Treehouses on the Tree of Life

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Treehouses are Tree of Life pages designed for kids, teachers, and the young at heart. The information found on treehouses complements the scientific core content presented on Tree of Life branch and leaf pages. Our treehouse collection is growing, and we now have over 200 treehouses sprinkled throughout the Tree of Life. Look for them in the treehouses menu in the right sidebar on pages about organisms. See About ToL Treehouses for more information, and Learning with the Tree of Life to get an overview of ToL learning resources. Enjoy browsing the sample treehouses below.

Investigations

An Exploration of the Clownfish

The clownfish is a type of fish that lives in salt water habitats. It is also called an Anemonefish. Clownfish are typically very bright, orange fish that have three white stripes, one at the head, middle and tail. If you look really closely, you may notice that there are thin black lines around the white stripes. Also, the tips of their fins have a thin black rounded stripe. This page was created by secondary school students at Havergal College in Ontario, Canada.

Varanus komodoensis

Teresa Dang, a student at McMaster University, writes about the Komodo Dragon, the largest extant lizard on Earth, endemic to several small islands in Indonesia.

Man's Best Friend

Dogs. We all know what they are, and most people have lived with them as pets or seen them about in communities. But how much do we really know about them? In this treehouse, learn about, wild dogs and phylogeny, the domestication of dogs, breeds, dog behavior, communication and more, then take an engaging quiz! This page was created by Alex McDougall and several of his classmates in at McMaster University in Canada, as part of the course, Origins and Evolution of Organisms, offered by Jon Stone, Associate Director, the Origins Institute at McMaster University. The page is dedicated to the memory of an animal loving classmate.

What Makes a Primate a Primate?

Find out about what makes a primate a primate by looking at skeletal features, evolutionary trends and primate behavior. Built by Kathryn Orzech, a student pursuing a degree in biocultural and medical anthropology at the University of Arizona.

Evolution of the Australopithecines

Paul Szpak, a student at McMaster University, explores the morphology, taxonomy and evolution of australopithecines, a diverse group of fossil hominids that lived in Africa until about 1.4 million years ago.

Patterns of Change and Development in Human Nutrition

Samir Hussain, a student at McMaster University, investigates the patterns of human nutrition over the course of the evolutionary timeline to see if prehistoric eating patterns and today's chronic diseases have anything in common.

Human Evolution

Graham Brown, Stephanie Fairfax, Nidhi Sarao, and Samer Sayegh, students at McMaster University, compile information about species in the genus Homo.

Pan troglodytes - Chimpanzee

Paolo Mazzonetto, a student at McMaster University, provides a summary of chimpanzee biology and behavior.

The Gibbon Tale or a Monkey without a Tail

A student at Oregon State University explores gibbon characteristics and evolutionary history.

Ring-tailed Lemur: Lemur catta

Heather Kennedy, a student at McMaster University, introduces these popular primates from Madagascar.

The Domestic Guinea Pig, Cavia porcellus

Hilary Noad, a student at McMaster University, provides information about these popular pet animals.

Introduction to Order Diprotodontia

Judi Agar, a student at McMaster University, gives an introduction to the largest subgroup of marsupials.

Order Monotremata: The Platypus and The Echidna

Margaret Thibodeau, a student at McMaster University, writes about the characteristics and evolutionary history of egg-laying mammals.

The Galapagos Finches

The Galapagos Finches are one of the most widely recognized examples of research in evolutionary biology. This treehouse provides access to a variety of data resources that can be used to think about the causes and relationships underlying the distribution and other characteristics of the Galapagos Finches. The materials featured on this page come from an NSF funded educational project called Beagle Investigation Returns with Darwinian Data (BIRDD).

The Arthropod Story

The Arthropod Story is an interactive investigation that takes you on a tour through the amazing evolutionary history of arthropods. The content of this treehouse is from the Understanding Evolution project, a site created by the Understanding Evolution team at the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Understanding Evolution is a ToL partner project.

Morphological and Functional Diversity of Ant Mandibles

This page was created by Chris Schmidt, a PhD student in Entomology at the University of Arizona. This treehouse is accessible to a wide range of learners as it uses images and diagrams to explain the function of ant mandibles (jaws).

Odontomachus: Amazing Mandibles!

Trapjaw ants use extremely powerful and fast mandibular strikes to stun or skewer their prey. More cool ant facts from Chris Schmidt, a PhD student in Entomology at the University of Arizona.

No, I'm not "shellfish"... I'm a Decapod!

Carmen Cheung and Temara Brown, students at McMaster University, muse about the term "shellfish" and explore the biology of decapod crustaceans.

The Life of a Sponge

A student at Oregon State University explores the biology of sponges.

Polytrichum commune - Common Hair Cap Moss

A student at Havergal College, a secondary school in Toronto,learns about moss.

Deinococcus-Thermus: Adaptations to "nearly out of this world" environments

Adrian Stacy, a student at McMaster University, reports on the adaptations of some very strange bacteria.

Retroviridae - the Study of a Virus Family

Salini Thulasirajah, a student at McMaster University, explores viruses and takes a closer look at the family that contains the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

To find out more about what you can build visit the Treehouse Investigations page.

Stories

Miss Blue Morpho's Story Time

Learned about metamorphosis, how Blue Morpho Butterflies get their blue color, and how they keep safe with their brown underside wings.

The Adventures of Jessica the Clownfish

There was a family of clownfish that lived in the sea, They lived in an anemone!

The Story of Mone the Clownfish

Once upon a time, in the depths of the ocean, there were hundreds of tiny fish eggs lying peacefully inside the protection of a sea anemone with a loving father who looked after them.

Memoirs of a Pacific Treefrog

Read about Fred the Hyla regilla, a Pacific Treefrog from the west coast of North America, in this scrapbook that he created to tell you about his life.

The Daily Newspaper of the Dendroaspis Polylepis (Black Mamba)

Extra Extra! Read all about it. Read about the black mamba olympics, the dwindling rodent stock in the northern quadrant of Somalia, and browse the real estate classifieds for news of dens and lairs for sale.

Confessions of an Ostrich

The life and times of Daneka, an ostrich who lives in the desert of Central Africa.

The Flight of the Eagle

This story was written by a student to show the effect of clear cutting on the entire ecosystem. It also shows the habits and abilities of the North American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

Bertha the Beluga, A Story

On this Treehouse, one can learn the basics about Beluga Whales. General characteristics, habitat, adaptations to the environment, and reproductive characteristics are explored. Additionally, a short story provides a beginner level summary of beluga life with follow up questions to consolidate comprehension.

The Bengal Brothers

A tale of a lifetime friendship founded on the brotherly love of two fun-loving Bengal tigers.

The Adventures of Zorro: the story of a red fox

Once upon a time, there was a little red fox named Zorro who lived with his mum, dad and nine brothers and sisters in a cozy den in the ground...

To find out more about what you can build visit the Treehouse Stories page.

Fun and Games

Emperor Penguin Board Game

Students at Rutgers Preparatory School have created a board game that lets you test your knowledge of the magnificent Emperor Penguin.

Giants, Markets, and Pygmy Squids: A Game for All Ages

Created by secondary school students at Havergal College in Ontario, Canada, this game gives elementary school children a fun way to learn about Giant, Market and Pygmy squids. The game allows children to act out the squids' predator-prey behavior and should be played as a group.

Frorio, the Fire Belly Toad Game

This treehouse features the Fire Belly Toad game for all ages. Students at Rutgers Preparatory School created this game so that it is both fun to play and a learning experience. The game is a downloadable stand alone program for Windows only.

The "Red" Green Algae: Watermelon Snow

Although known for its bright pink-red color, watermelon snow, scientifically known as Chlamydomonas nivalis, is actually a species of green algae. Authored by a secondary school student at Havergal College in Ontario, Canada, who created her own clay models and word search games.

The Beetle Treehouse

Amazing beetles, beetle mysteries, and a quiz about beetle parts.

Brown Algae Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles all about brown algae by students at Rutgers Preparatory School.

The Sonoran Desert Endangered Species Card Game

The Sonoran Desert Endangered Species Card Game teaches about the habitat, range and status of nine Sonoran Desert Endangered Species. This treehouse features materials from the Sonoran Desert Kids club, a ToL partner project.

To find out more about what you can build visit the Treehouse Fun and Games page.

Art and Culture

Origami Organisms

Create origami birds, theropods, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. Learn about these organisms and how they are related.

The Sea Star Song

A song about sea stars written by secondary school students at Havergal College in Ontario, Canada.

Bottlenose Dolphins- A Song!

Another song by a Havergal College student.

Ameloctopus Autotomy

When threatened by a predator, Ameloctopus litoralis sheds one of its arms. The arm thrashes about to distract (and feed) the predator while the octopus makes its getaway. Robert Holland wrote a limerick about it.

How to Make a Black Widow Spider Mobile

An exercise meant to serve as a tool to help students learn about the Black Widow Spider. The activity provides information so students will have a basic understanding about where the Black Widow lives, what it eats, and how it interacts with other spiders. This craft is not only educational but fun to make as well!

To find out more about what you can do visit the Treehouse Art and Culture page.

Webquests

Introduction to Learning with the Tree of Life

To learn with the Tree of Life (the ToL) and become a ToL contributor, it is important to first learn about the ToL. In this WebQuest you will play the role of students and/or biologists who have been invited to become contributors to the ToL and present at the ToL Biodiversity Conference in the Galapagos. In the process of exploring the ToL you will learn about different ToL page types, who authors ToL pages, how to browse the site and learn about phylogeny, and opportunities for contributing treehouses.

Phylogeography - Why are we here and how did we get here?

here do you live? Perhaps your home is near an ocean, or between two mountains. Maybe you live somewhere exotic, such as the Australian Outback! Depending on your geographical location, a rich history of events lead to the landscape you see around you. This treehouse was built by Kitt Vollmer, a student at McMaster University.

To find out more about WebQuests and how to contribute them, visit the Treehouse WebQuests page.

Portfolios

The Study of Fruit Fly Genetics at City High School

Students in Molly Renner's biology classes at City High School in Tucson, AZ created treehouses to document their fruit fly genetics experiments. Students conducted lab experiments to test for a variety of different mutations. The objective was for students to learn about the inheritance patterns of organisms by observing fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster.

Medicinal Plants of the Sicangu Lakota

This classroom project by students at Lead-Deadwood High School in Lead, South Dakota is based on the indigenous plants of the Dakotas–their names and uses by the Lakota Sioux. In addition to information about the plants, their medicinal uses, and secondary compounds, the pages also feature the Lakota names for the plants along with audio files that demonstrate their pronounciation.

City High School Ecobottle Investigations

City High School 9th graders in Tucson, Arizona built ecobottles to explore ecosystems on a small scale. Each ecobottle contained three sections: a terrestrial section, an aquatic section and a decomposition section. Students devised plans for each section and researched the type of organisms they could add to each zone. The class agreed that they learned a lot in the process of creating "mini-worlds" and observing their development over the course of two months. The students' documentation of their work was an important part of the project, and provided the basis for the treehouse investigations that are part of this portfolio.

Havergal College Student Treehouses

Grade 11 Biology students at Havergal College, a secondary school for girls in Ontario, Canada, have created a wide variety of treehouses on organisms such as watermelon snow, black mambas, clownfish, ostriches, pacific treefrogs and more! We highly recommend checking out these fun, creative and educational story, game, art and culture and investigation treehouses. Havergal students are among the first to create treehouses on the Tree of Life and we applaud their efforts.

Marine Discovery: Exploring Marine Life

This treehouse is a teacher resource portfolio that presents materials for exploring marine life, including a slide show of marine organisms in Puerto Peñasco, México, movies of students working with live specimens in the lab, and a teacher's guide for the Marine Discovery Lab field trip. Marine Discovery is a public outreach program that involves college, elementary and middle school students in an inquiry based and hands-on learning experience. All materials are aligned with Arizona Science Education Standards.

Rutgers Preparatory Student Treehouses

Rutgers Preparatory School is a coeducational independent school founded in 1766 and located in central New Jersey. The upper School has 325 students, all of whom take a biology course in their sophomore year. Biology begins with biodiversity, including an emphasis on evolutionary relationships and phylogenetics. As part of this unit, students write a creative short story or game from an organism's viewpoint. Creating treehouses on the Tree of Life gave students a unique opportunity to publish their work for a larger audience.

Sonoran Desert Organism Investigations

Students at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, AZ created these treehouses as part of a three-part ecosystems unit called: Studying Sonoran Desert Organisms in Freshman (High School) Honors Biology. These treehouses feature close-up pictures of bobcats in backyards, and information about how students are helping to eradicate invasive species.

To find out more about ToL portfolios and how to create them, visit the Treehouse Portfolios page.

Teacher Resources

Fruit Fly Genetics Project

This page describes the instructors' experience guiding groups of students through the dual process of conducting a basic genetics experiment with Drosophila melanogaster and documenting the project by creating treehouse web pages.

Marine Discovery: Exploring Marine Life

This treehouse is a teacher resource portfolio and presents materials for exploring marine life, including a slide show of marine organisms in Puerto Peñasco, México, movies of students working with live specimens in the lab, and a teacher's guide for the Marine Discovery Lab field trip. Marine Discovery is a public outreach program that involves college, elementary and middle school students in an inquiry based and hands-on learning experience. All materials are aligned with Arizona Science Education Standards.

Building Treehouses about Sonoran Desert Organisms

This teacher resource outlines how students built Sonoran Desert Organism Treehouses as part of a 3 section unit on Ecosystems that included a whole class map making activity, an independent study, and the development of an ecosystem lab, where students set up an experiment after coming up with a testable question related to a set topic.

Observing and Documenting Behavior in a Group of Animals (non-human)

This lesson provides a structured way for learners to engage in the scientific inquiry process as they research and observe an animal (or animals) in the wild or in a captive setting.

Making 3-D Models of the Tree of Life

This teacher resource discusses, outlines and explains the construction of 3-D models of the Tree of Life. These 3-D models are presented as a way to help us understand the complex genetic connections between Life on Earth.

Life at the Water's Surface: An Interactive Museum Exhibit

Students at Brown University present a series of activities to investigate insects capable of living on the surface of water, the special adaptations that make this lifestyle possible, how these organisms move, mate, find food, and the footprint these organisms leave in their environment.

The Life as a Lizard Unit and Role Playing Game

Created by Arizona Partners in Reptile and Amphibian Conservation. The unit provides an overview of lizard biology culminating in the "Life as a Lizard" role playing game. The game allows students to move around indoors or outdoors to learn about lizards and their behavior. The unit contains step by step lessons with National Science Education Standards, glossary words, background information, internet and multimedia resources, trivia activities, and more!

To find out more about ToL resources for teachers and ways to contribute teacher resources, visit the Teacher Resources page.

Focus: Arizona

Treehouses with a focus on Arizona fauna and flora, life science research at the University of Arizona, and the work of students in Arizona schools.

Common Backyard Birds of Tucson, Arizona

Southeast Arizona is one of the most interesting areas for birders in all of North America. People from all over the world come here just to see our fabulous birds. Learn about interesting birds that you can see in Tucson, with pictures, movies, and sounds.

Working with Data from Tucson Bird Count

This pages describes an activity that uses Tucson Bird Count data collected by volunteers over the past six years from 27 parks to illustrate how sampling affects estimates of species diversity.

Habitat Investigation

Learn about biodiversity with hands on activities for exploring local birds and arthropods. Analyze diversity data from the Tucson Bird Count and come to understand the common problems scientists have with measuring diversity.

Burrowing Owl Dispersal Movements in Tucson, Arizona

Widely distributed throughout most of the western United States, Western Burrowing Owls are small, and they roost and nest in underground burrows in open grasslands and prairies, as well as other areas characterized by sparse vegetation. Due to noticeable population declines across most of its range, wildlife researchers are investigating potential causes for these declines and are focusing efforts to protect valuable habitat. This page was created by Lirain Urreiztieta, an employee of Arizona Game and Fish.

Prairie Falcons in the Sonoran Desert

An investigation by a student at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson.

Roadrunners

An investigation by a student at Miles Exploratory Learning Center in Tucson.

Where Bobcats Live

Learn about where bobcats live in the desert near Tucson, Arizona, and why they sometimes move into human settlements. This page was created by a student at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, and features pictures of a bobcat in the author's backyard.

Where could you find a badger in the Sonoran Desert?

An investigation by a student at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson.

The Effects of the Environment on Desert Tortoises

An investigation by a student at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson.

Common Backyard Insects of Tucson, Arizona

The Sonoran Desert is famous for its spectacular insect fauna. The high insect diversity in southern Arizona is due to many factors, including steep elevation changes, warm subtropical climate, and the fact that it is a place where temperate and tropical faunas meet and intermingle. This page describes just a small number of the most commonly encountered insects in backyards in Tucson.

Nighttime Bug Watching

View a short video of biology students blacklighting in southeastern Arizona, then investigate bugs at night on your own!

Morphological and Functional Diversity of Ant Mandibles

This page was created by Chris Schmidt, a PhD student in Entomology at the University of Arizona. This treehouse is accessible to a wide range of learners as it uses images and diagrams to explain the function of ant mandibles (jaws).

Odontomachus: Amazing Mandibles!

Trapjaw ants use extremely powerful and fast mandibular strikes to stun or skewer their prey. More cool ant facts from Chris Schmidt, a PhD student in Entomology at the University of Arizona.

Bugs, Bodies, and Crime Scene Investigation

Forensic entomology is the study of insects associated with a body after death, mainly to determine time since death. Michelle Gamber, a graduate student in Anthropology at the University of Arizona, gives an introduction to this icky, yet fascinating field.

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates at Agua Caliente Park, Tucson AZ

As part of a water unit, middle-school students from Paulo Friere Freedom School in Tucson, Arizona visited Agua Caliente Park to collect aquatic macro-invertebrates. They intended to use these organisms to calculate a biotic index for the main pond at Agua Caliente.

Sonoran Desert Mushroom Hunting

Southeast Arizona is a surprisingly good place to be a mushroom hunter. Watch a movie about mushrooms on Mount Lemmon and find out how you can get started exploring mushrooms yourself.

Weeds in Rylan's Yard

This Treehouse encourages students to explore species in their yards and neighborhoods. Focusing on one weed, little mallow, it provides an example of a ToL Biodiversity Exploration Investigation. This Treehouse details the process of learning about a species, about which the author previously knew very little, through observing, taking photos and reading about the organism. The author identifies the species and explores the concept of what is, and is not a weed, as well as what is considered a native plant.

Investigation of Buffelgrass, A Deadly Invasive Species: Buffelgrass

Investigations by students at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson.

An Introduction to Reconciliation Ecology

Reconciliation ecology is the science of inventing, establishing and maintaining new habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work and play. Learn about reconciliation ecology and listen to an interview with ecologist Mike Rosenzweig, University of Arizona.

Dr. Melanie Culver on Conservation Genetics

Dr. Melanie Culver, University of Arizona, discusses her own research on pumas, research on the Madagascar fish-eagle, as well as "sky island" bears of Arizona. She illustrates how conservation genetics can help to keep viable populations of organisms, such as the puma (mountain lion, cougar) in the wild.

What Makes a Primate a Primate?

Find out about what makes a primate a primate by looking at skeletal features, evolutionary trends and primate behavior. Built by Kathryn Orzech, a student pursuing a degree in biocultural and medical anthropology at the University of Arizona.

Marine Discovery Lab

Join students in the lab to explore marine life of the Gulf of California on the Marine Discovery Field Trip. View movies of elementary school students dissecting marine animals and exploring key concepts about marine diversity.

Marine Discovery: Exploring Marine Life

This treehouse is a teacher resource portfolio and presents materials for exploring marine life, including a slide show of marine organisms in Puerto Peñasco, México, movies of students working with live specimens in the lab, and a teacher's guide for the Marine Discovery Lab field trip. Marine Discovery is a public outreach program that involves college, elementary and middle school students in an inquiry based and hands-on learning experience. All materials are aligned with Arizona Science Education Standards.

The Study of Fruit Fly Genetics at City High School

Students in Molly Renner's biology classes at City High School in Tucson, Arizona created treehouses to document their fruit fly genetics experiments. Students conducted lab experiments to test for a variety of different mutations. The objective was for students to learn about the inheritance patterns of organisms by observing fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster.

City High School Ecobottle Investigations

City High School 9th graders in Tucson, Arizona built ecobottles to explore ecosystems on a small scale. Each ecobottle contained three sections: a terrestrial section, an aquatic section and a decomposition section. Students devised plans for each section and researched the type of organisms they could add to each zone. The class agreed that they learned a lot in the process of creating "mini-worlds" and observing their development over the course of two months. The students' documentation of their work was an important part of the project, and provided the basis for the treehouse investigations that are part of this portfolio.

The Ninja Group Ecobottle Investigation

Ecobottles are multi-environmental, closed habitats. They consist of 3 environments; terrestrial, decomposition, and aquatic. The point of the ecobottles was to see what happens in a closed environment; to see if organisms would be able to survive in a closed, previously uninhabited environment. If you are interested in learning a thing or two about this project, visit this treehouse. This treehouse is part of the City High School Ecobottle Investigations Portfolio.

Building Treehouses about Sonoran Desert Organisms

This teacher resource outlines how students built Sonoran Desert Organism Treehouses as part of a 3 section unit on Ecosystems that included a whole class map making activity, an independent study, and the development of an ecosystem lab, where students set up an experiment after coming up with a testable question related to a set topic.

Farmers Markets: Growing Community Around Local Food and Conservation Issues

Farmers markets are great places to get connected to your local natural environment and other people in your community. Lisa Schwartz, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, talks about her visits to the Rincon Valley Farmers Market and the University of Arizona (UA) Farmers Market.

The Sonoran Desert Endangered Species Card Game

The Sonoran Desert Endangered Species Card Game teaches about the habitat, range and status of nine Sonoran Desert Endangered Species. This treehouse features materials from the Sonoran Desert Kids club, a ToL partner project.

The Life as a Lizard Unit and Role Playing Game

Created by Arizona Partners in Reptile and Amphibian Conservation. The unit provides an overview of lizard biology culminating in the "Life as a Lizard" role playing game. The game allows students to move around indoors or outdoors to learn about lizards and their behavior. The unit contains step by step lessons with National Science Education Standards, glossary words, background information, internet and multimedia resources, trivia activities, and more!