Our writers recommended these independent websites as background information and content supplements for Life Cycles lessons.

Arbor Day

http://www.arborday.org/

The National Arbor Day Foundation has a web site with an "Online Tree Identification Guide," a section on "Teaching Youth About Trees," ideas for Arbor Day celebrations, and more. Check the "Arbor Day Dates by State" page for the date on which your state will observe Arbor Day.

Big Tree Facts

http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees

American Forests has been keeping the National Register of Big Trees since 1940. One link on this page will take you to the current register. Other links lead to pages about how to measure a big tree, big tree trivia, and where to find the big trees in your own state.

Trees that Rewrote History

http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone

Using a tree borer and counting the rings, scientists have shown that a bristlecone pine tree named "Methuselah" is more than 4,700 years old—the oldest living organism known on earth. This site explains how scientists study the tree ring patterns in old bristlecone pines to learn about past climates and to date archeological sites.

Build A Salad!

http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/vegquiz/plantparts.html

This link has an interactive game for children where they build a salad by choosing from a variety of plant parts.

Corpse Flower

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=here15m&date=20060815

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=stinky21&date=20051121

These two articles are about U.S. specimens of the "corpse flower" (Titan Arum). In its native Sumatra, the flower can reach 12 feet and blooms every five years. The flower attracts pollinators with its fragrance of rotting flesh. In the United States, the rare-blooming flowers draw crowds.

Developmental Biology

http://www.devbio.com

Provides background teacher information and links on inception of human life, human life cycle, and other developmental biology topics.

Enchanted Learning

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/butterfly.shtml

This link contains directions for completing a number of arts and crafts activities related to butterflies and caterpillars. It includes quizzes about butterflies and printouts for children to color. It also contains illustrations of a wide variety of butterflies. Finally, it includes general information about butterflies and details about their life cycles and anatomy.

EPA Superfund Classroom Activities

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/clas_act/winter/dressup.htm

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a website with activities for classes. A winter activity entitled "Dress Up a Twig" teaches students the structure and function of the parts of a winter twig, and how twigs can be used to identify trees.

Flower Photos

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/fpfamilies.htm

If you are looking for photos of flowers, visit this web site from the University of Hawaii Botany Department. After you select the name of a plant family, you receive information and thumbnail photo images for all of its members. Click on the thumbnail image, and you will get a beautiful, full-sized photo.

Kid's Valley Garden

http://www.copper-tree.ca/garden

This link provides information on planning a garden, when to plant seeds, how to keep plants healthy, how to enter flowers into competitions, and much more. It is a visually appealing site with lots of useful information.

Life Cycles of Plants

http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants

The Missouri Botanical Garden offers a kid-friendly web site that focuses on the life cycles of plants. It includes full color photos and drawings that illustrate the parts of a flower, descriptions of how bees pollinate flowers, and lyrics to a song, "How Do Plants Pollinate," sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land." (Print the words, and sing it with your class!)

Science Made Simple: Autumn Leaves

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html

Follow this link to a discussion of leaves at the Science Made Simple web site. Clear explanations are given of why leaves change color in the fall and how plants prepare for winter.

The Emergence of a Monarch

http://adver-net.com/Monemerg.html

This link reveals the step-by-step emergence of a Monarch butterfly from its chrysalis through beautiful, close-up, color pictures.

United States Geological Survey Learning Web

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/globalchange.htm

A lesson plan designed for grades 4 to 6 by the United State Geological Survey (USGS) on using tree rings to study the past.

What Shapes Trees?

http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~dragonfly/itd/learn.htmlx

This link takes you to a page on the educational "Dragonfly" site that discusses "What Shapes Trees?" It addresses how sunshine and water both influence tree height, crown shape, and the form of leaves.

What Tree Is It?

http://www.oplin.org/tree

An easy to use site that lets you ID trees by several different criteria.