Magnificent avenues of horse chestnut trees have adorned the city parks for over a hundred years. Have you ever taken a closer look at the remarkable inflorescences and striking leaves? Was it also a pleasure for you in kindergarten to craft figures from the shiny horse chestnut fruits?
During his tours through the park, the park ranger notices changes in the horse chestnut trees that cause him concern. The horse chestnut leaves already show yellowish to brown, elongated spots in early summer and die off completely by late summer. Can this be a problem for the tree? What could be the cause? What role can the amount of rainfall at this location or the air pollution play? Are fungi or animals perhaps the cause of this phenomenon? Or is climate change to blame for the suffering of the trees?
This Worksheet is part of the Quartely Problem Series. For more quartely problems and other classroom materials, click here.
Picture Sources: Richard Blehr on Unsplash; in Post: Georg Eiermann on Unsplash, Bernd📷Dietrich on Unsplash
CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence granted
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International Centre for STEM Education (ICSE)
