Free printable tree identification charts, leaf patterns fall science diagrams

 A popular autumn lesson plan is to assign students to make a leaf identification booklet. Here are free printable tree identification charts and leaf patterns and fall craft stencils. Parents, homeschoolers and teachers, make flashcards with these tree and leaf patterns. Use in hands-on Montessori style games for nature science study. Make tree and leaf books. Assign students to collect leaves, press them or make leaf rubbings. Students should label leaves and trees using identification diagrams.

About Forestry has free printable leaf patterns for tree and leaf identification from common trees around the country. The site also has textbook-quality, beautifully detailed free printable leaf coloring pages taken from naturalist Charles Sprague Sargent's leaf plate illustrations. Each page features a different leaf with its corresponding tree, berry, nut and foliage. These printable illustrations include cut-away drawings and other helpful identification data, plus the Latin classification for genus and species of the tree. The website gives the leaf and tree names in their American variation. Use these printables for taxonomy lessons on KPCOFGS (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus and Species) as developed by zoologist Carolus Linnaeus.

Arbor Day offers several printable nature science resources and online tree and leaf identification activities. Here's a link for About Forestry's leaf and tree identification homepage. From here, follow the links for different information about conifers, deciduous trees, hardwoods, and other assorted trees from different biomes and habitats. Don't miss these free printable forest map activities showing location and region of different types of trees. Scroll down to find the region and tree type you are looking for. Here's a free printable tree and leaf matching game. Print as coloring pages of leaves. Here are websites with free printable fall leaf patterns for autumn crafts. Here are free printable leaf stencils for decorations and children's activities.

Free printable Columbus Day lesson plans, navigation activities, historical maps, coloring pages, exploration worksheets, medieval crafts

Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday in October in the U.S. Columbus Day is October 12 in 2015. Schools typically mark the holiday with Columbus Day activities Here are free printable
Columbus Day lesson plans and worksheets to create history and social studies units. Print free Christopher Columbus themed games, coloring pages, lessons, puzzles, crafts and cut and paste activities.
Columbus Day honors the 1492 landing of Columbus's ships on the Caribbean Islands, which he named the New World. Columbus isn't the first European to see the Americas, but he did provide the
earliest records and maps. Use these free printable lesson plans to explore medieval history, science,
math, navigation, travel, exploration and culture surrounding Columbus's voyage. Lessons suit special and general education and homeschool students in all grades.

The Holiday Zone has pages of free Columbus Day printables for preschoolers and lower
elementary students. There are coloring pages, crossword puzzles, mazes, word searches, printable
readers and more. Teachers will love the free printable Columbus Day vocabulary cards with
illustrations. Print vocab words on card stock, laminate and use each year for pocket charts and word
walls.
The Mariner's Museum offers free printable exploration history lesson plans for older students. High
school students usually get left out when it comes to hands-on activities. But not here: they can study
exploration, navigation, cartography and medieval scientific equipment. Make an astrolabe, sextant,
quadrant and compass using free printable templates. Print, color and label diagrams of ships and
navigational tools. The teacher link has lesson details and answer key. Student links contain printable
activity pdfs.
Coloring.ws has free printable Columbus Day coloring pages. There are realistic images of
Columbus, ships and map activities to color and There are two world maps plus one map each of Italy
(Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy), Spain (Columbus sailed under the auspices and flag of Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain) and San Salvador (first place Columbus's ships landed). DL-TK has more Columbus Day printables. Here are more coloring pages of ships and boats.

Apples 4 the Teachers has more free printable Columbus Day worksheets. Enchanted Learning has more interactive Columbus Day lessons on maps, navigation, history and more.
Assemble these printables into a booklet to use as homework or for projects. Special needs students
who sometimes need more structure and direction might use these activities to demonstrate

Free printable September 11 lesson plans, 9/11 social studies printables

 As Britain commemorates Guy Fawkes Day on November 5, Americans "remember, remember the 11th of September." On the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, how can we commemorate in a proactive way? A nonprofit called My Good Deed, suggests making it a National Day of Service and Remembrance reports the International Business Times. But how do you teach children why September 11 is so important? How do you explain what happened to the World Trade Center, Flight 93 and Pentagon? How can you help them understand war, violence and terrorism? Here are free printable September 11 lesson plans to help.

Scholastic has a free printable September 11 unit filled with activities, titled "9/11/2011: The Day that Changed America." There are dozens of social studies, history, government and civics lessons. Resources include primary sources (original pictures and documents), timelines, graphs, charts and maps. There are critical thinking and writing prompts, memorial activities, movie and book connections. There are September 11 units for preschool up to grade 8.

Education World presents a compendium of 9/11 printables and activities for teaching about tragedy, terrorism and tolerance. There are resources on Islam and its perspective, too. Lessons cover not just the who, what, when, where and how of the September 11 attacks, but the why, as well. Children learn why the U.S. was attacked, what we can do about it, what's been done, and why we must not forget.

PBS has a collection of free September 11 lesson plans geared primarily at students in middle school and high school. These lessons explore 9/11 in the larger world context and how the September 11 attacks affected the world. ABC Teach has a package of printable 9/11 lesson plans for younger children. There are coloring pages, writing prompts and vocabulary puzzles. These activities help kids who didn't experience September 11 understand why it's so important to those who did. Children see destruction and violence on television and video games all the time. 9/11 can seem unreal.

9/11 Memorial is museum, archive, repository and exhibition built at the site of the World Trade Center. This website offers virtual tours, photo walls, and features twin pools at ground zero, inscribed with the names of the victims. If children can't visit the 9/11 Memorial, a virtual classroom tour will help them explore. Here is the page with free printable 9/11 Memorial lesson plans .

Kids might make a memorial drawing quilt. Ask children to draw or color a picture reflecting the 9/11 attacks. Don't set boundaries. Let kids express feelings in any way that they need to. Collect the drawings and tape them together to form a September 11 "quilt." The quilt may be a thank-you for National Guard or public safety officers, too. Send it to a victim, rescue worker or veteran memorial group or display in your school.

Coloring may seem like a superficial way to commemorate a disaster. For children, it's therapeutic. It's like journaling for an adult. Drawing helps children access and express emotions. When a child hears sad news, drawing is a first response because he hasn't learned how to share feelings in words, written or spoken, Children show empathy for suffering people, making cards for them. There is so little anyone, let alone a kid, can do about tragedy. Simple acts of kindness, like drawing a picture, help heal.