5.4 How About Taking a Bird’s Eye View of the Forest
This middle school forestry lesson (MS.NR.5.4) teaches students about silviculture and the rationale behind five forest harvesting techniques: clear-cutting, seed-tree, shelterwood, group selection, and single-tree selection systems. Students create a foldable “Knowbook” of the systems and build a clay model on a paper plate showing a “bird’s eye view” of how each harvested forest area would appear from above.
At a glance
- Learning objectives
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- As a result of this unit the students will… Explain the basic concepts of the forestry industry.
- As a result of this lesson the students will… Recognize the rationale behind different harvesting techniques.
- Time required
- Instruction time for this lesson: 45 minutes.
- Grade level
- Middle School
- Materials
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- Overhead projector/transparencies
- MS.NR.5.4.TM.A – one per teacher
- 8-1/2×11" white copy paper – two sheets per student
- Markers – several per student
- Modeling clay or Play-Doh (approximate amounts = brown: 1/2"x 1/2"cube, green: 1/2" x 1" piece) per student
- Large paper plates – one per student
- MS.NR.5.4.ASSESS.A – one per student
- Precepts
- K. Emotional Growth — K1. Cope with life's trials.
- Key Terms
- Silviculture; Stand; Clear-cutting system; Seed-tree system; Shelterwood system; Group selection system; Single-tree selection system
Downloads & Links
Aligned Standards
National Standards
- NL-ENG.K-12.12Applying Language Skills
- NRS.03.01.01.aDescribe forest harvesting methods.
- NS.5-8.3Life Science
- NSS-G.K-12.5Environment and Society.