Celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax!

We're talking about trees and the Lorax this month—which makes perfect sense with Earth Day just around the corner! Now here at our Wooster, Ohio, campus, we're celebrating Earth Day with on April 17 with our Scarlet Gray and Green Fair.

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And while we'd love for you to come join the fun, some of you just might not be close enough to join us for the day. If not, have you considered hosting an Earth Day celebration with the Lorax?

Stop by Suessville for plenty of fun, fabulous and hands-on ideas for celebrating Earth Day the Lorax way!

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Who Speaks for the Trees?

Last week we talked about the new Lorax movie based on Dr. Suess's classic book. Trees and tree health are certainly intertwined with the lives of humans throughout history. Whether for firewood, tools, paper, shelter or something else, humans rely on trees. And that means this renewable resource needs to be replenished as well!

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Project Learning Tree has put together a series of cool lesson plans based on the Lorax book and subsequently the movie. They are targeted to a variety of age levels and are a lot of fun—not to mention very timely with the new movie coming out in theaters!

In their Who Speaks for the Trees activities, students in grades 2-8 read the book (or watch the movie) and investigate questions why the Onceler did what he did, how the environment changed and the impact one person can have on changing the status quo. There are variations for older student and follow up activities as well.

We're actually doing a variation of this lesson plan later this month, and we were fortunate enough to receive a large pack of Lorax bookmarks from IHOP—one for each child in our group.

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How fun is that? We are loving the Lorax here and excited to share the tale with our preschool programming this spring!

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Discover Secrest Arboretum

Are you and yours excited about the upcoming Lorax movie based on Dr. Suess's book? My household is for sure.

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One of the key themes from the movie is protecting and enjoying the trees and forests we may often take for granted. In fact, the U.S. Forest Service has even launched a new public service announcement campaign with the Lorax:

Have YOU spent time enjoying and discovering the wonderful world of trees lately? If not, be sure to plan a visit to OARDC's own Secrest Arboretum. The 88-acre arboretum is perfect to explore on your own as a family. Much of the arboretum is even handicap accessible with paved paths through our holly plantation, unique plant collection, million flower walkway, prairie plantings, butterfly garden, water garden and so much more. There's even a Discovery Pavilion to learn about the biological calendar that affects us all, a forest plantation, deciduous tree planting, share tree planting and much much more.

Or, you can join in one of our upcoming special events like our Dormant Pruning Workshop, Guided Bird Walk, Scarlet Gray and Green Fair or even a Guided Spring Walk. Details for these events as well as directions to the arboretum can be found at the Secrest Arboretum website. 

Be sure to come back next week for more information on how you can use the Lorax book and movie as a teaching tool.

Don't let the bed bugs bite!

The thought might send a shiver down your spine, but bed bugs are real—and a real problem. OARDC us a leader in bed bug research. Here's the scoop:




Want to find out more about bugs? Be on the look out! Soon we will be opening registration for our 10TH ANNUAL A BUG'S WORLD program. This is a fun, fabulous and free educational program that will take place April 11-12 this spring. Stay tuned!

AgBC's: Z is for BuZZZZZ

I love being outdoors and hearing all the sounds during the warm summer months—including the buzz of the insects. Bees certainly aren't the only insects that buzz, but they are certainly the 1st insect that pops to mind when we think of buzzing, aren't they?

Photo from the Honeybee Conservancy

But did you know there are a whole host of bee species in addition to the honeybees and bumblebees we normally think of? There are 4,000 known species of bees native to the United States. Some of their common names include plasterer, leafcutter, mason, carder, digger and carpenter. Others earned their names by lapping up perspiration or humming loudly as they fly. 


Want to know how you can meet science standards for your students by teaching them about bees? Check out this archived video.

Learn how pollinators, particularly bees, can be used to teach standards-based science and get students actively engaged with their work and the outdoors.

• See this Web Seminar's Archive
• PowerPoint Presentation (19.7 MB)
• Presentation - PDF version (5.66 MB)
• Add this Web Seminar Archive to your NSTA Learning Center Library

This is the second of two Web Seminars in a series from PollinatorLIVE. The presentation includes a definition of pollinators and the tasks they perform as well as information about Bee Hunt—a program that allows educators to access and contribute to a large cache of images of various species of pollinators from across the country. You can also comprehensive curriculum for grades 3-6 that addresses plant pollinator relationships and related concepts and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

AgBCs: Y is for Yams

Yams aren't just for holiday meals—they are fun for science, too!

Even though most Americans use the terms interchangeably, did you know yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing? In fact they are not even related. Who knew, right?


Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not related botanically. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Sweet Potatoes, often called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family.


Want to have some REAL fun with yams? Try out this lab for converting the starch in yams to sugar. Pretty cool, huh?

AgBCs: X Marks the Barn Spot

I have to admit, the X letter of our AgBCs series had me stumped—until I saw a barn door like this:

Photo from Mike Gilliam photography.

Barns are an integral part of any livestock operation, providing protection and shelter for the livestock as well as farm supplies and equipment. Historic barns are not just rural relics, they are important tangible reminders of Ohio's rural heritage. Many barns and other older farm buildings can be rehabilitated to accommodate modern farming practices. The Ohio Historic Preservation Office and the Ohio State Extension encourage owners to maintain their historic buildings for future generations to use and appreciate. Check out the Barn Again program for more information on restoring historic barns.


Barns provide insight into the history and heritage of our early farmers. And they continue to provide learning opportunities today. Have you heard of Ohio's quilt barns? They offer a fun and scenic way to learn about not only various types of barn architecture but also quilting patterns.


And here in our part of Ohio, barn raisings are also an important part of the Amish community. Maybe your students can take their lead from Crayola and combine a lesson about the Amish culture with this fun barn raising project.

Have fun with learning about the history of barns!