Created by Debra Wagner, a 4th grade teacher and PLT School Coordinator at St. Paul Lutheran School in Florida. Branching out in Working Forests is a game that students can play to gather information about the value of trees as an agricultural commodity in their state. Students will summarize their stops throughout a ‘forest’ by practicing writing sentences using… Read more »
Engage your students in developing their ELA skills and storytelling with this resource Creating a Forest Diorama from Debra Wagner, a 4th grade teacher and PLT School Coordinator at St. Paul Lutheran School in Florida. You’ll reach students who would never “picture” themselves in a forest or other habitat! Wagner was named a National PLT Outstanding Educator in… Read more »
Observe annual growth rings using this Tree Cookie Cross Section of a 102-year-old ponderosa pine from northwest Nebraska to learn about the many changes in a tree’s lifetime. Early on, the ring widths show average growth for a tree in arid northwest Nebraska but they began to narrow considerably when the tree was about 20 years old.… Read more »
Learn more about the work of a tree conservation ecologist in this episode from the podcast series Planted: Finding your roots in STEM Careers. Dr. Silvia Alvarez-Clare works at The Morton Arboretum, located 25 miles west of Chicago. She collaborates with individuals and institutions all over the world to save the brandegee oak (Quercus brandegeei) from extinction. Dr.… Read more »
Foldscope is a foldable microscope made mostly of paper that achieves the goal of being less than one U.S. dollar in parts to produce. These origami microscopes weigh less than 10 grams and provide the magnification power of your standard classroom microscope. Produced by Foldscope Instruments, the company’s mission is to produce low-cost scientific tools that… Read more »
Animals at Risk from Climate Change is an educational poster developed by the Global Education Project. The poster presents a succinct overview of the fundamental impacts of greenhouse gases and features 25 animals currently at risk because of climate change. Through illustrations, symbols and brief explanatory text, learn about the biological traits and environmental conditions that… Read more »
A study 20 years ago found that British kids were better at identifying Pokemon than real wildlife. So a Canadian professor of teaching has crowdsourced ideas and created a competitive card game that teaches kids about ecosystems. Learn more about this scientific Pokemon-type card game called Phylo: The Ecosystem Trading Card Game. Download rules and a starter deck… Read more »
As a 7th grade Environmental Science teacher, I often turn to PLT for ideas and inspiration. So when my state adopted new environmental science content and guidelines earlier this year, I took a deep breath and opened my trustworthy PreK-8 Guide for inspiration. It’s helped me through previous curriculum and standards changes in years past, and not surprisingly, I found more than 15 engaging activities to strongly correlate with the new state guidelines.
Decomposers live off dead material and recycle nutrients into the soil for reuse by plants. These STEM activities teach students about producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Suitable for use with youth aged 12-25, four hands-on instructional activities help youth research different forest-sector jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources. Can be used in settings ranging from community youth programs and school classrooms, to college and career prep, to field trips and forest tours to help youth discover careers in sustainable forestry and conservation.