Urban Guide Lesson 1: What Is an Urban Forest?
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Provided by: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education|Published on: July 10, 2026
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Synopsis
- This lesson introduces students to the urban forest as an ecosystem of living and nonliving things in and around cities, towns, and villages, and to the urban water cycle.
- Students take a sensory walkabout to observe living and nonliving things, build a yarn web showing how those things are connected, and write a poem about the urban forest.
- Students play an urban water cycle game and use precipitation maps of Wisconsin to explore how changing rainfall connects to the urban forest and climate change.
Subjects: Science
Authors: LEAF Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Education
Region: Wisconsin
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Materials:
- To engage with this lesson, teachers in Wisconsin can borrow the associated LEAF kit for all necessary materials.
- Otherwise, teachers will need:
- Ball of yarn
- One notecard per student
- Blank sheets of paper
- Printouts of activity resources
Classroom Implementation:
- Use this lesson on its own or as a sequence with the rest of the urban guide (Lesson 2, Lesson 3, and Lesson 4).
- This lesson runs 105-150 minutes and is built around one outdoor walkabout plus three indoor activities, so plan for outdoor time and appropriate weather clothing.
- Introduce key vocabulary together as a class and have students draw a picture for each term.
- Assign student roles or recruit other teachers to help manage the stations in the Urban Water Cycle activity.
Differentiation:
- Adapt this lesson to your context by switching the maps of Wisconsin in the third activity to simplified maps of precipitation for your state.
- Follow age-based recommendations provided by the lesson authors to target the lesson to your students' grade level.
This lesson teaches students what an urban forest is through a variety of activities. Students will learn about ecosystems, the water cycle, and what constitutes an urban forest. The lesson also discusses changes in precipitation and climate change in Wisconsin. The lesson includes a number of resources with background information for teachers. The lesson can also help students in urban environments feel more connected to nature. The information presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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Scientist Reviewed
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