My community is a very quiet and kept together place. We have houses, apartment complexes, park, trees and our own little shopping and food area by the train stations and buses which some of our locals nickname it "the bay". The people are very friendly but many often keep to themselves. We don't really hear sirens, and police cars, fights, or commotion. The most you'll ever hear in my neighborhood is an ice cream truck or laughter. Although I do live in a good neighborhood, it doesn't mean our air is any better then the next or a poverty stricken area. One positive thing about my community is that its clean, and safe for children. One negative about my community is that they often tend to divide into social groups depending on which block you live on, which I don't think is very fair.
In my Ecology & Community the students were asked to select five different leaves from trees in our neighborhood and bring them to class. We conducted internet research on the type of leaves we've selected and now I'm here to share with you my findings.
The first leaf I picked was from a Yellow Birch tree. The Yellow Birch tree is the most frequently used birch for lumber. Its hard, strong wood is used for furniture and various small objects. Deer, rabbits and beaver feed on this tree. It is a broadleaf simple leaf that is toothed.
Second up, I picked a leaf from a Sugar Maple tree. The Sugar Maple is a magnificent forest tree. The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, and tough, with a fine, satiny surface. It is in great demand for flooring, veneer, interior finish, furniture, shoe lasts, rollers, and as a fuel wood of the best quality.
One of my favorite leaves, the Eastern Red Ceder, differs from ever leave that I picked because it is that of the conifer family. The wood of the Red Cedar is fragrant and is used extensively for furniture. The foliage is bright green to dark green.
Next on the list is a leaf from a Black Walnut tree, which is the only compound leaf I picked. While valued as a lumber tree it may not make the best yard tree. The nuts are edible but are a nuisance to clean up and leaves often fall prematurely from some types of leaf disease.
Finally last but not least, the Black Cherry Tree. It is also known as a wild cherry or wild rum cherry tree. One of the largest cherry trees, the black cherry tree can grow to heights of fifty to eighty feet with a mature spread of twenty to fifty feet. The black cherry tree is deciduous. The wood of the black cherry tree is hard and reddish brown. It is commercially used in a large number of products, such as furniture, cabinets, gunstocks and musical instruments.
