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Responsible Forest Management: How can we keep our forests healthy?
https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/nature-lab-lesson-plans/NL_Westrock_Teachers.Guide.SmurfitWestrock.2024.pdf

The Nature Conservancy

This resource includes several separate lessons with an activity focused on various topics focused on the ecology of forests, forest health, and sustainability. Students take measurements, make observations of their environment, play educational games/quizzes, complete worksheets, and discuss with each other. Students collect their own data in many of the activities (measurements of tree circumference, identifying tree species with an app, identifying leaves, etc.).

This learning activity takes five 50 minute class periods.

Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»


Grade Level

Regional Focus

Online Readiness

Topics

Energy Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy | Technical Details

Teaching Tips

  • If trees are deciduous, it would be easier to identify them when they have their leaves on them.
  • The teacher may need to modify for younger students (5th grade), but well suited for middle schoolers. Teachers may choose to leave out some activities to meet a 5th grade teaching level.

About the Content

  • This lesson addresses many topics concerning the importance of trees including biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and ecological interactions.
  • Through this lesson students learn about the effects of deforestation and other human activities on forest ecosystems.
  • Students are involved in several activities, some of which they are collecting data (determine tree height and circumference) and identifying tree species.
  • The topics are relevant to students and are presented in scientific order and start with easier concepts and then get more complex but are still easy for students to understand.
  • The science is explained well and appropriately for the target age. Modifications may need to be made for younger learners.
  • Passed initial science review - expert review pending.

About the Pedagogy

  • This resource includes 6 complete lessons and one optional lesson that build on one another. Each lesson begins with guiding questions, videos, and engaging activities including an outdoor field trip, creating a food web, making a diorama, playing games (Kahoot), and worksheets.
  • This lesson would appeal to didactic learners. There is no prerequisite to beginning this lesson but lesson 0 offers background info on photosynthesis, carbon sequestration, and climate change.
  • The activities are hands-on, worksheet-based, or use online games/quizzes/phone applications to identify trees
  • The teacher's guide is well organized. Alternative activities are provided (if there are no trees around a school for the class to go out and collect leaves, the teacher can show pictures). These suggestions can be very helpful.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

  • There is an entire list of resources and background materials of videos, articles and other lesson plans which are very useful and robust.
  • This resource includes many electronic resources. Students will need to know how to use a computer and/or phone application (if the teacher is not doing it for them). The technology-related activities are simple and have easy-to-follow instructions.
  • Each lesson is detailed step by step and includes resource links.
  • There are a large number of links, so the teacher should test out to ensure they are working.
    There are 2 links that are broken - "Working Trees" and "Habitat Diorama: Monroe Township, NJ".
  • There is very little preparation time for a Teacher. It is almost ready to use as is and a teacher may just need to read over the instructions and make sure they have the materials to conduct the activities.

Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEAN

Entered the Collection: May 2025 | Last Reviewed: May 2025

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