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Caption This! Trees in the City

Provided by: Mongabay Kids |Published on: April 16, 2026

Activity - Classroom

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Synopsis

In this activity, students look at a photograph of trees in a city and write captions describing what they observe in the image.
The resource also includes a short informational text about the benefits of urban trees, which students can use to inform their captions and discussions.

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Subjects: Biology

Authors: Mongabay Kids

Region: Global

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

Students will love flexing their creative skills with the captioning activity!
The option to submit their work to the website can help generate students’ excitement.

Prerequisites

Some students may need to see examples of cartoon captions before writing their own captions for this activity.

Differentiation & Implementation

Teachers can use the captioning activity as a pre- and post-lesson assessment. First, ask students to write a caption that includes everything they know about trees in the city. After learning about the importance of urban trees, have students write a new caption.
After learning about how trees cool cities, teachers can transition to a lesson about the urban heat island effect to help students understand why cities are so hot. This resource may help introduce this topic.
Weather and other conditions permitting, teachers can take students outside to identify and appreciate the trees on the streets near their school.
Teachers can use this resource to help students eventually understand trees’ role in sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change.
Early finishers can color the picture while they wait for others to write captions.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

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Resource Type and Format

About the Partner Provider

Mongabay Kids

Mongabay Kids is the dedicated youth education initiative at Mongabay, an award-winning nonprofit environmental and conservation news organization. We provide free, age-appropriate news, features, activities, and multimedia resources that inspire curiosity, ecological understanding, and action. Designed for children ages 8-14, families, and educators, Mongabay Kids empowers the next generation to explore, celebrate, and protect the natural world.

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All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.

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Caption This! Trees in the City

Synopsis

Teaching Materials

About the Partner Provider

Related Teaching Resources