The field trip includes the planting of acorns to help restore the population of oak trees. A guest speaker comes to the classroom to teach the students about the importance of native trees as habitat for animals in lesson 10, Guest speaker on Trees as Habitat . At a later date, the students may plant in the watershed oak trees grown from acorns collected earlier. This optional project is Propagating Native Oaks . In the assessment lesson, Tree's a Crowd , lesson 11, students demonstrate their growth in conceptual understanding by choosing pictures of organisms that might live in the tree habitat, placing them in the appropriate habitat on a diagram of a tree, then describing why the tree is a good habitat for the organism.
Many different organisms can satisfy their needs within the habitats provided in a tree.
Trees provide shelter from climate and predators. Tree bark acts as a substrate for small plants and a habitat for many insects. Some animals eat the fruits, seeds, leaves, and woody parts of living trees. These animals are in turn eaten by other animals. Some organisms depend on the decaying litter from a tree for food.