What do trees do for humans?
Trees do LOADS of things to help humans! If you look closely when you go around a nice neighbourhood then you will probably notice that there are lots of trees. This is because trees are great at making places that people live in look nice.
They also help people feel happier. Would you feel happier stood in a wood surrounded by trees or in a car park? It would probably the wood right? That’s because nature like trees makes you feel better and more relaxed.
Trees can help combat climate change as well! One of the big reasons climate change is happening is because people are letting too much carbon get into the atmosphere. Well, trees can take this carbon out of the air, which can help slow down climate change.
Trees are also great at sucking up water. This is really important around houses as if it rains too much then the drains can overflow and houses can flood! However, if you have enough trees to suck the water up then less water will go into the drains and so they will not overflow and cause a flood.
Did you know that trees can help cool cities down?
It’s true, trees can actually cool the air down!
Trees can sweat like humans do (sort of). The leaves on a tree have lots of little holes in them (called stoma) which they can open and close when they want. Trees take on carbon dioxide and release oxygen through these holes. When these holes are open water from inside the tree can evaporate out of the holes and this cools the tree down – sort of like how we release water when we sweat.
When water evaporates in the air it cools the air down. So when a tree lets water evaporate out of it it is actually cooling down the air!
Want to find out more?
Then listen to the latest episode of the Fun Kids Science Weekly podcast, Dan is talking to Dr. Kieron Doick from Forest Research all about trees and how they help…