Reader Request: Hands-On Forestry Stations AND a Few Extra Activities… (Cross Curricular)
In BC curriculum, resources show up in both social studies and science, depending on the year. The big resources in BC that we tend to talk about are forestry, fisheries, and mining. Sometimes energy resources are clumped in and sometimes they are taught separately.
It is impossible to teach ALL of the topics deeply, so it is important to choose carefully what you want to dive into. In intermediate, it is also important to make as much as you can cross-curricular and hands-on.
When you tie literacy, art and/or ADST to science or social studies, it creates authentic learning experiences which can be so powerful!
This post outlines how I ran a forestry station in my grade 5/6 class. I will also suggest a formula for designing your own hands-on stations and a few other forestry activities I have done to enrich the student experience.
After running these stations, I would usually follow it up with 2-3 weeks of other activities based on student questions or my ideas.
Forestry Stations
Part 1: The Goals
1. Explore some of the major aspects of forestry
2. Make learning about forestry hands-on
3. Get kids to ask questions about forestry/want to learn more
Part 2: Introducing the Week
Introduce the topic the week before the stations begin. You want to make sure you have time to start collecting recycled materials to build the models and that you get kids starting to connect with the topic. A few ways you could introduce this topic are:
Read an anchor book…fiction or nonfiction (talk to your librarian!)
Brainstorm questions in small groups about forestry and create an anchor chart with the questions
Choose three pictures to show the kids and ask the students to make inferences about the images (OWI Strategy)
Part 3: The Logistics
You will need about an hour each day and each group will complete one station per day
You need to have everything ready to go before the stations start (photocopying/collected materials etc.)
Have space to spread out! Figure out where in your room or common space each station will live and how you will store the materials each day after the lesson is done.
Part 4: Possible Stations
You need to have five stations so that your kids can rotate to a new station each day. You may wish to do four so the last day can be a completion/reflection block. You can design your own, but I will share the stations I used.
To keep the groups small, I had two versions of each station, except paper making. I ran the paper making and the rest of the groups worked independently (groups of 3-ish). To keep groups small, I had 1A/1B, 2A/2B….if you don’t have the space to spread out, you can make groups larger.
The stations tie in ADST, art, and language arts (instructional writing) with either social studies or science. The stations are all hands-on, but some are more active than others.
Station A: Making Paper/Instructional Writing
Challenge: You are working for a craft paper company and must learn how to make paper by hand. You will also be teaching new employees the steps! .
Materials:
Paper making supplies (recycled paper, a blender, water, tubs, paper molds, newspaper or cloth to flip paper on, drying rack, sponges)
Pictures/info about the pulp and paper industry
Logistics:
I always stayed at this station and it had usually 6-7 kids. I would model making paper. After modelling, students would get to make a piece of paper with me one at a time. Before they had a chance to make the paper, students could look at the materials about the pulp and paper industry to brainstorm what they thought was important as well as questions.
After making the paper, I gave each student an instructional writing graphic organizer. I made a sample and attached it to the list of materials for this station.
Station B: Clear-Cut vs. Selective Logging
Challenge: You are working for a company that makes resources for school. They need you to create a visual that compares clear-cut to selective logging for kids in grade __. It needs to be informative, accurate, and engaging. You must include labels. You may work in pairs to create your image.
Materials:
Several pictures of both clear-cut and selective logging sites
Printed information about both sites
1 iPad or computer with a video to watch OR specific search words to use to look at more images
Pencil crayons/fine liners/felts
11X17 pieces of paper
Logistics:
Students were presented with all of the information and the challenge. This was a very popular station because allowing kids to work in pairs and share ideas visually, really played to the strengths of different students. Every child was able to participate with very little help.
If you give the group an iPad, I would suggest they get it for the first 15 minutes to take notes/get ideas. If you don’t take it away, the technology becomes a rabbit hole.
Station C: Historic Sawmill Model
Challenge: You are working for a museum and have been hired to create a model of an old sawmill and logging site. This model must be historically accurate and have labels for machinery and/or equipment.
Materials:
Cardboard or poster board base with a river drawn on it.
Blank paper for notes
Blank page for a plan
Pictures of old sawmills/logging sites
Information about old logging tools
Tape/hot glue/glue sticks/scissors
Collected recycled materials
Some brown and green paper
Sheet with some guiding questions
Logistics:
Here is the trick, the kids don’t start a NEW model every day…they build on the previous day. This means that by the end of the week, you will have powerful models.
You will be amazed at what your kids can create. I suggest you have no more than three kids working on the model at a time…so maybe you can have two old sawmills being built!
Station D: Modern Sawmill Model
Challenge: You have been hired by a forestry company to create a model of a modern sawmill and logging site that is efficient and effective. This model must be accurate and have labels for machinery and/or equipment.
Materials:
Exactly the same as the previous station but modern information/photos
Logistics:
The same…but modern!
Station E: Old Growth Logging/Protest History
Challenge: You are working for Green Peace and need to create a one-page PSA that explains to people why old growth forests are important and should not be logged. You may work in pairs.
Materials:
Pictures of old growth forests
Information about old growth forests
Pictures of protest signs/protests
11 X17 or 14 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper
Logistics
Again, this was a popular station because it involved visuals/hot button issues. If you provide the group with an iPad to watch videos/look at pictures, I suggest it is removed after 15 minutes so that the tech doesn’t become a rabbit hole!
Part 5: Debriefing the Week
There are many ways to debrief a week like this…here are a few suggestions:
Core Competency Assessment: This activity involved collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. It would be a great time for students to complete a core competency self assessment (BC Curriculum).
Explore Biggest Learning: Create a group brainstorm or a visual that represents the biggest learning from the activity. What were the big ideas? What are the important concepts to remember?
Identify Big Questions/Reflect on the questions identified in the introduction activity. These could be used as a guide for further research or class inquiry project.
Part 5: What is Missing?
The last time I taught this as a set of stations was about four years ago. I have pulled apart pieces and designed new bits (see below), but I haven’t actually run it as a set of stations. I think I will this year. I am going to think about what is missing and might redesign a few of the stations.
What do I think is missing?
Fire as a natural/human caused disturbance
Indigenous uses of the forest/harvesting techniques
Tree planting/second growth exploration
Do your stations have to look like mine? Nope! Can you design your own or run these as activities one after another instead of as concurrent stations? Yup!
It works really well run as a week-long exploration because it immerses kids in the topic. They enjoy learning about a different facet every day and this leads to further questions/discussions in the following weeks. It could also work as a powerful introductory week before starting a forestry inquiry project.
Part 6: Creating Your Own Stations
So, you can use my stations, or you can create your own! How? Well, here is how you can get started…
Choose your topic: What topic will you be exploring?
Explore the curriculum: Identify the big ideas or curriculum connections you want to make sure you explore. You may in fact explore a significant portion of the curriculum across multiple topics, but it is always good to narrow it down in the beginning to a few important ideas.
Find the BIG questions: Spend some time doing some research in books or online. Find out what the big questions/controversies/ideas are linked to this topic. What is important? Explore how your research connects to your curriculum.
Use big questions/ideas as the basis for each station: Each station should focus on one big idea or concept you want your kids to explore.
Other Forestry Activities
Forestry Model/Green Screen
Two years ago, my students built forest models in groups of 4-5 that represented different forest types. They researched and worked together to build the models over a WEEK long period.
The types of forests I included were old growth, second growth, clear-cut, selective cut, immediate post fire, 3-5 years post fire, and historical logging in old growth. They had criteria and used photos/videos to learn about their specific forest type.
When the models were done, I recorded each student in front of a green screen talking about features of their forest type and what they personally thought was important about it. I used the Green Screen app to make a video of each student walking in their forest model that was uploaded to a digital portfolio.
Forest Poems/Art
As a follow-up to the forest models, each student wrote a poem taking on the personality of their forest type. We worked on sensory language, use of space on the page, and powerful punctuation. The poems were unique and beautiful. We mounted them on paper that was printed in a boarder of leaves. The students collected the leaves and made the frame before mounting the poem.
Forest Field Trip
Visit a forest…any forest to make observations. Look at the level of the forest. Before you go with your class prepare by (1) researching the history of it and (2) visiting to plan your day. In Surrey, BC we have the oldest second growth forest in BC, which I only discovered through research. My kids LOVED their day in the forest.
Final Thoughts
If you have read to this point…bravo! This was a long one. I knew when I was asked to talk about forestry stations, it would end up having many sections. I hope that it has helped you think about how to create hands-on stations in science or social studies. I will leave you with a few truths of running stations like this…
It will be messy, trust the mess
Every station does not have to be elaborate/hands-on to be effective
You can never have toooo many recycled materials for building
Have more glue sticks than you think you need…always
Have fun! Your kids will enjoy digging into a topic in a unique and memorable way