Plant trees for change with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai

Official Google Blog: Plant trees for change with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai

1. Discuss about:
a) benefits of forests
b) harms of deforestation.

2. Find facts about Canadian forests and the forests in your country. Write a report and bring it to the class.

3. Find more information about the first African Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. Bring the facts to your group and write a short biography together.

3. Draw a poster for the International Year of Forests, 2011.

TREES

Match the trees with their parts:

OAK TREE - ACORN
PINE - CONE
MAPLE - KEY
HAZEL - CATKINS
CHESTNUT - SPINES
LOCUST - PODS
BASSWOOD - LEAFY BRACT

Mystery Things

1.
They are called "monarchs of the mist".
They are the highest of all living things on earth although they grow from seeds not larger than tomato seeds.
They were far more spread during the age of dinosaurs. Their fossils have been found in Asia,Europe and North America. Now their natural range is reduced to a belt 35 miles wide and 450 miles long, from extreme southern Oregon to Monterey County, California.


2. It looks like a mass of dead leaves, moldy fungus or a termite's nest when you see it high up in a tree,hanging upside down. It lives only in Central America, where it is very rare. It has long, coarse hair and four long limbs. It has three long claws that look like hooks. Its face looks like it is always smiling.It moves extremely slowly because it drags its body as its legs do not support it. It spends 18 out of 24 hours sleeping.

ANSWERS: 1. redwoods (sequoias); 2. three-toe sloth

Urban Forest

Put the verbs in parentheses either in an active or a passive form:

Toronto is a city of trees. More than three million trees ____________ (dominate) our ravines, ____________ (line) our boulevards and ____________ (beautify) our parks. Millions more trees____________ (locate) on private property.
Trees are the lifelines of our city. Trees____________ (beautify) neighbourhoods. The harsh texture of concrete buildings ____________ (soften) by trees. Trees ____________ (offer) privacy screens and ____________ (protect) people from the sun’s burning rays. Harmful gases and other pollutants____________ (absorb) by trees. Soils __________ (protect) from erosion. Trees ____________ (provide) a natural habitat for birds and wildlife, ____________ (cool) streets and homes in the summer, and ____________ (protect) us from winds in the winter.
Trees are the predominant contributor to Toronto’s image as a “green” and beautiful city.
Toronto’s trees along city streets, in parks, ravines and natural areas, in the front and back yards of homes, and in landscaped open spaces are collectively known as the city’s “urban forest”. It must ____________ (protect) and ____________ (grow) as a natural legacy for future generations to enjoy.