- Contributed by Herb Broda on the Children & Nature Network website
Background: #
Use this great activity during the fall to teach students the process skills of organizing, discriminating detail and observation.
Materials: #
Strips of oak tag (thick paper) approximately three inches wide and 18-24 inches long. Old manila file folders work well as a recycled source of oak tag.
Process: #
- As they sit outside, ask your students how many shades of green (or orange, or brown…) they see.
- Students then work in pairs and collect thumbnail samples of differing shades of green they find in the schoolyard. Usually I ask pairs to bring in 12-15 samples. As each pair returns with samples, give each a cardboard strip that has a piece of masking tape fastened sticky side up along the entire length. The pair’s task is to look carefully at the samples collected and arrange them from lightest to darkest on the cardboard strip.
- After the strips are completed, I have them placed on the ground to create a color gallery for all to see. Another teacher suggested having students invent a “name” for several of the greens on the oak tag and label them to the side.
- This is an activity that is amazingly popular with all grade levels. It also works at any time of year.
- Even in Winter you can do “Shades of Grey” with the remnants of last year’s plants.
More information: #
Access the original lesson as it appeared on the Children & Nature Network website
