Tree Knowledge

Cloquet Middle School seventh graders got a hands-on lesson about trees last week, venturing into the school forest with Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District staff and science teacher Farrah Grimm. Students learned about different types of seed dispersal, tree roots, and forestry tools, going outside with the SWCD's Jenny Sherren, below, and Tim Byrns, right, to collect seeds and identify types of tree on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Byrns also took core tree samples with an increment bore to show students some of Cloquet's history and the health of a tree.

Grimm said the students were very interested in the tree lesson, adding that they worked in small groups to look for different seed dispersal and tree reproduction in the forest. They also looked at the tree cores to age trees.