Educational arboriculture resource for adults and kids

This section of the AshArbor.com website contains numerous articles that are of interest to educators and will be useful for both adults and curious kids. We'll start with the kids.

Click here for a link to "How to pick a tree," click here for a link to the Arbor Day Foundation website. If you're looking for some fun and entertaining ways to teach children and youth about trees, Arborday.org has a number of online games and resources, such as Carly's Kids Corner, Leaf Miner (identify common leaves before they pass you by and get munched by Constantine Maggot), and other fun games such as Treevial Pursuit and Who Wants to be a TREEllionaire?

A page at the Iowa State University Extension website shows pictures and gives definitions of special terms used for identifying tree leaves, such as a simple leaf, a compound leaf, a palmately compound leaf, etc.

Arborday.org's website has lots more games, activities and downloads for parents and educators. Click here to visit their "Teaching Older Children and Youth about Trees" webpage. From the Helium.com website, here's a link to a list of eleven articles that each talk about a number of different books and stories to help give children an appreciation of the numerous roles in the environment and society.

From the website Chestofbooks.com, we find a list of supplementary reading on trees for children that includes a list of fifteen books from authors such as Gertrude L. Stone and Grace Frichett

Folktales and myths about trees
The tales presented here, taken from oral tradition, have been handed down over generations and are offered by Spirit of Trees, to be retold and shared anew. Tell them indoors and out, in classrooms, parks, community centers, hospitals. Play with them; learn from them; use them to teach others.

Every tale in this collection involves a tree or forest being in one way or another. Some are cautionary tales about the perils of cutting down forests. In others, humans become transformed into trees. Trees appear in dreams. They sing and talk. They offer consolation and convey special powers. In many of the tales, a tree serves as teacher or guardian of the truth. Characters who sit under a tree or climb up into a tree are suddenly inspired to set out on a journey or receive a decisive insight. Enchanted beings, both helpful and forbidding, emerge from forest places. The world itself is shown to emerge from a tree. And, on a lighter note, noodleheads and fools are snapped to their senses through an encounter with a tree.

"The Talking Tree" is a book written by Al Cherry, a professional arborist, that asks "what if a tree could talk?" The International Society of Arborists' website features "Trees Are Good," which presents information about the importance and value of proper tree care. The "Talk About Trees" website has many resources and activities for both students and teachers.

Project Learning Tree is an award-winning program of the American Forest Foundation designed for teachers and others who are working with youth from preschool through grade 12. Click here to learn more about the "A Tree for Every Child" program. From the EHow.com website, we feature links to "How to explain to a child where trees and plants come from," and "How to explain to a child why the grass is green."

Here's a link to the Treetures website, a program for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade that uses cartoon characters to teach kids. Includes are lesson plans for teachers and family-oriented conservation activities.

From the Arborday.org website, here's a link to a resource page with lots of links to online games and activities for kids as well as stuff to download for parents and educators. For example, one online game called "Leaf Miner," helps the child identify common leaves before you get munched by Constantine Maggot!

For the adults, we have several links to articles or resources we think you'll find helpful, starting with a link to "Grooming Your Flower Garden," one of the series from the Dummies.com folks. We're also including a link to the Dummies book called "Gardening All-in-One For Dummies," "Gardening Basics for Dummies," and "Organic Gardening For Dummies."

Wondering about the safety of those plants around your children and pets? Check out this page from the University of Connecticut.

eNature.com provides field guides that allow you to search and identify more than 5,500 species, including amphibians, birds, butterflies, fishes, insects, spiders, mammals, seashells, reptiles, trees, wildflowers and more.

Arboriculture law, also called tree law, is outlined at the Tree and NeighborLaw.com website. Alex Shigo revolutionized tree pruning and made many important discoveries which were incorporated into CODIT (Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees.) Here's a link to the official website for the writings of Dr. Alex Shigo. At this website, you'll find information about Dr. Shigo and his many books and pamphlets.

An article by Dr. Shigo at TreeHelp.com called "Reading the Tree's Log" is very helpful in explaining how to read a tree's log while doing an autopsy.

The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest plants, dating back to the time of the dinosaurs, according to a website about the effort to safeguard the survival of the 100 or so remaining plants in the wild.

For an exhaustive list of links and website resources, visit the Urban Forestry Information and Resources page. Learn How to prune trees from the USDA.