Adopt A Twig

Keywords: bud scale, leaf bud, twig; Lesson Plan Grade Level: sixth grade; Total Time Required for Lesson: 40 minutes; Setting: wooded area just outside of the school playground in early spring (location in mind is Charles W. Longer Elementary School)

Tree Products Scavenger Hunt

Keywords: forest products, sustainable forestry, consumers; Grade Level: sixth (MS); Total Time for Lesson: 45 minutes (10 minutes to launch, 1 day and 35 minutes to discuss and make assignment); Setting: home and school

Is that Tree Safe?

Keywords: hazard trees; Lesson Plan Grade Level: sixth through eighth grade; Total Time Required for Lesson: entire morning session of 2.5 to 3 hours; Setting: classroom and in a wooded recreational area outside classroom

Is there a Doctor in the Treehouse?

Keywords: cankers, fungus, galls, wilts, pests, borers, miners; Grade Level Lesson Plan: intermediate; Lesson Time: three 45-minute periods; Setting: forest and classroom

Seed Plants: Angiosperms

Keywords: angiosperms, seed plants, flowering plants; Grade Level: sixth through eighth grade; Total Time for Lesson: 60 minutes; Setting: classroom, outdoors

Seed Plants: Gymnosperms

Keywords: seeds, gymnosperms; Grade Level: sixth through eighth grade (middle school); Total Time for Lesson: 60 minutes; Setting: classroom, outdoors

Sounds Good to Me

Keywords: density, deciduous, conifers; Grade Level Lesson Plan: intermediate; Lesson Time: two 45-minute class periods; Setting: classroom

Uses of a Tree

Keywords: trees, wood, paper, sap, and food; Grade Levels: first and second grade; Time Required: 45 minutes; Setting: classroom

Wood, I like to Get to Know You

Keywords: veneer, phloem, xylem, cambium, heartwood, springwood, summerwood, annual ring; Grade Level: intermediate; Lesson Time: two 45-minute class periods; Setting: forest and classroom

Wood, Wood Everywhere

Keywords: wood, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, hardwood, softwood, veneer; Grade Level: sixth through ninth grade; Total Time Required: 50 minutes (one class period); Setting: classroom

Leaf Collection

Keywords: Pennsylvania forests, leaf collection, id; Grade Level: seventh and eighth grades(MS); Total Time: Two to three weeks should be allowed for the entire project. Two 45-minute class periods are used to introduce and to wrap-up the project; Setting: This activity is done in the fall for two reasons. First the leaves are nearly ready to fall from the trees and, therefore, will not adversely affect the tree's photosynthetic production. Second, the leaves tend to be drier in the fall and will not be as likely to mold in the binders. First and last class periods may be inside or outside, remainder of the work will be done outside.

Renewable Resources: Ancient Civilizations

Keywords: renewable resources, environmental impact, sustainability, ecosystem; Lesson Plan Grade Level: seventh and eighth grades; Total Time Required by Lesson: 45 minutes; Setting: classroom

How Appropriate is that Tree?

Keywords: tree, planting trees, tree environments; Lesson Plan Grade Level: seventh through ninth grade; Total Time Required: one 45-minute period (does not have to be continuous); Setting: classroom, computer lab/library

Chemistry of Iron and Charcoal Manuafacturing in PA

Keywords: Charcoal, Pennsylvania forests, chemical reaction, ground forest kiln, smelt; Grade Level: 7 - 10; Total time required by lesson: 2 class periods each 45 minutes; Setting: Classroom

It's All in the Rings

Keywords: tree growth, tree health, tree anatomy; Grade Level: seventh through tenth grade (middle school, high school); Total Time for Lesson: 50 minutes; Setting: classroom

Introduction to Measuring the Forest

Keywords: pulpwood, board foot, cubic foot, cord, forest inventory; Lesson Plan Grade Level: seventh through twelfth grade; Total Time Required for Lesson: one class period (50 minutes); Setting: classroom for instruction, introduction of new terms, and discussion of how to use them, neighbor's yard to practice measuring amount of firewood

Who Cares About the Forest?

Keywords: cultural impact on the environment, uses for wood, wood products, environment; Lesson Plan Grade Level: seventh through twelfth grade (could be used for elementary grades as well); Total Time Required for Lesson: one class period; Setting: classroom

A Walk in the Woods

Keywords: canopy, evergreen, deciduous, coniferous, biotic, abiotic, photosynthesis, regeneration; Lesson Plan Grade Level: eighth grade; Setting: Reed's Gap State Park (Nature Trail)

Timber Harvesting: A Civic Debate, Day 1

Keywords: timber harvesting, compromise, clear cutting, selective cutting, wildlife management, silviculture, diameter limits, select cutting, high grading, shelterwood cutting; Lesson Plan Grade Level: eighth grade; Total Time Required for Lesson: two 40-minute class periods; Setting: classroom

Timber Harvesting: A Civic Debate, Day 2

Keywords: timber harvesting, compromise, clear cutting, selective cutting, wildlife management, silviculture, diameter limits, select cutting, high grading, shelterwood cutting; Lesson Plan Grade Level: eighth grade; Total Time Required for Lesson: two 40-minute class periods; Setting: classroom

Travels of a T-Shirt

Keywords: consumerism, natural resources, renewable/non-renewable resources, energy web; Grade Levels: 8; Time: 1 hour, additional time may be given for art work; Setting: indoors or outdoors with writing surface

Wood Identification Based on Density

Keywords: mass, volume, density, characteristic properties; Lesson Plan Grade Level: eighth; Setting: classroom

Identifying Trees Using Their Leaves in the Summer

Keywords: trees, identification, leaves, summer; Grade Level: eighth and ninth grade (high school); Total Time for Lesson: Two 43-minute classes; Setting: Woodworking Area and Forest Area

History of PA Forests and PA Tree Indentification

Keywords: abiotic, biome, biotic, browse, community, conservation, cover, deciduous, decomposer, ecology, ecosystem, edge, environment, habitat, indigenous, natural resource, niche, organism, population, succession; Lesson Plan Grade Level: 6; Total Time Required for Lesson: 3-class periods and 2-nights of homework TOTAL TIME is 180-minutes; Setting: forest (Cameron County is 97% forested), classroom, school library, public library

Let's Compare PA Forestry History to PA 4-H History

Keywords: conifers, deciduous, forest, forestland, forest products, forest stewardship, land ethic, overstory, regeneration, renewable resources, sapling, seedling, silviculture, trees need wildlife, understory, wetlands, wildlife use of trees; Lesson Plan Grade Level: 5-8; Total Time Required: 5 days; Setting: the lesson will require two meetings in the classroom and three meetings using the computer laboratory

PA Insects and Disease Pests

keywords: forest entomology, forest pathology, defoliators, skeletonize or mine, sapsucking, boring, vectors, fall makers, biological control, chemicals, sanitation, mechanical procedures, regulatory controls, quarantines, containment, silvicultural controls, integrated pest management, biotic disease, abiotic disease; Lesson Plan Grade Level: 5-8; Total Time Required: 5 days; Setting: the lesson will require three days in the classroom and two days in the computer room

Tree Identification - Natural Walk

Keywords: Dendrology, tree identification; Grade Level: grades 5-6; Total Time Required: Five 35-minute class periods; Setting: Classroom and Outdoors (Yellow Creek State Park); Subjects Covered: Environmental Science; Topics Covered: Dendrology or Tree Identification

Truffala Forest Management

Keywords: watershed, sustainable, rain garden, riparian buffers, wetland, carrying capacity; Grade Levels: 4 - 12; Time: 40 minutes plus allow 25 additional minutes to present Lorax book or DVD; Setting: indoors; Subject: Science; Topic: Develop an environmentally sustainable plan for a forest within the Lorax Watershed

Appreciating the Forests in PA, Yesterday and Today

Keywords: Forestry, Forest History, Jim Nelson, Industries, Williamsport, Sawmills, Charcoal, Rivers, Streams, Booms, Logging Camps, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Great Depression; Lesson Plan Grade Level: grades 6-8; Total Time Required: Two 45-minute class periods, with additional time for extension projects if desired; Setting: Classroom with DVD player (with connections to our State Park field trip activities); Subject(s) Covered: Forestry, Environment and Ecology, Pennsylvania History, U.S. History (Great Depression), Economics

Using a Forest Setting to Learn to Carefully Observe and Question

Keywords: Observations, Questioning, Trees, Plants, Leaves, Bark, Animals, Forests, Photography; Lesson Grade Levels: 5 – 7; Total Time Required: Two – Three 45-minute class periods; Settings: Outdoor forested setting, then classroom with computers and projector; Subjects Covered: General Science, Forestry / Basic Biology (depending upon students’ choice of subject to observe)