In the Fall of 2024...
Students from Talent Elemenatry visited Plant Oregon Nursery on a field trip with OURCF staff to learn about the life of trees.
A 4th and 5th grade class arrived on a sunny morning to Plant Oregon Nursery where they got to see all the trees they grow and learn about their differences. They put a ribbon on trees they really liked to go in their arboretum-to-come back at school. They also helped plant acorns to start some new trees and they took home a milkweed plant for their own homes.
OURCF planted 32 trees at Talent Elementary with the help of students, families, and volunteers.
It was a rainy day, but we still had tons of fun! With the help of our community, we planted 32 big trees of all different species that day at the school. We held a climbing demonstration for people to learn about arboriculture and tree care and had some snacks before heading home.
Then we went back to visit the students and learn about the trees
Students participated in an acorns to arboretum lesson where they learned about the life cycle of a tree. The lesson was followed up with a science experiment with acorns. Then, each sudent was assigned one of the 32 new tree species on their campus and headed out to find it with OURCF help. They collected a leaf from their tree and took them back to the classroom to make a leaf rubbing.
We returned again! This time with volunteers in the summer of 2025 to pull weeds, re-mulch, and fertilize the trees.
Our community showed up to Talent Elementary AGAIN to help us care for the arboretum. This included pulling the weeds from around the trees, applying fertilizer, and adding extra mulch to keep them healthy. At the end of the day, we all shared ate lunch together and got some cool OURCF t-shirts. You can join us for the next volunteer event by signing-up here.
Now we're working on interpretive signage for the arboretum
The leaf rubbings those students made will appear on the pernament signage in their arboretum with other important information about their arboretum like why it was planted, what trees are in it, and who helped make it possible.
Acorns to Arboretum
Fall Arts and Science at Talent Elementary School
In October of 2025, we had the wonderful opportunity to work with 4th and 5th grade classes at Talent Elementary School in the classroom and outside in their campus arbortum.
Students dove into hands-on science, testing acorn viability to learn which seeds have the potential to grow into future trees. We explored plant life cycles together, and learned about how trees grow, reproduce, and sustain themselves. Later, students collected leaves from the trees our volunteers planted on campus last fall to make leaf rubbings, connecting art and observation with the living landscape around them.
The session brought together scientific inquiry, creative expression, and outdoor learning, all centered on the trees growing right outside their classroom windows. Students were engaged, curious, and excited to learn from their own schoolyard environment.
We're grateful to the Southern Oregon Education Service District STEAM Hub who funded this project! If your school is interested in bringing hands-on environmental education to your students, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at ourcf@ourcf.org.
Found her tree partner!
Talkin tree life cycles
Acorn observations
Recording observations
Ready for leaf rubbing!
Leaf rubbings!
Field Notes
Found her tree partner!
Recording observations
Field Notes
Acorn observations
Leaf rubbings!
Talkin tree life cycles
Ready for leaf rubbing!
Thank you to our funding sponsors who made this project possible.
