BBC’s Terrific Scientific: Learning About Trees

Have you heard all about the BBC’s Terrific Scientific investigations going on at the moment? Well they’re a series of investigations that are open to all schools to get involved with, to help them explore science and get students learning about scientific concepts in a fun way.

So far, they’ve had investigations on taste, water and time (with fab resources included too!). Currently though, investigation number four is going on and it’s all about trees. Within it, they’re exploring things like how many species of tree there are and what trees do all year. You can find lesson resources, student resources and more from the BBC on trees to help you, but we’ve some Key Stage 1 resources of our own on the theme, that you can use alongside the BBC’s resources too.

They’re fantastic resources for learning about trees but make sure you don’t go barking up the wrong tree – use Search on EducationCity to find the resources we’ve recommended…

Learn Screens

Wood I Lie to Yew – Explore commonly found trees (including large shrubs) and key features to help identification.

England: Year 1
Scotland: Early ***
Wales: Year 1
N. Ireland: P2

Sepal People – Explore the differences and similarities between plants and trees.

England: Year 1
Scotland: Early ***
Wales: Year 1
N. Ireland: P1

Activities

Woodland Wander – Decide which creatures might be found on the different parts of the tree and forest floor.

England: Year 2
Scotland: First *
Wales: Year 2
N. Ireland: P3

ThinkIts

Plants and trees – In what ways are plants the same as and different from one another?

England: Year 1
Scotland: Early ***
Wales: Year 1
N. Ireland: P2

Naming trees – How many different types of tree can you name?

England: Year 1
Scotland: Early ***
Wales: Year 1
N. Ireland: P2

Things made from trees – Think of as many things as you can that are made from trees.

England: Year 1
Scotland: Early ***
Wales: Year 1

Am I like a tree? – Can you think of at least two things that you have in common with a tree?

England: Year 2
Scotland: First *
Wales: Year 3
N. Ireland: P3

Your Investigation: Trees

If you’ve done an investigation on trees as a class (like the one on the Terrific Scientific website), you’ll need to put your results together to compare them. Don’t forget about our Charts Topic Tool which is great for doing just this.

Topic Tools

Charts – Explore data from scientific enquiries or use the tool to present your own data.

England: Years 3-6
Scotland: First **-Second**
Wales: Years 3-6
N. Ireland: P6 & P7