This is an overview of all the lesson plans involved. It is also available as an MS Word document from here

LESSON PLANS WEEK 1 - ONE CLASSROOM BASED SESSION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT

* Concept Mapping Assessment Exercise

Key words given: - wood, forest, recycle, habitat, conservation, hardwood, softwood, sustainable, harvesting. Identifies previous knowledge prior to project beginning. Exercise repeated at the end of the project and compare - can assess learning and understanding which has taken place.

* Introductory slides from Forestry Commission charting how the project will develop over the next seven weeks, what areas will be covered, field trips etc. culminating in a class presentation to celebrate the work overall.

* Tree Wordsearch to complete.

 

WEEK 2 - FULL DAY

FIELD TRIP TO KIELDER FOREST

Contact: -
Forest Enterprise
Kielder Forest Park,
Bellingham,
Hexham,
Northumberland.
Tel: - 01434 250209/220242

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE WORK OF FOREST ENTERPRISE AT KIELDER

* Children gathered together within Kielder Castle to be given an introduction to the work of Forest Enterprise at Kielder and overview of how the forest is managed.

* Areas covered included types of coniferous trees, ground preparation, planting, conservation, pest-control, sustainability, harvesting, usage and statistics regarding timber production.

* Final session involved a site visit to see a 'harvester' in action and experience a forest environment at first hand.

 

WEEK 3 - ONE SESSION

VISIT TO LOCAL SAWMILL

* Hexhamshire Hardwoods or M.H. Southern of Jarrow

This visit looked at:

* What happens to a tree after it is felled?

* How a tree is cut into planks

* How is wood treated / dried ready for usage

* Examples of hardwoods - British and imported hardwoods

* Different uses of timbers according to properties of the wood

 

WEEK 4 - ONE SESSION FOCUS ON A WOOD (Bishop Ian Ramsey School have a wood adjacent to their school, but this exercise could be replicated by gathering material from any wood or park).

[3 WAY SPLIT OF CLASS]

* GP. 1. Using a local artist to develop natural sculpture within the wood as a stimulus. Use materials found within the woodland - fallen leaves, acorn cups, beech nuts etc.

* GP. 2. Internet research / Atlas work - looking at timber production statistics within European Countries. Comparing size of country to production in cubic metres. Using statistics to produce graph work.

* GP. 3. Discussing design plans for the management of a wood - walkways, display boards etc.

WEEK 5 - 2 X 1/2 DAYS

* CONTINUED WORK ON EUROPEAN FOCUS AND USE OF WOOD.

* VISIT BY REPRESENTATIVES OF 'EGGER' CHIPBOARD PLANT OF HEXHAM.

Two short videos and question and answer session, regarding how timber is used within the factory and the process of producing laminates/chipboard.
Recycling issue and importance of using sustainable forest timber, e.g. Kielder Forest.

WEEK 6 - ONE SESSION

VISIT TO IKEA FURNITURE STORE.

[Contact: - Jason Mitchell, Environmental Officer, IKEA Gateshead.]

The visit looked at: * IKEA to see how the company are using wood from sustainably managed forests for their furniture products

* The increasing importance of recycling of all materials, including wood within their organisation

WEEK 7 - PM SESSION

. FINAL PRESENTATION TO SCHOOL AND INVITED GUESTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT

* The class has a chance to develop a presentation to celebrate the project and share their learning, performed to the rest of the school and invited guests from the contacts made during the course of the project.

SEED TO SAW PRESENTATION

* Hayleigh - introduction.
* Tom & Liam - question and answer percussion on fallen log from Manor Wood.
* Kielder Forest Field Trip.
* SUSTAINABLE - A4 cards
* Hexhamshire Hardwoods Field Trip.
* CONSERVATION - A4 cards
* Song - Come & Praise 17 'Think of a World'
* EGGER Group. * RECYCLING - A4 cards
* Manor Woods and our plans for its management.
* IKEA Group. * Art Group describing work with artist.
* Graphs and Statistics from Internet research and atlas work.
* Conclusion -
Overall, we have learnt a lot of information about the work of forestry and the processing of timber. In all the work we have covered, several areas tend to stick out and we need to be aware of these areas to benefit our future.

CONSERVATION: [12 children holding A4 cards] We must all work hard to conserve the wildlife habitats and woodland areas we have in our regions today.

RECYCLING: [12 children holding A4 cards] We must all make a huge effort to recycle as much as we can in order to protect our environment for future generations.

And finally SUSTAINABLE: [12 children holding A4 cards]

We all must be aware that to preserve our woodland areas, we must ensure that for every tree we use, we should replace it with at least another new tree planted. All the timber processing companies we have talked to and visited are doing this today. In this way we will have forests to enjoy for future generations.