Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12.

PLT's secondary modules challenge students to explore in-depth the complexity of environmental issues and real-life decisions. Hands-on classroom studies, research, and collaborative field investigations provide opportunities to debate issues and engage with experts.

Project Learning Tree’s Exploring Environmental Issues: Focus on Forests is designed to foster student understanding of — and appreciation for — the forested lands of North America. The lessons provide students with opportunities for hands-on forest study and address concepts in biology, civics, ecology, economics, forest management, and other content areas.

Students examine ecological systems of a forest; analyze interdependencies within a forest ecosystem; and explore factors, like fire, that shape the development of forests. As students explore forest issues and develop science content knowledge, they develop critical thinking skills and discover the importance of scientific analysis.

Educators can access this 176-page module by purchasing a print copy.

What’s Included:

Activity 1: Monitoring Forest Health

Students will conduct a forest health checkup of a local forest area, will take forestry measurements, and will evaluate the ecological services provided by trees and forests.

Activity 2: Story of Succession

Students will learn about succession by studying the reestablishment of ecological communities following the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens and by setting up experimental plots to observe successional changes over time.

Activity 3: Who Owns America’s Forests?

One of the most critical challenges facing America’s forests today is changing forestland use and ownership. In this activity, students will research forest ownership in the United States, will interview forest landowners about changes they have experienced, and will analyze scenarios to learn about the complexities of intergenerational forestland transfer.

Activity 4: Tough Choices

We expect forests to provide various ecosystem services, beautiful surroundings for hiking and recreation, wildlife habitats, clean water, and steady supplies of wood and other products. It’s not always easy to meet all of those demands. In this activity, students will read and discuss several short articles and will propose solutions to real-life forest dilemmas.

Activity 5: The Nature of Fire

Students will learn about the role of fire in forest ecosystems, will examine issues of fire in the wildland-urban interface, and will conduct a wildfire safety assessment in their community.

Activity 6: Forest to Faucet

Forests provide a variety of ecosystem services and help to maintain a clean and plentiful water supply. In this activity, students explore the connection between forests, watersheds, and their community’s water. Students will identify local watersheds and their forest cover, will analyze a specific watershed in Maine, and will evaluate the extent to which their own community’s water supply is affected by forests and forest management.

Activity 7: Forest Invaders

Students will consider what makes invasive species a problem for forest ecosystems, will work in teams to present different methods of controlling an invasive species, and will conduct research to find out how invasive species may affect their local forest.

Activity 8: Climate Change and Forests

Students will use a carbon footprint calculator to analyze their personal effect on carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, will calculate the amount of carbon stored in a single tree, and will explore how carbon sequestration can affect CO2 levels.

Activity 9: Words to Live By

The writings of different environmental authors reflect the views of their time periods, as well as their own feelings toward forests. In this activity, students will express their views about forests and will explore different perspectives by reading excerpts from the writings of different authors.

Here are some comments about PLT’s Focus on Forests module:

“I was thoroughly impressed with the questions provided within these activities, which in turn guided some amazing debates. The discussions and discourse among my juniors and seniors was wonderful! The students and I really learned a lot.”

– Susan Duffy, 11-12th Grade Biology Teacher, Hillsboro High School, Hillsboro, North Dakota

“This curriculum allows students to participate in activities that teach them the job skills of foresters and other natural resources professionals. I like to provide my students with career information that covers the entire spectrum, and they loved the hands-on learning outdoors!”

– Kathryn Roberts, 10-12th Grade Environmental Science Teacher, Lakeside High School, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Price includes shipping and handling.

If you are a teacher, librarian, or administrator looking to place an order with a purchase order, please contact PLT's Sales & Marketing Coordinator at PLT@forests.org.