GRADES
K-2
®
What’s the
Biggest Tree You’ve Ever Seen?
Imagine a tree so big that its trunk is wider than four school buses parked side by side. Imagine the same tree, and it’s also taller than the biggest dinosaurs.
California Giant Sequoia Groves
That’s the size a giant sequoia tree can get! These huge trees grow naturally in just one area in the whole world — the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Pacific Ocean
How Do They Get
So Big?
Apple Tree
10-Story Building
Giant Sequoia
Coast Redwood
Giant sequoias are the largest trees in the world. They can grow more than 250 feet tall with a trunk up to 30 feet wide. People stop growing once they are adults, but giant sequoias keep growing as long as they live — and they live a very long time. Some giant sequoias live to be 2,000 to 3,000 years old! Giant sequoias have a special thick bark that helps them stay safe from disease and fire. They are also evergreen. This means their leaves stay green all year to make food for the tree. These things help them grow and grow.
Explore Find a big tree at home or school and wrap your arms around its trunk. Can you touch your fingers together? If not, how many kids would it take to stretch around it? Some giant sequoias are so big that 25 kids with their arms stretched out can barely reach around one!
Explore Take a walk in your neighborhood to look for evergreen trees. Ask a parent or teacher to help you. What do these trees feel like? Look for seed cones under the tree or on the branches. What shape are they?
The Sequoia
Community Giant sequoias, like people, need a community to help them live and grow. The giant sequoia’s community has many plants and animals that help the trees and each other. The sequoia trees give plants and animals shade and a place to live. Small squirrels called chickarees eat sequoia seed cones, spreading the seeds and helping new trees to grow. Tiny animals in the soil eat dead leaves, branches and logs, making the soil better for giant sequoias and other plants. Insects live in and around the trees and become food for birds. Water and sunlight are also important parts of the community. Giant sequoias need lots of water and sunlight each year to live and grow. They get most of their water from snow that has melted into the ground. Every living thing in the forest community needs others to live. Without this community, giant sequoias could not last.
Get Active Learn More Visit the Save the Redwoods League Web site at
SaveTheRedwoods.org. Check out books about giant sequoias from your library.
Inspire Others Write a letter to a friend or draw a picture about sequoias. Send your sequoia art, poetry, photos or memories to Save the Redwoods League, and we might post them on our Web site!
Visit a Park Go to a park or nature area in your community. Pick a tree or other plant and find out its name. Ask a park ranger if any giant sequoias live there.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Everything we use comes from nature. You can help trees and nature by using less and recycling what you do use.
Helping Sequoias There used to be more huge old giant sequoias than there are now. People cut down many of them to make fences and roofs. In most places, it is now against the law to cut the old giant sequoias. Lots of people love giant sequoias so much that they have worked to save them so that others can enjoy them. Save the Redwoods League helps by protecting them in parks. See Get Active for ways you can help these great trees.
About Save the Redwoods League Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League has protected redwood forests so that people can be inspired by these precious natural wonders — now and in the future. The League and its partners help people of all ages experience these majestic trees through the forestlands we have helped protect and restore, the many education programs we sponsor and our Web site.
Plant a Native Tree Help your teacher or family find a good spot for a new tree. Choose a tree that grows well in your area. Help plant the tree and water it.
114 Sansome Street, Suite 1200 San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 362-2352 SaveTheRedwoods.org/Education
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