Grow Where You’re Planted – Vol. 1 No. 24
In “Grow Where You’re Planted,” students will learn about how different planting elevations can affect Jeffrey and ponderosa pines’ survival, growth, and bud development timing. As part of the Moon Trees series, this monograph also includes an introductory essay about the first generation of Moon Trees as well as information about the Artemis missions! Students will also learn more about the science of seeds and the work of the USDA Forest Service nursery system in a feature on the Bend Seed Extractory.
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Highlights
- History & information about Moon Trees
- Spotlight on Bend Seed Extractory
- 3 Scientists
- Glossary
- 2 Activities
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In this article, students will learn about how different planting elevations can affect Jeffrey and ponderosa pines’ survival, growth, and bud development timing.Grow Where You’re Planted – Testing How New Planting Elevations Affect Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines
In this article, students will learn about how different planting elevations can affect Jeffrey and ponderosa pines’ survival, growth, and bud development timing.
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In this FACTivity, you will research plants growing in your USDA hardiness zone and make predictions about how climate change may impact what plants will grow in your hardiness zone...FACTivity – Grow Where You’re Planted
In this FACTivity, you will research plants growing in your USDA hardiness zone and make predictions about how climate change may impact what plants will grow in your hardiness zone... -
Each of the following images represents something from the article. Explain what each of these images represents. You may write your explanation or hold a class discussion. If you write...eyeChallenge – Grow Where You’re Planted
Each of the following images represents something from the article. Explain what each of these images represents. You may write your explanation or hold a class discussion. If you write...
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One of the important jobs of the Forest Service is to oversee restoration projects for forests, grasslands, and watersheds that have been harvested, damaged by wildfire, or otherwise disturbed. An...Spotlight – Seed Extractory
One of the important jobs of the Forest Service is to oversee restoration projects for forests, grasslands, and watersheds that have been harvested, damaged by wildfire, or otherwise disturbed. An...
Glossary
View All GlossaryClassroom Review Board
7th & 8th Grade Athens Montessori Middle School
- Athens Montessori Middle School
- Athens, GA
Editorial Review Board Comments
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Jill Hamilton
I am interested in understanding how plants, both ones we manage and ones that grow in the wild, adapt to their environments. I use a combination of genomic tools, greenhouses,...View Profile -
Alejandra Martinez-Berdeja
I am interested in studying California annual species that grow in the desert and I enjoy going out to the desert during the spring to see the flowers. I also...View Profile -
Jessica Wright
I am interested in helping forests after wildfires. My research focuses on the choice of seeds to plant into a burned landscape. I also enjoy watching the plants in my...View Profile
Standards addressed in this Monograph:
Next Generation Science Standards
- ESS2.D-H3Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus affect climate.
- ESS2.D-H4Current models predict that, although future regional climate changes will be complex and varied, average global temperatures will continue to rise. The outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly depend on the amounts of human-generated greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere each year and by the ways in which these gases are absorbed by the ocean and biosphere.
- ESS3.D-H2Through computer simulations and other studies, important discoveries are still being made about how the ocean, the atmosphere, and the biosphere interact and are modified in response to human activities.
- ESS3.D-M1Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior, and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.
- HS-LS2-7Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
- HS-LS4-3Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
- HS-LS4-4Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
- HS-LS4-5Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
- HS-LS4-6Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
- LS1.B-M4Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
- LS1.C-M1Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
- LS2.A-M1Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
- LS2.A-M2In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
- LS2.A-M3Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources.
- LS2.C-H1A complex set of interactions within an ecosystem can keep its numbers and types of organisms relatively constant over long periods of time under stable conditions. If a modest biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, it may return to its more or less original status (i.e., the ecosystem is resilient), as opposed to becoming a very different ecosystem. Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population, however, can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability.
- LS2.C-M1Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations.
- LS3.A-M1Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes. Each distinct gene chiefly controls the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of the individual. Changes (mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits.
- LS3.B-H2Environmental factors also affect expression of traits, and hence affect the probability of occurrences of traits in a population. Thus, the variation and distribution of traits observed depends on both genetic and environmental factors.
- LS4.B-H2The traits that positively affect survival are more likely to be reproduced, and thus are more common in the population.
- LS4.B-M1Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.
- LS4.B-M2In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.
- LS4.C-H1Evolution is a consequence of the interaction of four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for an environment’s limited supply of the resources that individuals need in order to survive and reproduce, and (4) the ensuing proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in that environment.
- LS4.C-H2Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
- LS4.C-H3Adaptation also means that the distribution of traits in a population can change when conditions change.
- LS4.C-H4Changes in the physical environment, whether naturally occurring or human induced, have thus contributed to the expansion of some species, the emergence of new distinct species as populations diverge under different conditions, and the decline–and sometimes the extinction–of some species.
- LS4.C-H5Species become extinct because they can no longer survive and reproduce in their altered environment. If members cannot adjust to change that is too fast or drastic, the opportunity for the species’ evolution is lost.
- LS4.C-M1Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.
- MS-LS1-5Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
- MS-LS2-1Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-5Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- MS-LS4-4Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
Note To Educators
The Forest Service's Mission
The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.
What Is the Natural Inquirer?
Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.
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Meet the Scientists
Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.
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What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?
Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.
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Thinking About Science
Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.
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Thinking About the Environment
Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.
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Introduction
Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.
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Method
Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.
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Findings & Discussion
Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.
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Reflection Section
Presents questions aimed at stimulating critical thinking about what has been read or predicting what might be presented in the next section. These questions are placed at the end of each of the main article sections.
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Number Crunches
Presents an easy math problem related to the research.
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Glossary
Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.
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Citation
Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.
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FACTivity
Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.
Science Education Standards
You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.
We Welcome Feedback
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Contact
Jessica Nickelsen
Director, Natural Inquirer program -
Email