference. Students can then write on their picture, “Trees
grow in” or “near” and the name of the landform.
Trees
1
Trees
TREE-PART BOOKLET
Student Sheets and Products. Throughout the module, students
conduct various investigations relating to the topic. They complete
student sheets and centers where they are asked to draw, color, and/
or cut out things, along with creating various products to explore;
they also write or dictate descriptions and observations to accompany
drawings. Students should bring the sheets, and/or their science
notebooks, and the products they’ve assembled home for families to
review and discuss. For example, student sheet number 10, Tree-Part
Booklet, is a good opportunity for students to explain and review with
parents that a tree has identifiable structures, such as leaves, branches,
roots, and a trunk.
Investigation 1: Fall Trees
No. 10—Student Sheet
FOSS Trees Module
© The Regents of the University of California
Can be duplicated for classroom or workshop use.
No. 10—Student Sheet
Name ______________________________________
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
INVESTIGATION 1: FALL TREES
Read this out loud with your child, then do the activity together.
Think of a place near your home where there are trees. This should be a place where there
are trees, but not too many trees to count. Your street, block, yard, or neighborhood park
might be good choices. Without looking, estimate how many trees there are. Ask everyone
in your family to guess the number of trees.
thinks there are __________ trees.
_________________thinks there are __________ trees.
_________________thinks there are __________ trees.
_________________thinks there are __________ trees.
_________________
Next, go outside together and count the trees. Look at the kinds of
trees you find.
Compare the bark, the leaves, and the shapes of the trees. Answer these
questions.
• How many trees did you find?
• How many different kinds of leaves did you find?
• Do you find any animals living in the trees?
• What do you find around the trees?
Record what you saw.
We counted __________ trees.
We found
FOSS Trees Module
© The Regents of the University of California
Can be duplicated for classroom or workshop use.
Home/School Connections. Home/School Connections are activities
developed specifically for the whole family to enjoy at home. For
example, in Investigation 1 (student sheet number 33), students
survey their family members to see how many trees each of them
estimates to be in their yard, block, or local park. When all the
estimates are in, they can take a walk with their family to make an
actual count.
Interdisciplinary Extensions. Each investigation has suggestions for
art, language, math, social studies, and science extensions. These are
good family activities. For example, after Investigation 2 students can
make rubbings of pressed leaves they have collected as they did with
bark in Investigation 1.
FOSSweb (www.fossweb.com). FOSSweb is an interactive website
where families can find instructional activities and interactive
simulations specifically designed for each FOSS module.
Investigation 1: Fall Trees
No. 33—Student Sheet
No. 33—Student Sheet
NOTE: All student sheets, including
the Letter to Parents and Home/
School Connection, are available in
FOSS Teacher Guides and online at
www.fossweb.com. They are also
available in Spanish. See Teacher/
Parent Info Section: Home/
School Connection on page 4 of
this folio.
2
NOTE: Pages 3 and 4 of this folio can be photocopied and sent home
for parents to read. Those pages provide information on the resources
for students and their families on FOSSweb.
full option science system
FOSS at Home
FOSSWEB (WWW.FOSSWEB.COM)
The FOSS program maintains a resource-rich website for students and
their families and friends. To explore the resources available for the
Trees Module, first enter www.fossweb.com in your browser. The FOSS website requires plug-ins for your browser. We recommend
that you click the “Test Your Browser” link at the bottom of the home
page before you begin to ensure your computer has the minimum
requirements.
Click the grades K–2 icon to get a menu that links to each of the
K–2 modules. There you can choose Trees and travel to a wealth of
information and activities specific to this module.
ACTIVITIES
In the Trees Module, you’ll find an activity called Who Lives Here? Students match cards to find out what kinds of animals live in
different types of trees. Before introducing children to the FOSSweb
activity, you might ask,
•
What kind of animal do you think might live on or around a
redwood tree? A pine tree? A tree in a rain forest?
•
Do you think a turtle could live around a tree? A squirrel? An
ant? Why or why not?
At the computer, have children help you match cards. When
you match two cards, you get information about where in the
tree the organism lives. Show children the tree choices: cypress,
redwood, and Douglas fir. As you do the activity, help children
keep a list of the organisms they find for each tree. When you
make all the matches, you get a list with information about all
the creatures that can be found on the three trees. Once you have
been successful together, have children try again on their own.
You might encourage children to find out more about the trees and
organisms as an extension.
Trees
3
Trees
PHOTO GALLERY
In the Photo Gallery section, you can view images of trees and the
wood that comes from them. You can use the images to compare the
trees and wood. Ask students if they have observed any of these trees
in their neighborhood or if they have seen the wood used in furniture
and other objects.
MOVIES
The Movies section includes people working with wood in various
ways, such as carving, building structures, or making furniture and
other wooden objects.
WEBSITES
The Websites section includes links to sites that can extend and enrich
children’s experiences with the Trees Module.
Teacher/Parent info Section
VOCABULARY
In the Vocabulary section, you will find the glossary words and
definitions used in the Trees Module. They are provided in English
and Spanish.
Resources
This section includes an annotated list of books, videos, and software
recommended for the Trees Module. You should be able to find many
of these titles at your local library.
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
The Teacher/Parent Info section includes the Home/School
Connection that describes ways for families to do science
together. For example, in Investigation 3, families can monitor
the changes to trees in their neighborhood throughout the
seasons. They can look for signs of life in trees, and watch for
the emergence of leaves, fruit, and seeds. Look in this section
for a downloadable PDF file, including the Home/School
Connection files and a letter to parents.
4
Copyright The Regents of the University of California
full option science system
1014218