Treebook
TreeBook is a way of monitoring tree health in Bristol. Using the principles of Citizen Science, it allows Key Stage 2 pupils to participate in scientific research. The value for the teacher is that this form of activity will fulfil and enhance science and environment learning objectives while engaging students in a fun, interactive and useful way. The council will also benefit as monitoring the health of trees in Bristol is a costly task. We propose a Facebook-style platform called TreeBook, targeted at primary school children and teachers, to be incorporated into school trips to further their school’s eco status. We will select one main tree in each green area and nature reserve across Bristol and produce a profile page
for each. Schools will then take a class to the area and perform ‘twig tests’ on the trees, using the provided instructions. They will then tag it with the tree’s health and upload the picture to a class folder. At school, the teach- er can access the folder for in-class discussion before uploading it to the website. This data will then be sent to the council to alert them if tree health is at risk so action can be taken. This will be visualised through a map of Bristol with cartoon trees inking to the profiles we have created. This data visualisation will engage the children as they can follow the progress of their tree and provide a clear way in which tree health can be presented to the council, government and nature groups across the UK.