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GLEN LOCH NATURE TRAIL Glen Loch is so excited to have our nature trail updated and reorganized thanks to the efforts of Greg Bentch, a former student and proud Gator. Greg completed this project as part of his Boy Scout Eagle award requirements. Classes will soon be benefiting from his efforts as they enjoy and learn to recognize the various types of vegetation along the trail. Come by with your family and walk the trail using the guide below. It begins on the north side of our campus.
The Glen Loch Nature Trail Teacher’s Guide 
Original Written by Linda Moats Revised April, 2005 By Greg Bentch, Troop 1772 Eagle project Material for renovating Nature Trail provided by the Community Association of The Woodlands Parks and Recreation Department Note: A thank you to Jeffrey G. Schultz and his booklet "Hazards in the Field" courtesy of Spring Branch I.S.D. Also special thanks to Matt Taylor, John Willard, The San Antonio Botanical Garden and Mercer Arboretum
So many exciting meaningful lessons can be learned in Mother Nature’s classroom. This guide has been developed to provide teachers with basic knowledge about the plants along the trail, important safety rules to follow, successful outdoor teaching techniques, and some suggested trail activities. As you explore the trail with your class remember to take the time to relax and enjoy the beauty and diversity of nature. The trail guide’s motto - Take only memories…. leave only footprints.
As you enter the trail, use this simple guide to identify the trees and other plants at the numbered markers along the way.
Marker 1 Southern Red Oak - Notice how this tree has been bent completely over until the trunk is growing sideways and the branches are growing straight up! (The Indians once marked trails this way.) The leaf of a southern Red Oak has pointed tips and often resembles a long, narrow "turkey foot." This tree is one of the more common oaks in this area. Its acorns are a valuable source of food for squirrels, raccoons and deer. The bark contains "tannin" which is used for tanning leather. Marker 2 Eastern Cedar - Look closely to see the scaled leaves, the stringy red bark and bluish knobby fruit, which animals love to eat. Although it is called a cedar it is really a juniper. They grow from 10 – 50 feet. Because they grow so slowly they are sometimes called the "graveyard tree," because when the tree grows tall enough to shade your grave, your time is up. Oil from this tree is used to repel moths and the strong wood is used to build fence posts. Marker 3 Sweetgum - On your left, next to the fence you will see a huge old tree that is easily identified by its star-shaped leaves. The fruit appears in the fall as a distinctive spiked ball. A resinous gum called storax produced by the tree, was used by early pioneers as a Sweet Gum. The branches and twigs of this tree sometimes have corky wings similar to those found on the Winged Elm. Marker 4 Water Oak - Directly behind the marker is a Water Oak. Its paddle shaped leaves can identify this tree. Its small acorns are an important source of a wildlife food. It is a popular shade tree, losing its leaves for just a few weeks each year. Marker 5 Post Oak - These trees, common in Central Texas, may reach a height of 75 feet but are usually much shorter. Deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife eat the acorns. The wood is hard and durable and is used for lumber, cross ties and fence posts, from which it gets its common name. Notice the deeply ridged bark. Moss and resurrection fern may be found at the base of this large tree. Resurrection fern may appear brown and lifeless during dry conditions, but springs back to life with a lush green appearance with the coming of rain. Marker 6 Winged Elm - This graceful native tree gets its name from the distinctive corky ridges on its branches. The Indians used the wood to build canoes. Today, the wood is used for furniture making. Take a leaf from this tree to compare to the Cedar Elm you will find at marker 15. Marker 7 Littlehip Hawthorn - This tree has rattan vines entangled in it making it difficult to tell where one plant stops and the other one starts. The Littlehip Hawthorn is the most common Hawthorn in east Texas. In the spring it has small white flowers. In the fall it has small fruit. Take one of the Littlehip’s leaves to compare with the Parsley Hawthorn you will find at marker 14. The Littlehip’s leaves are spooned shaped whereas the Parsley Hawthorns resemble parsley. Be careful not to prick yourself on the long thin sharp spines coming off its branches. Marker 8 Yaupon – This marker is surrounded by a small grove of Yaupons. The Yaupon is an evergreen holly. It is very common in east Texas. It can be found as a single trunk tree or a multi-trunked bush. In the wild, it can form dense thickets. Its bright red berries that appear in late summer and fall make it a popular ornamental plant. The leaves of this plant have a high caffeine content and were used by Native Americans to make tea. The berries which are poisonous to people are a popular food source for wildlife. Marker 9 Black Gum - The most noticeable feature of this tree is the way the branches grow out horizontally from the trunk. The bluish-black fruit is eaten by over 30 species of birds. The trunk, often hollow, is sometimes the site of beehives. Marker 10 Flameleaf Sumac - This slender-branched woody shrub produces flame red leaves in the early fall. The seedy fruit occurs in clusters at the top of the shrub. Birds and deer eat these seeds. Indians crushed the fruits from this plant to flavor their water, giving it a pink lemonade taste. Beyond the marker, is a small water habitat, teeming with aquatic life. Stop to listen for the croaking of frogs or the trilling of insects. Notice the eddies in the water created by tadpoles, turtles or water insects. Many reeds and other water plants abound. This would be an excellent site to study the effects of erosion. Marker 11 Farkleberry - This lovely plant is the tree form of the Huckleberry. The tree’s black edible fruit provides food for the birds during the winter months. The quaint little white flowers are bell shaped. Marker 12 Loblolly pine -As you look up directly in front of you and to the left you will see the most valuable lumber tree species in East Texas the Loblolly Pine. This fast growing pine reaches heights of 170 feet. This tree’s needles are elongated "needles" and come in clusters of three. (You can search the ground for samples.) The seeds are contained in a large cone. The Indians would take the inner layer of the bark and use it for an emergency food, bitter in taste but very nutritious. It must be thoroughly rinsed with water to remove all the natural turpentine it holds. (If you find a scarred pine, let the children smell a sample of the sap to detect the turpentine smell.) Marker 13_American Beautyberry - The jumble of vines surrounding the marker creates the real "briar patch". This mass of vines provides a good hiding place for small animals. In the center of this briar patch you will find the American Beautyberry. A small deciduous understory shrub that has tiny flowers during the summer. In the fall, it makes up for small flowers with large clusters of showy purple berries. The birds are attracted to this plant and will sit in the bush and eat and eat. Marker 14 Dewberry & Parsley Hawthorne - Look on the ground to the left of the marker and you will see Dewberry vines. In the spring they produce a white flower, a sure sign that the sweet edible berry is soon to come. This native woody vine produces stems up to 15' long that trail along the ground; some of the flowering stems are more erect and up to 4' tall. Old stems are brown and woody with scattered hooked prickles. Young stems are green with scattered hooked prickles; they are also more or less hairy. Look above the marker and you will find a Parsley Hawthorne. Compare the sample from the Littlehip Hawthorne you found at marker 7 to a leaf of the Parsley Hawthorne. The sharp thorns of this slender tree help protect it from grazing wildlife and were used by the Indians for fishhooks. This tree gets its common name from the parsley shaped leaves. During early spring, clusters of white flowers appear that later produce brilliant red berries that are eaten by many birds and small animals.
Take your class on a successful safari out into Mother Nature’s classroom. Start with a series of short hikes that allow students to apply scientific process skills to their own schoolyard while enjoying the great outdoors. A collection of twenty hikes are featured below that will compliment any curriculum.
Roll up a sheet of construction paper into a tube. Use the tube like a telescope outdoors to "focus" in on nests, birds, etc. Tape two tubes together and add a string strap to make binoculars.
Encourage your students to see the world from a different point of view. Lie down on your stomach to view the world from the vantage of a turtle. Lay on backs to imitate a flounder’s point of view. Sit up, kneel and crouch. Think about which animals would have that point of view. Is the view different at varying heights? COLOR COLLECTING Collect as many colors as you can. List them. How many did you find? Take the same hike during different seasons. Do the colors vary? Ask students to choose one color and find as many objects of the similar color as possible. Make a collage from the found items.
Distribute a piece of yarn and a hand lens to each student. Encourage them to find a special spot outside to study. Ask students to form a circle on the ground with their yarn. Holding their heads near the ground, students should move along slowly to explore the magnified landscape. Back in class, draw a large circle on paper and illustrate the discoveries made.
Apply a strong solution of food flavoring cinnamon and lemons to trees or other objects using a spray bottle. Students will use their noses to follow the trail.
Travel across your schoolyard using your sense of touch on the trail of things that are smooth, rough, or prickly. Compare paths taken, or go on a search for as many different textures as you can find. Collect samples to mount on cardboard for a texture collection.
Conduct a follow the leader type hike. The leader would use creative movements to imitate animal’s movements. Some suggestions are:
Walk along quietly to discover the variety of sounds to be heard outside the schoolroom. Which were man made/natural? Instruct students to cup their hands around their ears to catch more sound. Can they tell the difference? What animals have large, sound catching ears? For fun, students can construct large paper ears to test them outside for their sound catching ability.
Hunt for items for each letter of the alphabet or many items to illustrate a certain letter of the alphabet. Which letters were items hardest to find. Classify each item as living/ non- living, natural/ man-made, etc.
Distribute leaf samples taken from your school grounds. As you hike, students search for a tree that has the same type of leaf
Equipped with a garbage bag, search for litter. Where was most of it found? Collect samples to classify later (paper, glass, metal) and discuss the hazards of pollution and some solutions
Follow the path of an ant for five minutes marking the beginning and end of the timed trail. Use a measuring tape to determine the distance travel. (Chalk or trickled sand can be used along behind the traveling ant to "map" its path). What problems did the ant have? Tell about its adventures. Illustrate. Make "ant"ennae headbands out of pipe cleaners to wear. Start an ant farm.
Give each child a piece of yarn one-centimeter long. Try to find things that are one centimeter long, wide or around. What things were smaller or greater than one centimeter? Do the same with a piece of yarn one meter in length.
Look for shapes such as circles and squares in nature, buildings or playground equipment. Are any repeated? Give each student a card in the shape of a circle square or triangle. Go outside to find an object in nature that closely resembles or fits the shape of the card.  
 
TRACKING WILD ANIMALS Scout for animals or evidence of animals such as nets, hole, ant mounds, broken seeds, tracks, pellets, munched leaves, burrows or feathers. Listen for bird calls, squirrel chattering, buzzing or the drumming of woodpeckers. Any evidence of that large mammal-man? Collect leaves as you hike. Classify the leaves according to color, size or shape. Which color was predominant? Graph the results. Would the colors collected be different in the spring? Leaves may be pressed then laminated for later use as a center sorting activity or in case of inclement weather. CATERPILLAR CRAWL This is a great technique for keeping students in line and well-spaced apart. Students walk slowly in single file, arms outstretched and resting on the person in front of them. Where the caterpillar’s head goes so goes the rest of the body. How many legs does your caterpillar have?
As you march along, the person leading the line must correctly answer a review question (math facts, vocabulary). A miss sends the leader to the end and the next person takes the lead as long as he/she is able to answer the questions correctly. A great way to review lessons as your march.
Divide students into teams. Give each team a card naming opposite words (big/little, dark/light) etc. Challenge each team to find examples for each card.
Use the free manipulatives found in natures classroom (pebbles, seeds, pinecones, leaves twigs) to do a variety of math operations. Show students how to keep a tally of trees. Search for items in nature that come in pairs, threes or fours. Compare collections of items- greater/smaller.
Inexpensive, easily made teaching aids guaranteed to make your outdoor experiences more comfortable, organized and enjoyable: Sit-Upons Stuff plastic garbage bags with layers of newspaper and tape shut with masking or duct tape. These keep bottoms dry, clean and comfortable, and are convenient for outdoor note taking or sketching.
Portable desks
"Bagpacks"
Insect Hazards
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