Tree Mysteries

This week, Sam brought in a small lemon tree he found recently while digging in his yard. This morning, he shared it at meeting, explaining to the class why he found it fascinating. When we passed it around, Kian noticed , "The points are super pointy." Sam mentioned that when he found the tree it had one leaf left, but it has since fallen off. We wondered why it had died, and Sam said he thought "Because it was so so so so old." 

We asked if anyone had thoughts on that. 
Austin: Trees live longer than humans.
Lisa: What do we know about old trees?
Jossie: They're very big.
Elle: When the leaves die, the trees are old. ​
​We continued to think about what may have caused the tree's death. Hilary told the group  that she and jack learned recently that fruit trees need a lot of sunlight. Will observed, "If the fruit trees take the sun, the other trees can't get it"--an important lesson from one of our storybooks about trees blocking the sunlight in order to take it all for themselves. Katherine asked Sam if his lemon tree had been planted in the sun. Sam said that it was in the shade of another tree. Ah-ha! A clue about the tree's demise. 

We went on from there to talk about how the tree had lived alone without any family around. Will suggested we try to find other trees to give it a family. Jossie suggested we dig a hole and put it back in the ground. Austin suggested that we put it in a pot and try to bring it back to life. Will made the comment that trees can't talk. This reminded us of something that one of our tree experts told us: trees do communicate with each other, and they can sing and send signals to each other. Can they talk to us? If they did could we hear them? Is it possible they are sending us signals too? Could we feel what they are telling us if we can't hear them.

This discussion about bringing the tree back to life reminded us of the willow branch that's been growing shoots and roots right in our classroom. Rachael told us that willow bark can be used to make "willow water," which can help other plants root! Maybe it could help us with some of our fruit cuttings and seeds.

 The children recalled seeing the big willow tree (from which the branch was cut) in Austin's yard last fall. If our baby willow is going to get that big, it clearly can't stay in the classroom, or as Grace observed, "It will break the ceiling." We're going to have to find this willow tree a new home!

Wow. Lots to explore, lots to learn, and lots to do!  Have a wonderful weekend and rest up!