Проектная работа на тему 'Trees. '

Private School "Consol"

Foreign Languages Department

Trees

Student: Kovalenko Kate the 5^th form

Coach : Dmitrienko S.M.

Simferopol, 2015

Contents.

1. Introduction ……………………………………………..……………p. 3

2. What is a tree? ………………………………………….……….……p. 3

3. Roots. …………………………………………………………….…..p..4

4. The trunk ………………………………………………………….….p. 4

5. Photosynthesis …………………………………………………….….p. 5

6. The four seasons of tree growth ……………………………………..p. 6

7. Flowers and seeds ……………………………………………….…...p. 7

8. Plants of the Crimea …………………………………………….……p. 7

9. Conclusion ……………………………………………………….…..p. 14

10. Resources ………………………………………………………...….p. 15

1. Introduction

Trees are all around us, in forests, gardens and parks. They are everywhere but most often we don't notice and appreciate them. However, trees are important part of our daily lives. Trees not only make our environment beautiful with different colours, flowers and shapes, provide us with shade and relief from the sun's heat and harmful rays, they are much more than just part of our natural landscape.

The aim of my research is

• to learn information about trees

• to learn the parts of trees and their functions

• to describe the trees of the Crimea

• to find out why trees are useful

2. What is a tree?

What is a tree? Cambridge Dictionary says that a tree is a tall plant with wooden trunk and branches which grow up. Trees are the longest living organisms on the planet and one of the Earth's natural resources. There is no a species on the planet that doesn't owe its existence to them. There are more than 20 000 types of trees and they are incredible and unusual.

Have you ever looked at a tree? The main part of a tree is leaves that are connected to branches that are connected to the trunk, which is connected to the roots. Leaves are very important to trees because they make food for trees. To make food 3 things are needed: water, nutrients, sunlight.

Some trees are broadleaves and some trees are conifers. Broadleaves have flat leaves. Conifers have thin, sharp needles. Conifers are strong trees. Animals can't eat the sharp needles. The needles don't get dry so the trees can grow in dry weather. Conifers can grow in hot weather and cold weather. Many broadleaves can't grow in cold weather or dry weather. Then all the leaves fall off the tree. The leaves grow again in hot weather or rainy weather.

Some leaves are narrow and some wide, some have smooth edges and some jagged. Some have shapes that are simple and some are not, some have many leaflets that make up a leaf. All leaves have veins that help move food and water to the leaf.

3. Roots.

Under every tree there is a great root system. Roots have 3 functions: support, storage and nutrient pick-up. Roots are not deep. Most roots are found in the top 18-25 inches of soil. Roots are the foundation for trees. But instead of growing deep into the ground to support the tree, they extend out beyond the branches and are shallow. The roots are shallow because there is lots of oxygen available at shallow levels. And tree roots need oxygen for tree to grow.

The big fat roots at the base of the trunk store food for the tree. It's like a saving account. When the tree needs food during stressful times, like hot, dry conditions, the food is available. Water and nutrients are picked up from the soil from very tiny roots that look like fuzzies. They are called hair roots. They give the root a better chance to absorb more water and nutrients. Did you know that the roots of a South African wild fig tree reach 400 feet into the ground. They are the deepest roots in the world.

4. The Trunk.

The trunk and branches do many things. A tree trunk has many parts. On the outside, you see the bark. The bark protects the tree from insects, diseases and injures. The inner bark or phloem carries food from the leaves to the other parts of the tree. The food can be used for tree growth or stored for later use. Phloem is a light-brown, paper-thin layer. The next layer is the cambium, which is a very active layer of cells. These cells change into either phloem or will produce xylem, which carries water and nutrients from the roots up the leaves. Phloem eventually turns into bark and xylem into heartwood. Heartwood is old xylem cells plugged up with chemical substances. Heartwood has no living cells and doesn't conduct food or water. But it is very important, because it gives the tree strength. It is like a steel beam in a building.

The structure of the trunk:

Bark /phloem/ cambium/ xylem/heartwood/xylem/cambium/phloem/bark

Bark can be very rough with deep grooves or it can be smooth. A birch tree has smooth bark but an oak or cottonwood tree has rough bark.

Each year the cambium layer grows new wood just inside the bark to add a new annual ring to the tree. The distances between annual rings are not all the same. This is because growing conditions change every year. The better the growing conditions the greater the distance between the rings.

The center of the tree is old xylem cells. It's called heartwood and is used for structural support. Hollow trees are able to remain alive but are not very strong because heartwood is not needed to move food and water. The heartwood is important in adding strength to the tree. Hollow trees are more likely to break during storms. Trees with heartwood just bend a little. Trees without it can break or fall over.

5. Photosynthesis.

Branches are extensions of the trunk. They are where you will find buds. Buds are future leaves. Leaves are food factories for the tree.

Leaves and all green plants have chlorophyll. The raw materials of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll are changed into sugars or food for the tree. The process is called photosynthesis. While making the food, leaves also make and give off oxygen, which is used by animals and people.

When all things come together, the process of photosynthesis takes place and food is made. Once the food is made, what happens? The food is made in the leaves and then moves through the leaf's veins, through the stem to the phloem, where it is transported to the parts of the tree for growth or the food goes to parts of the tree where it is stored for the future use.

6. The four seasons of tree growth.

In areas of the world with seasonal changes, trees only grow part of the year. In areas of the world where the weather is warm year round, tree growth may be controlled by wet and dry seasons. There are four seasons of tree growth: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In winter a tree looks dead but it's not. It's just dormant. During this time, a tree is able to stand the extreme cold temperatures of the winter and is not hurt.

The growth in spring starts when it's still very cool. The amount of heat needed to start growth varies from tree to tree. Some trees like willows start growing when it is still very cool. Other trees like locust and oak wait until the weather is much warmer.

Tree growth is fast for 6-8 weeks. Growth continues throughout the summer but it is often slowed down when it becomes hot and dry. Warm days and cool nights in the autumn cause changes. This happens because the chlorophyll breaks down and the leaves' true colours appear. During the growing period there is so much chlorophyll that it hides the leaves' true colours. Temperature, moisture and shortening of the days are responsible for colours you see in autumn.

The stem where the leaf joins the branch is called the petiole. In the autumn a group of cells forms to make a scab-like area that causes the leaf to fall off. What is left on the branch is an area called a leaf scar.

7. Flowers and seeds.

Some trees have big flowers. Some trees have very little flowers. Flowers make pollen. The wind blows pollen from one flower to others. Insects take pollen to other flowers too. Then the tree can grow seeds. Seeds grow inside fruit. The fruit protects the seeds. The fruit falls from the tree. Then the seeds go into the ground. New trees grow from the seeds.

8. Plants of the Crimea.

The world of trees of the Crimea is very rich. There are more than 700 species of trees on the peninsula. Most of the peninsular mountains are covered with forests. The principal formations of the Crimean forests are pine, beech and oak. The Crimean pine and Common pine represent the pine woods. The Pine of Sudak is a Crimean endemic.

The Crimean Pine has long needles, a spread out crown and an ash-grey trunk. It is more heat-loving than the northern pine and it grows on the rocky outcrops creating beautiful landscapes. Pine trees are a source of valuable building material used in shipbuilding. One of the most surprising things in the pine forest is its air with flavor of resin.

The largest area of beech woods lies in the south-eastern part of the Main Mountain Range. They grow best at height of 800-1200 metres. Most of the trees are 200 years old and have such a dense foliage that not a glimpse of the sky can be seen through it.

Three species of oak grow in the Crimea: the Stone oak, the pubescent oak and common oak. Most wide spread is the stone oak, nearly half of the total area of oak woods. All the oak trees are comparatively young. The oldest and largest oak of Crimea grows in the village of Vysokoye in Bakhchisaray district. It is 1000 years old and 8 m round.

Besides pine and oak in the Crimean forests grow larch-trees, elms, fir-trees, ash-trees, maples, cornel-trees, hornbeams and lindens. The relic plants also grow in Crimea. In the upper reaches of the Alma and the Kacha Rivers the black alder and willows are found. The oldest yew in Crimea grows on Ai-Petri. The tree is over 1000 years old.

In the Crimean towns and villages we can come across such trees as ash-trees, birches, hornbeams, juniper, larch-trees, poplars, walnuts, cypresses, willows and others.

Working on the report I have read a lot of books and found a lot of interesting information about the Crimean trees. I have made a table which shows the most amazing information about some of the trees growing in the Crimea.

Juniper

• appeared 50 million years ago

• can be up to 2-3 thousand years old

• in the Crimea there 10 trees which are more than 1000 years old

• its raw is used in cookery

• can be used to sanitize dishes and air

• is a medicinal plant: is used in medicine for curing skin diseases and tuberculosis

• its wood is dense, doesn't rot

• 600 year ago people learned to read using juniper tablets on which all the letters of the alphabet were written

• In the Crimea it can be found at cape Fiolent, at the tract of Kanaka, at Cape Aya, in the national parks of Karadag and Cape Martian

Linden

• A linden pushistostolbikovaya is the Crimean endemic ( it grows only in the Crimean mountains and can be found nowhere in the world)

• in the good environment it can live for 150-1000 years

• It grows quickly, likes dry weather, isn't afraid of pollution

• Its trunk has a lot of hollows where a lot of animals and birds live

• It improves and enriches soil

• Its wood is soft that's why it is used for carving

• its wood was used for making toys: matrioskas, bears and goats in combination with the figures of men

• it is a honey plant

• in 14-16 centuries when there wasn't any sugar in Rus people used linden honey instead of it

• Our ancestors used linden coal to keep meat and to purify drinking water

• Its leaves are a good food for sheep, goats and cows

• It is a medicinal plant, the Crimea exports linden blossom that is very expensive

Acacia

• has spicy smells during the blooming

• the first director of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden Steven K got acacia seeds in 1813 from Osnovyanskiyi garden (now Krasnokutsky arboretum).

• the roots of acacia are found at depth of 20-25 metres. This is a necessary measure, otherwise it can't get water, survive and bloom.

• Acacia can survive in any environment: it is not afraid of pollution, salt soil and water.

• The other trees prefer to grow near acacia because it enriches soil with nitrogen.

• Beekeepers love this tree for abundant blooming. Very often acacia blooms twice a year-in early summer and autumn.

• Acacia honey is very tasty, healing and has a wonderful aroma.

• Acacia honey is also very valuable because acacia is not affected by pests and as a result is never treated with pesticides.

• Its wood is very dense, solid and doesn't rot.

• Acacia leaves are a good food for domesticated animals.

Acacia flowers are rich in essential oils that are used in making perfumes.

Walnut

• Carl Linnaeus named this plant Juglans regia, what is from Latin means "royal acorn".

• The Greeks brought walnuts into the Crimea, after them the Genouse planted and cultivated the trees. Gradually walnuts scattered across the Crimea.

• up to 1896 on the southern coast near the village Biyuk-Lambat (now Malyi Mayak) there was a walnut under which crown 100 riders could hide according to the legend.

• In Baydarskaya Valley academician P.S.Pallas saw a tree with a trunk diameter of 2.5 meters, and now in Alupka park there is a tree whose trunk circumference is more than 7 meters.

• In the 19th century only Belbeksky Valley gave up to100 tons of tasty healthy nuts.

• In 1887 V.K. Kondaraki in his book "Crimea and its attractions" wrote that some villages (Mishor, Nikita) were completely hidden in the midst of huge trees and that harvests of nuts were so huge that they were delivered throughout Russia.

• The first brief description of the structure and biological properties of walnut was made by the 'father of botany" Theophrastus and the Roman poet Ovid. The poet wrote : " It is a big beautiful tree and it grows on roadsides and is not afraid of anything -no wind, no thunder, no rain, no heat."

• Walnuts bloom in May, are pollinated by wind, fruits begin to ripen in August.

• Walnuts can live up to 400-1000 years. The biggest harvest they can give at the age of 100-180 years. From 1to 300 kilograms of nuts can be collected from one tree.

• Some peoples consider walnuts a symbol of abundance, prosperity and longevity. The ancient Greeks presented the fruit of nut to each other on festive occasions. In Ancient Rome nuts were the part of wedding ceremonies. There is a tradition in the Caucasus and Moldova: when a child is born the parents plant a walnut tree.

• Walnuts are not only delicious and useful but also nutritious. Nuts have almost everything that is required for normal growth of a human : fats, proteins, salts, vitamins A,B, C, E, F.

• Nuts are widely used in cookery, without them it is impossible to cook many varieties of ice cream, cakes, candies, oriental sweets.

• The local people cook the tasty jam from the green nuts and roasted, salted kernels are an excellent snack to champagne.

• Animals love walnuts not less than humans do. Boars, squirrels, badgers and even deer don't miss the opportunity to enjoy a delicious nut and many of species store walnuts for future use.

9. Conclusion

Working on this report I have learnt a lot of interesting things about trees, their structures and functions. For my report I have chosen the most amazing ones from my point of view. I have come to the conclusion that the importance of trees to mother Earth and to us is immeasurable. Our life without them is impossible because trees

• provide oxygen

• improve air quality

• conserve water

• preserve soil

• support wildlife

• control climate by moderating the effects of the sun, rain and wind

• give us shade and reduce the heat

• are the food and place of living for many animals and birds

• are used for cooking and heating, in construction and medicine

• The list of trees values is endless. So the main task of the mankind is to protect and take care of such amazing living organisms as trees.

10.Resources

1. The catalogue of the Crimean trees and shrubs ()

2.Secret life of trees (www.urbanext.illinois .edu/trees1/)

3. The most magnificent trees in the world. ()

4. Park plants. ()