Colorados Flora

21st Century Skills addressed:

information literacy, critical thinking and reasoning, collaboration,

self-direction

Overview:
Students will learn how trees are classified into two major categories in
Colorado: coniferous and deciduous.
Questions to pose to students:

How are trees, shrubs, and plants classified?

What trees are found in each life zone?
How does climate and elevation affect growing? (review from lesson
1)

Objective:
Students will be able to identify a tree as coniferous or deciduous and
understand what components make up each category.
Lesson Procedure:
1. Begin by having every child in the class take off their right shoe and
place in a line in the front of the classroom.
2. Next, ask the students to categorize the shoes any way they see fit.
Have them work independently first, to create a plan. Then, pair them
up with teams to compare their groupings.
3. Then, choose a group of students to categorize the shoes. Have the
other students determine what criteria they used to categorize the
shoes. Give each category a label.
4. Ask student groups if there were other ideas for categorizing?
5. Explain to students that this process resembles what scientists do to
determine type and species of plants and animals. When a new plant
or animal is discovered it is assigned a name based on its genus and
species.
6. Divide students into small groups. Explain that they will become flora
detectives. They will be investigating the plants, bushes, and trees
that surround an area of the school.
7. Have students work together before leaving the classroom to come up
with a list of criteria they should look for in classifying the flora.
8. Take students to an area of the school that provides a variety of plant
life that includes both coniferous and deciduous. Give students time to
record notes in their science journals.
9. When students return to the classroom, have them share their
findings in the whole group. Work together as a class to determine a
Curriculum created by Melissa Dalrymple

Colorados Flora
key to identifying the different categories of flora found in the school
yard.
10.
Have students identify common traits. Then, ask them to think
about what this flora looks like year-round. Is it always the same?
11.
Define the terms coniferous and deciduous. Have students apply
what they found to these categories and see if they can identify even
more traits that place each tree into that category.
12.
Use the Prezi on flora to help students identify all elements.
https://prezi.com/wijeo4ejyozb/flora-plant-life/

References used:
1. Heart of the Rockies Adventure Guide provided support for
classification activities.
2. Rocky Mountain Nature Guide and Trees and Leaves provided factual
information for Prezi.

Curriculum created by Melissa Dalrymple