What's a Gymnosperm?

The fifth graders have been studying plants in science. We are starting with the gymnosperms - plants that don't have fruits or flowers. A conifer would fall in this category, so I brought in the eight native conifers to northern Minnesota. The kids had to identify them with field guides.

Usually this is a difficult task for fifth graders because they call every tree with needles a "pine" tree. (Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, we called every evergreen a "spruce" tree.) When I tell them there actually are only three real kinds of pine trees where we live, they get a little confused.

I was pretty impressed with my class this year. They knew a jackpine from a balsam fir and even figured out the difference between a black spruce and a white spruce (neither one is black or white). I've got quite a bunch of budding little naturalists!