Class LH take an enchanting look at native trees!

Class LH launched their 'Enchanted Woodland' topic for this half of term by exploring the playground identifying a range of deciduous trees.   The children also learnt about the fact that most deciduous trees lose their leaves in the autumn and the children's aim was to identify and understand the difference in these trees. It was a fitting start to the topic as we were able to compare the seasons too which linked with our last topic 'Splendid Skies'.  

We were able to think about the start of the "Splendid Skies" topic and how it was in the summer season and the trees were full of leaves and how, in our new topic, as we approach autumn, many leaves have fallen.  Evergreen trees and deciduous trees were discussed as we learnt about softwood and hardwood trees. 

We talked about the shapes and sizes of the leaves.  We observed the greenery of the Willow tree compared to the bare twigs and no leaves on the crab apple tree.  The horse chestnut leaves were 'like hands' and the oak leaf was very distinctive. The horn beam leaves and the silver birch leaves were very similar in size but when we examined them closely, 'the pointy shape' of the silver birch helped us to work out the difference. There was also a hazelnut tree which was bare.  

It was amazing that so many different trees were in such a small area ie our playground.   

Looking at the horse chestnut leaf

Teamwork - checking answers with each other.