A Boy Scout Troop in one of the suburbs has a similar contest. In the troop headquarters they have tacked two big sheets of paper on the wall. As each scout discovers something on or about his group's tree, the Scoutmaster records it in the space for that month, with the date and the boy's name. If something new and strange is seen, they look it up and study about it in a book. That has helped those Scouts earn an unusual number of merit badges.
Tree diaries interest children in learning about nature.
Each has its own kinds of bark on the trunk and on the branches, its own kind and arrangement of twigs and of winter buds on those twigs. They learn what kinds of insects damage a tree, and why. They learn how a tree grows, and how much each year. Argonne National Laboratory, Division of Educational Programs, Harold Myron, Ph.D., Division Director.