Tree Steward Manual is designed for Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners who are training to be certified advanced Master Gardener tree stewards. Written by a dedicated team of volunteers who themselves completed advanced Master Gardener tree steward training, the manual covers a wide range of topics, specific to each region of Virginia, including identifying trees, selecting and planting appropriate trees for local landscapes, caring for trees, and troubleshooting tree problems.

In Virginia, advanced Master Gardener tree steward training is offered by the local Extension Master Gardener (EMG) program. Once the training is completed, volunteers become certified advanced EMG tree stewards and commit to a specific number of volunteer hours working on local tree steward projects. EMG tree stewards work on projects based on the needs of their local community as determined mutually between the local agent/coordinator and active tree stewards.

While Tree Steward Manual was developed with EMG training in mind, it is also appropriate for general readers who want to deepen their knowledge of trees and tree care. ​​

How to Access this Book This text is available in multiple formats including PDF, a low-resolution PDF which is faster to download, and ePub found on the left side of your screen. It is also available online in Pressbooks at https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/treesteward. If you are printing this book to use in Tree Steward training, please see the "How to Use This Book" page for instructions. The main landing page for this book is: https://doi.org/10.21061/treesteward.

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Table of Contents
1. About Advanced Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and the Tree Steward Training Manual
2. The Learning Experience
3. The Benefits (and Disadvantages) of Trees
4. Botany of Trees
5. Tree Taxonomy, Identification, and Measurement
6. Soil Properties and Management
7. Trees and Ecology
8. Siting, Selecting, and Planting
9. Tree Health Care and Pruning

Publication Information
ISBN: 978-1-949373-70-7 (PDF)
ISBN: 978-1-949373-71-4 (EPUB)
ISBN: 978-1-949373-72-1 (PressBooks)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/treesteward

Attribution This book was created by a dedicated team of Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and published in 2021. The book was edited by Carol King and Laura Marlowe. Chapters were authored by Carol King, Megan Tierney, Daina Henry, Patsy McGrady, Gwen Harris, Cherilyn Kern, Laurie Fox, Ed Olsen, Carol Fryer, and Cindy Ogle.

The teacher leads a discussion in which students identify the physical needs of animals, and then speculate on the needs of plants. With guidance from the teacher, the students then help design an experiment that can take place in the classroom to test whether or not plants need light and water in order to grow. Sunflower seeds are planted in plastic cups, and once germinated, are exposed to different conditions. In particular, within the classroom setting it is easy to test for the effects of light versus darkness, and watered versus non-watered conditions. During exposure of the plants to these different conditions, students measure growth of the seedlings every few days using non-standard measurement. After a few weeks, they compare the growth of plants exposed to the different conditions, and make pictorial bar graphs that demonstrate these comparisons.

At the beginning of the lesson, students will view an engaging video of time-lapse photographs of flowers blooming, and students will create a T-chart listing the similarities and differences among the appearances of each flower. To formatively assess students' current knowledge of specialized plant structures, the students will sort key vocabulary words related to plants' structures into categories. Then, students will read an informational article on flowering plants and re-sort the key vocabulary words into the correct categories to demonstrate their knowledge of plants' specialized reproductive structures. Next, students will complete a lab activity in which they will carefully dissect a flower and observe the various specialized structures, collect specimens to view under the microscope and create and label scientific sketches of the flower's specialized structures. Lastly, students will design a unique flower that will have a high probability of reproductive success and provide a written response in a claim-evidence-reasoning format. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Line F Apply Horticultural Practices: F2 - Level 3 and 4

Short Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an adaptation of KPU HORT 1155 Introduction to Plant Materials Lecture Notes. This edition supports student achievement of the Level 3 and 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2.

Long Description:
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements is an editable, open access learning resource with interactive web based experiences customized for horticulture students studying plant identification.

This edition supports student achievement of the Level 3 and Level 4 learning goals for Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Line F2: Identify plant and plant requirements for a range of woody and non-woody plants Use botanical terms to identify and describe plants Identify and describe plants according to cultural and maintenance requirements Recognize plants suitable for common tropical, floral and interior landscape situations Identify plants suitable for planting in difficult situations Describe native plants common to the horticulture industry Describe seasonal plants common to the horticulture industry in BC Describe plants suitable for green infrastructure projects Describe plants suitable for edible landscapes

Word Count: 10476

Included H5P activities: 72

ISBN: 978-1-989864-18-0

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically as part of a bulk import process by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided. As a result, there may be errors in formatting.)

Communities are dynamic and change over time, and we can observe this process with particular clarity after a disturbance or on new land. Learn about primary and secondary succession, as well as pioneer species. Created by Sal Khan.

Students plant sunflower seeds in plastic cups, and once germinated, expose them to varying light or soil moisture conditions. They measure growth of the seedlings every few days using non-standard measurement (inch cubes). After a few weeks, they compare the growth of plants exposed to the different conditions and make bar comparative graphs, which they analyze to draw conclusions about the needs of plants.

What do plants need? Students examine the effects of light and air on green plants, learning the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. Student teams plant seeds, placing some in sunlight and others in darkness. They make predictions about the outcomes and record ongoing observations of the condition of the stems, leaves and roots. Then, several healthy plants are placed in glass jars with lids overnight. Condensation forms, illustrating the process of transpiration, or the release of moisture to the atmosphere by plants.

This resource contains one lab activity plan and two lecture notes on three different agronomy related topics. 

This video explores what happens when exotic animal and plant species are introduced into ecosystems, and the impact of introduced species on biodiversity. Created by California Academy of Sciences.

This illustration depicts the first two stages of aerobic respiration: glycolysis and the citric acid cycle.

This is an illustration of environmental tonicity conditions for animal cells and plant cells.  The response of red blood cells and platn cells to hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic conditions is indicated.

This unit covers the processes of photosynthesis, extinction, biomimicry and bioremediation. In the first lesson on photosynthesis, students learn how engineers use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model of a complex yet efficient process for converting solar energy to chemical energy or distributing water throughout a system. In the next lesson on species extinction, students learn that it is happening at an alarming rate. Students discover that the destruction of habitat is the main reason many species are threatened and how engineers are trying to stop this habitat destruction. The third lesson introduces students to the idea of biomimicry or looking to nature for engineering ideas. And, in the fourth and final lesson, students learn about a specialty branch of engineering called bioremediation the use of living organisms to aid in the clean up of pollutant spills.

Short Description:
This particular work is one part of the author’s undergraduate senior capstone project and is one of 11 in the series titled “Controlling the Narrative for Peace of Mind.” Seniors enrolled in Professor Erica Kleinknecht’s capstone seminar in the Spring of 2021 all used a core set of literature as a starting point and then they personalized the content to an area of their choosing. The work here reflects an integration and application of literatures in cognitive, applied cognitive, psycholinguistic fields of study, plus additional topic-specific content.

Word Count: 7400

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This lesson will utilize the talking drawings strategy, in which students will begin the lesson by drawing a picture of a plant to illustrate how they think plants make their own food. Then, the teacher will introduce the process of photosynthesis using an interactive presentation to explain photosynthesis in a pictorial format. As the teacher describes the process, the students will create a scientifically accurate drawing of a plant engaging in photosynthesis. Lastly, students will create a writing piece that will describe the process of photosynthesis and construct a scientifically accurate illustration of the process of photosynthesis. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

In accordance with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #2: “Zero Hunger” which promotes sustainable agriculture, students are asked to help support the local pollinator population. Seedballs can be prepared with seeds of plants that provide food and nesting opportunities for pollinating bees, butterflies, other insects, bats, and birds. Thus, students are supporting the very beings that ensure the success of our food chain and 1 out of every 3 bites that we take. In this lesson students make seedballs and a model of a catapult for distributing the seedballs using Strawbees, a micro:bit, and the Robotic Inventions kit.

Learn about the many types of interspecific interactions: competition, predation, herbivory, symbiosis, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism. Created by Sal Khan.

A knowledge of broadleaf plant parts will help the student identify plants at various stages of life.  The weed ID resource books often use technical terms to describe how the plant parts look.  It is important the student understands the technical terms in order to properly identify weed species.  Students will also practice using common weed id apps