2007 6th Grade Leaf Collection Contest

Open to all 6th Grade Students in Dickinson County

CONTEST RULES:

I. Collect and prepare a leaf collection
        A. Collect at least 30 different leaves from trees found in Dickinson County
        B. Press the leaves until dry and flat.
        C. Mount the leaves in a notebook binder or scrapbook. (Limit 2 books per collection.)
        D. Correctly identify each leaf.

II. Write an Essay
        A. The general topic is "How Trees Benefit Dickinson County" (You may create your             own title, however be sure to include information on the benefits of trees to our             local area.)
        B. The essay may be hand written, typed or computer generated.
        C. Should be 400-600 words long.

III. Awards
        A. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each class. (To be determined by teachers)
        B. Overall County winners will be announced in local papers and presented at the              District Annual Meeting.

IV. Contest Judging
        A. Essay
                1. General Length ________ (4)
                2. General Grammar ________ (4)
                3. Content/Conformation to Topic ________ (12)
                                                        Total___________ 20

        B. Collection
                        Number of leaves collected ________
                1. Required number of different leaves ________ (10)
                2. General appearance of collection ________ (25)
                        (Includes general quality of leaf samples & pressing quality)
                3. Correct common names ________ (15)
                4. Correct scientific names ________ (5)
                5. Title of Collection ________ (5)
                                                        Total __________60

        C. Extra Effort
                1. Collection index page ________ (2)
                2. Pages/leaves numbered ________ (2)
                3. Sketches (seeds, tree form, twigs) ________ 2)
                4. Handwritten Essay ________ (5)
                5. Unusual tree species ________ (4)
                6. Add additional facts about leaf or tree .
                        (i.e. tree location, size, type of soil, habitat, uses etc.) ________ (5)
                                                          Total ___________ 20

                                                GRAND TOTAL __________ 100

These are the sites that I am aware of that attempt to provide help with tree and shrub identification. Some are excellent and some are not very useful at all. I have included the "not so useful" ones in order to save you from spending the time finding that out. The first four listed are probably going to be the most useful.

www.uptreeid.com Michigan State University Extension. A key to the trees of the U.P. (You can't get much better than that!)

www.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/treeid.shtml - Online Leaf tree key from University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point. Has some good line drawings and easy to use. This site has a printable key + Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Education Program. There are several "key" sites as well as other activities.

www.forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/a/100_trees_id.htm - This site has loads of information on doing a leaf collection, including how to collect samples and how to press them, along with ID information.

www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm Virginia Technical College (use the "buttons" at the bottom of their page) key button has color pictures of leaves, twigs, bark, fruit/nuts, etc., pretty good but may not have all our northern species. There is also a fact-sheet button with some useful information.

www.botit.botany.wisc.edu/courses/dendrology/ University of Wisconsin botany site. Very good color pictures of trees, shrubs and vines but no text to accompany it (no hints to help ID). Can be a little slow to work with but it is loaded with excellent information and pictures.

www.exnet.iastate.edu/pages/tree/ Iowa State University Extension, lots of good information, has an interactive key, definitions page, color pictures, and is very easy to use.

www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery.htm Texas A&M University. Nice pictures, but no text, you'll need to know the scientific names to find your suspect and that may give you problems.