6-8

What’s in a Label?

Students explore the environmental, social, and economic criteria of forest certification and consider possible benefits and limitations of certification for both forests and people.

Thermometer Sun 40 Degres. Hot summer day. High Summer temperatures

The Global Climate

Using data collected from Mauna Loa, students graph changes in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the course of several decades and identify possible reasons for those changes.

再生可能エネルギー イメージ写真

Renewable or Not

Students model what happens to renewable and nonrenewable resources over time and discover why sustainable use of natural resources is so important.

inside of a composting container

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

By examining trash, students can learn a lot about how and why they throw things away. Students find ways to reduce their community’s waste production and improve its management through participation in a service-learning project.

A seedlings of pine trees in bucket are ready to planting at a forest plantation. A volunteers are planting the seedlings on a empty forest glade. Shooting at cloudy autumn day

Plant a Tree

Never underestimate the power of a tree! In addition to giving us an amazing array of paper and wood products, trees provide a host of other benefits—from shading our backyards to reducing air pollution to helping stabilize the global climate.

Yosemite Valley view

Our Federal Forests

Our nation’s forests are managed to support different outcomes. Students learn how forests can be managed to meet human and environmental needs and examine national parks to identify challenges that forest managers face meeting different needs.

15000 x 10000 pixels. A pine plantation beneath a bright blue sky. This is a multi-frame composite and is suitable for printing extremely large.

Nothing Succeeds Like Succession

Succession is a natural pattern of change that takes place over time in a forest or other ecosystem. Students read a story about succession and investigate the connections among plants, animals, and successional stages in a local ecosystem.

Bachelor and Three Graces + 1 in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California

Nature’s Skyscrapers

Trees come in many shapes and sizes. Students become familiar with tree structure and scale by using different methods to measure them and by making comparisons. They learn the importance of standardized measurements and proper measuring techniques.

Forest fire and clouds of dark smoke in pine stands

Living with Fire

Students learn about the three elements a fire needs to burn and find out how this “fire triangle” can be used to prevent and manage wildland fires, particularly in the wildland–urban interface.

Aerial view over homes, streets and suburban community at the edge of picturesque country town surrounded by green pasture and farmland, Stroud, UK. ProPhoto RGB profile for maximum color fidelity and gamut.

Life on the Edge

Students model processes that can lead to species becoming rare or endangered. Then, they become advocates for rare or at-risk species of plants or animals and create “public relations campaigns” on behalf of these species.