CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY TREE STUDY KIT
REDWOOD
Background for teacher/parent:
There are three kinds of redwoods we're likely to find in Marin: the coast redwood,
the giant sequoia, and the dawn redwood.
Coast redwoods are the tallest, while giant sequoias are the most massive.
Dawn redwoods, a deciduous redwood, were thought by botanists to be extinct
and were known only from fossils until they were discovered in a remote valley in China in 1944.
Coast redwood facts:
- They grow as tall as a 35-story building.
- The seeds are tiny. It takes 123,000 to make a pound!
- The world's tallest redwood is 3681 tall. It is in Redwood National Park.
- Marin's tallest redwood is 2531 tall and has a 13' diameter. It's in Muir Woods.
- Redwoods can live 2,200 years. (Giant sequoias live even longer, up to 4000 years.)
- Coast redwoods need 40-100 inches of rain each year.
They are one of only a few species that can create their own rain through a process called transpiration.
A tree can produce 500 gallons of water a day.
- 85% of virgin redwood forests have been logged.
Only 150,000 acres of old growth forest remain. The fight to protect the remaining trees continues.
- It's our California state tree.
Song to the tune of Frere Jaques
Teacher/Parent: Hello, Redwood!
Kids: Hello, Redwood!
Teacher/Parent: Tallest tree! (Stand and hold arms straight above head)
Kids: Tallest tree! (Stand and hold arms straight above head)
Teacher/Parent: But cones are very little (hold cone between thumb and forefinger)
Kids: But cones are very little (Kids hold up imaginary cone, fingers spaced to the real size)
Teacher/Parent: our state tree! (Point to yourself.)
Kids: Our state tree! (Kids point to themselves.)