Happy Mousey Monday!! Did you know in Kenya today is the celebration of National Tree Planting Day? The people of Kenya plant palm trees and coconut trees along the Indian Ocean. The tradition of planting and caring for trees and celebrating the day as a holiday, originated in Nebraska in the United States. On April 10 in 1872, nearly a million trees were planted in Nebraska. Many countries took a liking to  this idea and selected their own days to observe a similar holiday. In the United States, National Arbor Day, following the same purpose as National Tree Planting Day, is celebrated on the last Friday in April.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbor_day

Why wait for the national celebration? You can plant a tree any day to help the environment. Discovery Education has various resources for you to bring into your classrooms to help students understand the importance of trees.

http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/43A8E7E9-A25D-42DB-8C5E-18EAB6B37FE7

Planting New Trees is a one minute video segment that quickly details how trees are important to humans and animals. The video is ideally for Grades K-5 classrooms.

http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/9DC73D08-0443-4BDF-BFA4-9611169EB858

If you are looking for a lengthier video, Natural Phenomena: Trees: The Oldest and Biggest Living Things is 16 minutes long and details what trees provide to the environment. The video also includes information on examining a tree’s age. The video also includes a Teacher Guide ideally for Grades 6-8.

If the weather is warm,take a break from the classroom with your students and teach them to make a difference in the health of our environment; plant a tree! We hope that our resources here at Discovery Education assist you in shaping and molding your students to be knowledgeable and aware of the world around them. Please feel free to tweet us at @DESupportStars with #mouseymondays to share your classroom experiences and stories! Hope you and your students have a great rest of the week!