| Explore | Jose wrote, “I know that we need trees for oxygen,and I want to know what would the world be without plants.” Victor wrote, “ I know that they are like us and live by water and sun, but don't have a mind like us. If we treat our tree/plants with care, they will grow strong. I have discovered that some parts of Boyle Heights have good strong trees but not much of them. There is diversity in our community. I want to know how our trees survive without water when it's not winter or when there is a drought. Emmanuel wrote, “i know that most trees are low maintenance.” |
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| Research Question | Do we have healthy trees in Boyle Heights? |
| Predictions | Victor predicted, “I didn't really have high hopes that the trees were going to be healthy because of the environment we live in. There is always trash on the floor and I heard that the soil here in Boyle Heights has lead in it. I am not sure if the trees are planted in soil that contains lead. I did not think the trees around me were going to be healthy, but 5 / 5 were healthy, and it was a cool project to do because I learned that they can be different sizes and colors and still be healthy.” Emmanuel predicted, “My thoughts were that the trees were mostly going to be in unhealthy and look like they are rotting because I rarely see people taking care of the trees, and where we live. I thought the trees would need water.” |
| Experimental Design | Based on various tree assessment resources, we have created an assessment tool to assess the trees closest to our homes. We will be analyzing the soil, bark, roots, leaves and surroundings of the trees to determine if they are unhealthy or not. Each student will analyze 12 trees on a given block in the community, we will take photos, assess the trees and then analyze the data sample to determine the percentage of healthy trees in our community. |
| Conclusion | Based on our sampling, 70.8% of the trees assessed were healthy and 29.2% were unhealthy. Victor concluded, “I am very surprised about that because of my years of living here. I haven't seen anybody taking good care of them. I feel like they are like homeless trees living off rain and the sun. I want that percentage to go up because it’s time to focus on our trees rather than other stuff the city can use tax money for. I am not sure what it will take for us to increase that number.” Emmanuel concluded, “it’s very uplifting knowing that most of the trees are healthy. It was very uplifting because I thought most of the trees were dead and rotting just because of the area we live. |
| Investigation Theme | TREE |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| Teacher Name | Jordan Gonzalez |
| School Name | Boyle Heights Continuation High School |
| Session | Spring 2021 |