October 2022

This Tree Stinks!

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Academic Standards

 

 

Reading Objective:

Children will recognize that the ginkgo tree’s seeds smell because that likely lured dinasaurs to eat and disperse them.

 

Reading Level:

Lexile: Lexile: 460L; GRL: K

 

Next Generation Science Standards:

2-LS2-2 The function of an animal in dispersing seeds

 

Vocabulary:

disperse, attract, pollution

Use these questions to check students’ understanding and stimulate discussion:

 

1. What kind of animals do scientists think ate ginkgo seeds?
(dinosaurs)

2. What made the dinos want to eat the seeds?
(The seeds’ stinky smell attracted the dinos.)

3. What happened after the dinos ate the seeds?
(The dinos pooped them out. Seeds were spread this way.)

4. Is it a good idea to plant ginkgos by busy streets? Why? (Answers will vary.)

Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

 

  • The stink in ginkgo seeds comes from butyric [byoo-TIHR-ik] acid. Humans hate it. Dogs, bears, and mosquitoes like it. It’s in sweaty socks too.
  • Cockroaches, crocodiles, platypuses, and horseshoe crabs were also around in dino times!

Materials: pencils, markers, copies of the skill sheet

Overview: Children will design a solution to stop a ginkgo tree from stinking things up!

Directions:

  1. Tell students that a neighborhood is having a stinky problem. Every year, a ginkgo tree drops its ripe, stinky seeds on the sidewalk. Pee-ew! Can your kids design a solution?
  2. Tell them one city hires workers to shake the ginkgo trees to make the seeds fall off before they get ripe and stinky. But your city doesn’t have workers for this.
  3. Pass out copies of the skill sheet.
  4. Let children brainstorm in small groups, or do it as a class. How could they remove the seeds, or find a way to make them not stink, or cover the stink? Would they find a way to cover people’s noses? Or do they have a better idea?
  5. Let students draw and write about their inventions on the skill sheet. If time allows, have them share their solutions with the class.