How much can one tree do? According to a group from the Newton Boys & Girls Club (BGC), the answer is — a lot.

This spring, the Newton chapter of Mothers Out Front (MOF) teamed up with 20 BGC members, ages 7 to 12, for a hands-on, eye-opening adventure in climate action. During three Thursday afternoons, MOF volunteers helped the youth discover how the trees outside their Newtonville building are quietly fighting climate change everyday.

Armed with measuring tapes, lab notebooks, and curiosity, the children measured the circumference of trees, identified species, and recorded each tree’s location. Then, with the instructions on the Protect Newton Trees website, they calculated how many pounds of carbon each tree absorbs annually, how much cooling energy it saves, and how much stormwater it can store. READ MORE.