October 2018
Have you ever wondered how to tell a white pine from a pitch pine? Or how to identify a tree by its bark? Or how digging a few inches down in the dirt can reveal four different layers of soil?
If you can’t answer these questions, ask one of the 4th grade students from the Eddy School. Eighty young scientists explored trees and forest soils with members of the Brewster Conservation Trust, instructors from Mass Audubon in Wellfleet and classroom teachers. “We want to encourage children and their parents to enjoy Brewster’s woodlands and also learn about the many reasons we protect land in Brewster” said Hal Minis, President of the Brewster Conservation Trust. Toward that end each student returned with work sheets and tablet photos for further study and a commemorative “tree cookie” to learn the age of the tree from its annual rings.
“I like trees,” said one young scientist. “They make air and they make homes for animals.”