About This Lesson
Essential Question: What is the role of trees in the quest to tackle climate change?
Supporting Questions:
- How do trees benefit humans and the environment?
- What threats do trees face?
- What can people do to protect and promote trees in their community?
Description:
Trees are our climate superheroes! They have tremendous superpowers. Trees provide so many benefits to our everyday lives. They filter clean air, provide fresh drinking water, help curb climate change, and create homes for thousands of species of plants and animals.
The world’s trees and forests are one of our greatest assets. Trees keep the air we breathe clean and help us stay healthy. Trees are also an important natural solution in our fight against climate change. Forests play a key role largely because of their ability to sequester, or store, carbon—just one mature tree can sequester as much as 48 pounds of carbon per year. That keeps carbon out of the atmosphere, so naturally, the more forests the better.
In this virtual field trip, we introduce students to the power of trees! From Louisville, Kentucky in the United States to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, trees are playing critical roles in both fending off the impacts of climate change and improving our resilience in the face of those impacts. Students will learn why trees are our climate heroes, how we can harness their superpowers, and how they can get involved in their communities to protect and restore the health of trees.
