Make Your Own Paper
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Students learn about the papermaking process by trying it themselves. Students will find out that they can make their own paper and that their product is practical, as well as beautiful.
Objectives
Students will
- Describe the steps of the papermaking process
- Identify the inputs and outputs of the papermaking process.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase the Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide at Shop.PLT.org and/or attend a professional development training in your state.
Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
Forest World
Forest World Grades 6-8 Written by: Margarita Engle Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-1481490580 Recommended Reading Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American author of many verse novels, memoirs, and picture books. From 2017-2019, Engle served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate, a two-year appointment made by the Poetry Foundation. The Young... Read more »
EE Resources
Video: How to Make Paper
“How to Make Paper.” This 5:55-minute video shows the industrial paper-making process from trees to the finished rolls of paper. It is one of a series of BeLeaf It or Not! videos by Michigan State University Extension, which are geared for students. For activities: Make Your Own Paper (Variation for Grades 3–5), We All Need... Read more »
Outdoor Careers and Connections to Nature: Video Series from New Hampshire
The video series North Country Calling: Finding Home in Northern New Hampshire documents four young people in New Hampshire who have found rewarding careers in forestry and the manufacture of wood products, in outdoor recreation and education. Their chosen paths strengthen their close connection with nature and fulfill their thirst for outdoor adventure. The videos, created by... Read more »
Make That Paper: Careers in Forestry Online Game
Make That Paper: Careers in Forestry is an online game designed to help high school students learn about the forestry industry and career employability skills. In the game, students are managers in three different forest industry career tracks, hiring personnel, solving industry-related problems, and making sound business decisions. Objectives include maintaining sustainable, efficient, and successful management of... Read more »
PLT’s 12 Green Job Fact Sheets
Learn more about the wide array of jobs related to forests with PLT’s 12 Green Jobs Fact Sheets, which highlights the following green jobs: Forester, Environmental Educator, GIS Specialist, Indigenous Relations Specialist, Forestry Technician, Park Ranger, Hydrologist, Silviculture Technician, Urban Forester, Machine Operator, Wildlife Biologist, and Sustainability Manager. Green jobs offer opportunities for people with... Read more »
STEM Teaching Tools
The University of Washington’s Institute of Science and Math created Practice Briefs. These free articles highlight ways of working on specific issues that come up during STEM teaching. These briefs helps K-12 educators and administrators stay informed on teaching STEM issues, including STEM issues relating to teaching NGSS and implementing meaningful STEM learning. Each brief... Read more »
Paper is Good. Pass It On
To highlight the importance of paper in our lives, Domtar (a producer of pulp and paper products) created a Paper Because campaign featuring ads and a series of short videos to dispel some common myths about the environmental impact of paper and the use of paper in today’s digital age. “There are times when no substitute... Read more »
Paper Making Video
Paper Making Video (about 5 minutes), produced by AF&PA in partnership with PLT, Sidwell Friends School, and Smurfit-Stone
My Garbology
We toss items into the trash every day – about 4.4 pounds per person per day, on average. With garbology, the study of waste, students can learn about waste reduction and steps they can take to reduce the amount of trash on the planet. This website’s interactive interface allows students to learn about the recycling,... Read more »
Invasive Paper Project
The Invasive Paper Project travels throughout Detroit to offer papermaking demos and workshops with invasive plants (like Phragmites, Honeysuckle, Garlic Mustard) that have been removed from city parks, lots, and green spaces in many different communities. This project creates community awareness about invasive plant species and their effects on local ecosystems, while also providing an... Read more »
Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt
Join National Public Radio’s Planet Money team as they follow the manufacturing of a T-Shirt around the world — from the farms where the cotton is grown to the factories where the shirts are sewn together. This story is told in a 5-chapter story of video clips.
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