Jam investigates the Oak tree

Happy autumn! There is no better time to look at leaves then when they are all over the ground. The Investigate With Jam ™ crew adventured out on another tree hunt. This time we searched for Oak trees.  I printed off five differently types of Oak tree leaves for the boys to use as a guide.

I picked different Oak trees that could be found in our area. Pin Oaks and Red Oaks are common street trees, and Willow Oaks and Swamp White Oaks like to be around wet areas. Since we live off a road and in walking distance to a stream I figured we had a good chance of finding something.

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As the boys picked leaves we compared them to the pictures. I pointed out the leaf type, shape, and margin as guide for comparison. (If you don’t remember some leaf vocabulary can be found in case study #4- leaves)

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I think Kal had the most fun on the hunt. With every step we took his head was focused on the sidewalk looking for leaves. When he would find a leaf I would tell him to bring it to us so we could compare it to the pictures. ​9 times out of 10 he just look at his leaf and say “Not the one” then throw it over his shoulder.

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Interesting, out of all the places we walked and looked we ended up finding 3 of the Oak trees planted along road to a softball field. Trust me no one was more excited than Kal.

We would have continued our hunt for the other two trees but with a playground near the softball field my team got distracted.

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Activity

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Join the search and find an Oak tree.

Case Study #12 - use these leaf pictures as a guide. Circle the leaves you find.
​Reference Case Study #4 to help you describe your leaf.

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