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New educational resources made available via ForestLearning website

The popular ForestLearning website continues to expand, with an additional eight educational resources recently added.

The ForestLearning program focuses on providing teaching and learning resources for teachers, enabling them to successfully integrate forestry and sustainable wood product contexts for learning into their classrooms, all aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

Manager ForestLearning Program, Beth Welden, said, “Earth and Environmental Science is a brand new Australian Curriculum subject for some states in 2018, with remaining states and territories beginning implementation in 2019. This has provided a timely opportunity for ForestLearning to develop useful, robust and relevant resources in this subject.  Teachers of this new science subject are actively looking for new resources to save them hours of time in planning. ”

New resources added to the site include:

  • Year 11 Earth and Environmental Science – Practical investigation of soil

Enhances student knowledge and understanding of the concept of biodiversity through exploration of three case studies that explore how the forestry industry is proactively approaching biodiversity decline:  Agroforestry, Wildlife Corridors, and the proposal of increasing pine plantations to conserve the Carnaby’s Cockatoo.

  • Year 9 Science: Enhancing biodiversity in the Australian environment

Enhances knowledge and understanding of the concept of biodiversity. Through various case studies and activities within school grounds and local areas, students explore why it is important and how technology is transforming the study of biodiversity.

  • Year 9-10 Agriculture and Science: Agroforestry: Trees at work on the farm

Explores topics surrounding land management, sustainability and tree-based solutions to land degradation issues. These lessons are designed to introduce students to some of the management decisions and advantages of incorporating agroforestry into a farming enterprise.

  • Year 11 Earth and Environmental Science – Depth study: Scientific models

A three-part substantial resource that highlights the importance of modelling on impacting yield, the environment, carbon capture and sustainability.

  • Year 12 Agriculture: Forests and their impact on water quality and quantity

Provides an introduction to some of the different impacts forestry has on waterways, both positive and negative.

  • Year 11 Agriculture: Forestry and carbon sequestration

Allows students to explore topics such as the greenhouse effect, climate change, carbon storage and carbon sequestration.

  • Year 12 Agriculture: The interaction of genotype, environment and management in the forestry industry

Multimedia sources and stimulus materials outline the current methods of plant breeding, with group work and individual tasks encouraging students to consider the use of genetics in the industry.

  • Year 11 Agriculture: Plant pests and diseases in plantation forestry industry

By researching one forestry plantation pest and one forestry plantation disease, students will develop case studies on each.

The website forestlearning.edu.au is a “one-stop-shop” that provides forest-related lesson plans, facts, videos and online games for primary and secondary school teachers. Resources will continue to be added, and the program now reaches more than 50,000 students each year.

All resources can be found on the ForestLearning website, by searching by keyword or year level. All have been developed by experienced educators.

Image: Students from Toorak College trial the new Year 9 Science: Enhancing biodiversity in the Australian environment resource in their classroom March 2018.

Posted Date: June 14, 2018

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