Many people believe that trees get all they need from the soil around them. It is a common misconception: a way that people think about the world that doesn't match scientific fact.

List some ideas about cells and plants that you know are true. Then list some ideas that are ideas that are false but believable: misconceptions you think your friends may have, or misconceptions you used to have. Read them in a random order to your neighbors and see if they can tell which ones you meant to be true.

Explain how the world's largest tree, the General Sherman giant sequoia, grew from a seed about 5 mm (0.25 inch) long, to a tree nearly 95 meters (311 feet) tall, a base of 103 feet (31 meters) around, weighing over 2,000 tons.