What is Dry Wood?

Children will conclude their exploration of the science behind steam baths as they learn what the best wood to burn. They will compare and contrast dry and wet wood through a 2 day sensory and weighing experiment. This lesson is full of math and has fun extensions for writing and building centers.

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Objectives
Identify ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ wood.

Essential Questions:

What is good wood to burn?
Why does some wood burn faster than others?
What types of wood do we burn?

Alaska Native Values
See connections: All things are related, Hunter success, Traditional arts, skills and ingenuity

Standards — CHILD Partnership
SSC3. Asks questions and finds answers through active exploration of nature.
SSC3. Describes changes in, makes predictions about, & describes relationships between living & non-living objects & natural events.
SSC1. Draws and constructs.
PSH6: Engages in play as a means of self-expression and creativity.
M3. Describes and compares measurable attributes.
L19. Understands writing has meaning.

Promoting Culture Self Assessment

4. I ensure that toys and play accessories that depict people are representative of the various cultural and ethnic groups both within my community and the society in general.

6. I encourage and provide opportunities and experiences for children that support Alaska Native culture.

14. I encourage and invite parents and community members to volunteer and assist with Alaska Native language and cultural activities.

Tawara D. Goode – National Center for Cultural Competence Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research & Service June 1989 – Revised 2002, 2004, 2005, & 2009.

Center Set Up

Whole Group:
See activity below.

Materials: Whole Group Activity

bowl with water
two pieces of spruce
scale
hand-held wood moister tester
hundreds chart

Center Materials:

variety of wood collected locally
big letter cards matching initial sound of wood (B for birch, A for Alder, S for Spruce, C for Cottonwood)
magnifying glass
woodworking tool play set
blocks or wood

Pre-Lesson Preparation
Ask a community member who is knowledgeable about getting wood to share with students how they get wood, and what they look for, what types of tools & safety wear they use. (10-15 min)

Lesson Activity

Engage

Whole Group Activity
Day 1– Hold up two pieces of Spruce (included in the kit). Explain, “These wood pieces are from a spruce tree. I am going to soak one of the pieces in water and we’ll leave the other one out. Before we soak the wood lets record some measurements. First, let’s weigh the spruce” (take out the scale and weigh spruce) Circle the number and say it aloud on the hundreds chart. Write it down “This is how much the spruce weighs, how heavy it is.” Next, take the wood moister tester and insert probes into the wood. Read the number aloud. “This tool measures how much water is inside the spruce now”. Circle that number on the hundreds chart and write it down. “We will compare both of them throughout the week. What do you think might change in the wood that we soak into the water?” Listen and record predictions. Leave both pieces of wood in the classroom. Create a graph to record daily observations.

Explore:
Day 2 – Take out the piece of spruce that has been soaking overnight. Pass around for students to feel and compare the wood soaked and the wood that was left out. Ask “What is the same? What is different about the wood from yesterday?” “Let’s see if the numbers are the same as yesterday, what do you guys think?” (Listen to answers). Review numbers from yesterday on the hundreds chart regarding weight and moister content. Take out the scale, “Let’s weigh this wood piece.” Weigh wood piece and record answer. (Maybe record in a different color marker for easy visualization). Compare the numbers. Is it more or less? Next, take the moister tester and stick into the piece of wood that has been soaking in water. Tell students, “Yesterday when we used our moister tester it read ______(number) Let’s test it now to see what it is.” Take moister tester and stick the probe into the wood. Read the number and record on the hundreds chart. Compare. Is it the same? Different?

Explain

Talking, Niugtuk, Qalarte, Qenax
“Dry wood like this (Show spruce that is dry) is good for burning in the steam bath or in your home to keep you warm. See how it is lighter in color, lighter in weight and it is moister has a lower number? That means that it is good for fires.” “New wood or wood that has been exposed to a lot of water from rain or in the lake or rivers often soaks up a lot of water. It becomes heavy and has a lot of moister. This wood is hard to light and won’t burn very easily. It takes experience to learn by looking at wood if it is dry or wet. When you are outside see if you can tell if the wood is wet or dry. Ask someone you know that collects wood how they know if the wood is wet or dry. You can bring in pieces of wood for us to check with our moister tester.”

Elaborate — Extension Activities

Writing/Science Center

Have students take time to observe different types of wood. What do they look like up close? What types of patterns, color do they have? Choose one to draw and practice writing the initial sound of the name for that piece of wood.

Play Center

Play with students in pretending to build something. Use tape measure for measuring blocks of wood, saw things to the correct size, count while you hammer pieces together.

INTEGRATE LEARNING THROUGH STUDENT PLAY (Students will love to play with you and its the best way to get them to learn new things)

Evaluate

Emerging

Student did not participate.

Developing

Student was not able to tell differences between wood pieces.

Proficient

Student is able to identify the wood by name and tell how soaking it in water changed either its weight or moister content.

Advanced

Student can identify wood, verbally explain how soaked wood compares to dry wood and either asks someone about how they can tell if wood is wet or dry or brings in a piece of wood to be tested.

ChildCultural Heritage Improving Learning & Development

Funding provided by the United States Department of Education, Office of Indian Education - Native Youth Community Project and the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, Pre-Elementary Grant. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by the U.S. Department of Education, the Office of Indian Education, or the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.