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  • Quaking in their Roots: The Decline of the Quaking Aspen
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Quaking in their Roots: The Decline of the Quaking Aspen

  • Article
  • Middle School
  • 1 Classroom Period
  • Fire
  • Wilderness
  • Asexual Reproduction
  • Aspen
  • Biodiversity
  • Fire suppression
  • Succession
  • Tree growth rings
Illustration of a forest of pine trees.
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In recent years, populations of quaking aspen have been in decline in the Western United States. Stands of aspen are now mixed with conifer trees. Each year, fewer aspen-dominated stands exist in Utah and other parts of the Western United States. The scientists in this study wanted to know more about the decline of quaking aspen. They also wanted to know what should be done about reversing aspen decline.

Quaking in their Roots: The Decline of the Quaking Aspen

Part Of

Rocky Mountain - Vol. 2 No. 1

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  • Test your knowledge about biodiversity, ecosystems, and conifers.

    Word Search – Quaking in Their Roots

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • Less than 30 minutes
    • Fire
    • Wilderness
    • Aspen
    • Biodiversity
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    • Vocabulary
    Test your knowledge about biodiversity, ecosystems, and conifers.
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    Quaking in their Roots: The Decline of the Quaking Aspen

Glossary

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  • biodiversity

    (bī ō dǝ vǝr sǝ tē ): Biological variety in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals.

  • conifer

    (kä nǝ fǝr): Any of an order of mostly evergreen trees and shrubs that have leaves resembling needles or scales, including trees and shrubs (like pines) that have true cones.

  • distribution

    (di strǝ byü shǝn): The natural geographic range of a living thing.

  • ecosystem

    (ē kō sis tǝm): A system made up of an ecological community of living things interacting with their environment especially under natural conditions.

  • forage

    (fȯr ij): (noun) Food for browsing or grazing animals.

    (verb) To wander in search of forage or food.

  • forest manager

    (fȯr ǝst ma ni jǝr): A person who manages a forest; in the Forest Service, forest managers focus on managing vegetation, restoring ecosystems, reducing hazards, and maintaining forest health (definition from USDA Forest Service).

  • forest stand

    (fȯr ǝst stand ): A group of plants growing in a continuous area, in this case a forest.

  • natural history

    (na ch(ǝ) rǝl hi st(ǝ) rē): The natural development of something (such as an organism or disease) over a period of time.

  • stability

    (stǝ bi lǝ tē): The quality, state, or degree of being stable, such as the strength to stand or endure.

  • succession

    (sǝk se shǝn): A series of one-way changes in the composition of a biological community in which one group of plants or animals is replaced by a different group.

  • suppress

    (sǝ pres): To slow or stop the growth or development of.

  • Dr. Dale Bartos outside examining a tree.

    Dale Bartos

    Plant Ecologist

    “I like being a scientist because I enjoy working with natural systems and attempting to understand how they function. I am able to communicate this information to the land managers...
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  • Education Standards
  • Educator Guide
  • Education Files

Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
  • People, Places, and Environments
  • Science, Technology, and Society
  • Time, Continuity, and Change

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.

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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.

  • What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?

    Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.

  • Thinking About Science

    Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.

  • Thinking About the Environment

    Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.

  • Introduction

    Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.

  • Method

    Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.

  • Findings & Discussion

    Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.

  • 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.

  • Number Crunches

    Presents an easy math problem related to the research.

  • Glossary

    Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.

  • Citation

    Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.

  • 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.


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