Forests

Educator Resources from National Geographic include information on forest biomes, forest distribution, rainforests, and boreal forests.

How Stuff Works provides an explanation of deforestation, sustainable forestry, and the ecosystem of the rainforest.

Brittanica Kids features an article on forests and forestry that covers types of forests, forest management, benefits of forests, and forest protection.

Ask A Biologist (Arizona State University) has Trailing Through Taiga, Revealing the Rainforest, and Taking in the Temperate Forest. Each topic covers the anatomy of the forest, the plants and animals that live there, and a quiz over each type of forest. A virtual reality option allows you to experience the sights and sounds of the forests.

Kids Do Ecology (UC Santa Barbara) also invites students to learn more about the rainforest, the taiga, and the temperate forest. Along with describing these forest types, this site also discusses the human inhabitants of each biome and their impact on the forests.

Blue Planet Biomes explores the boreal forest (taiga), the deciduous temperate forest, and the rainforest, focusing on the layers within each type of forest.

March 21 has been established as the International Day of Forests each year, with the purpose being to “celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.” The United Nations Economic Commission lists Ten Reasons To Fall In Love With Forests as a reminder to people everywhere of the need to protect Earth's forests.

Resources from PBS Learning Media include teaching tips, background reading, discussion questions, and lesson guides.

Explore the Jungle is a collection of animated resources from PBS Kids' Plum Landing. Earth to Blorb: The Jungle! introduces the rainforest and its importance. In four subsequent videos, the kids explore the sights, sounds, and smells of a tropical rainforest and learn about how the sun provides the energy the forest needs. Grades K-3.

In Finding Forests, children explore rural and urban forests with a USFS ranger. “A City in the Forest” helps students envision the forest as a community for plants and animals. “A Forest in the City” introduces the concept of an urban forest. Grades K-3.

The Forest Files is a collection of video lessons that address the ecosystem services that forests provide to the Earth. The Forest and the Air Cycle, The Forest and the Water Cycle, The Forest and the Soil Cycle, The Forest and the Weather, and The Forest and the People explain these processes using experiments, models, and demonstrations. Grades 4-8.

Georgia Public Broadcasting has created an interactive virtual learning journey that explores forest ecosystems and forest management. There are resources for both elementary and secondary classrooms. Some of the topics in the collection are Forest Layers and Food Webs, How Forests Keep Us Healthy, Why Humans Need Forests, and What Makes A Healthy Forest.

From Nature Works Everywhere, Forests: The Stuff of Life is a video and complete lesson plan exploring concepts of sustainable forestry. Middle school grades.

In Reforestation: Impact on Climate, students learn about the important of large-scale forests, the impacts of deforestation, and the effects of reforestation on global climate. The accompanying lesson plan focuses on the essential role of forests in the carbon cycle. Middle school grades.

Make That Paper is an interactive game for secondary students that teaches about working forests and forestry careers. A teacher's guide explains the scenarios and gameplay.

Help your students get to know Idaho forests at the Idaho Forests information website. You'll find many resources and videos on many topics, including the different types of forests found in Idaho.

Forest Fast Break videos are a collection of two-minute clips that explain the environment benefits of forests and sustainable forest management.

Learn about the trees of Idaho and what kinds of trees grow in different elevations. A printable Trees of Idaho Forests booklet will help students learn to identify forest species.

Discover the environmental benefits of forests, among them the regulation of air and soil, the enhancement of water quality, and the provision of habitat for wildlife.

Bring math into your forest study with these graphs showing ownership of Idaho forest land and the distinction between forest and timberland.

Learn about Idaho forest management by watching Idaho's Working Forest and taking a forest tour.

Wildfire and its impact on forest health are addressed in Fire's Role in Idaho Forests and Wildfire Ecology and Management from Idaho Firewise.

The Idaho Forest: From Lumberjacks to Lasersaws is a downloadable student book focusing on Idaho's forests from a historical perspective.

Take a look at K-12 education resources for teachers. You'll find learning materials for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, as well as a collection of free worksheets and handouts for your classroom.

Finding My Forest: A Teacher's Guide to Discovering the Forest is a teaching unit designed for grades 3-8. Developed by the USFS, it includes four lessons encouraging students to discover the values and benefits of forests.

Elementary School Science has complete lesson plans on forest biomes: the temperate and taiga forests and the rainforest.

Mission: Biomes from NASA's Earth Observatory includes lesson plans for Rainforest, Coniferous Forest, and Temperate Deciduous Forest. The Teacher's Guide explains how to use the graphs, maps, and data to complete the missions. These lessons are appropriate for grades 3-8, with beginner and advanced versions.

The US Forest Service has a collection of hands-on forest lessons where students will investigate their own environments and compare them to the rainforest biome. Lessons focus on forest ecology, challenges to forest habitat, local ecosystems, and national forest management. Seeing the Forest for the Trees introduces students to scientific methods of sampling. Also available in Spanish.

Forest Nation offers lesson plans The Importance of Trees about forest benefits and A Walk In The Woods about forest ecology.

From the Nature Conservancy, lesson plans include Climate Heroes: The Power of Trees for grades 3-6 and Seeing the Wood for Trees: Sustainable Forestry for grades 6-8.

Project Learning Tree provides numerous materials and resources for elementary and middle school educators. Learning activities can be done in the classroom, in the outdoors, or at home with families. “Learn About Forests” topics include assessing forest health, sustainable forestry, the role of fire, and forest careers. Teaching With ITree, using a free app developed by the USFS, requires middle-school students to use real-world data to identify ecosystem services provided by forests and calculate their value. Lessons for secondary students include Monitoring Forest Health, where students measure, collect, and evaluate their own data.

Rainforests are a fascinating topic for young learners. The Rainforest Alliance provides virtual rainforest visits (slideshows with teachers' scripts), K-8 curriculum guides, kids' activities, and supplemental teacher resources. Find additional rainforest video lessons at NeoK12.

From Ask a Biologist's Biomes site, a Teacher's Guide to each type of forest biome includes worksheets, maps, alignment with standards, and virtual reality tours. Available in English, French and Spanish.

Idaho Forests offers teacher-developed lesson plans for K-12 classrooms on forestry topics that extend into math and social studies as well as science. New Mexico has developed Recognizing the Importance of Forests, a lesson focusing on the environmental and economic benefits of forest land.

Arizona provides a teacher's guide to Neighborhood Forests, a hands-on activity lesson teaching that urban woodlands have important benefits to local communities.

From the University of Wisconsin, a full K-12 curriculum of forest lesson plans addresses topics from forest composition and ecology to forest management and forestry careers. These easily adapted lesson plans are engaging and fun.

Pennsylvania State University offers an extensive collection of K-12 lesson plans on forests and forestry that can be adapted for classroom or outdoor use.

In this Google Expeditions lesson plan, middle-school students will research the temperate forest, rainforest, and taiga biomes.

Take a look at this collection of lesson plans, worksheets, and printables for forest topics.

Smokey Bear For Educators has links to resources for elementary and middle school classrooms. Find additional ideas for teaching about wildfire at the Science Trek Wildfire website.

Trees are organisms, while forests are ecosystems. Since trees populate and define forests, learning about trees goes along with learning about forests. KidZone has a basic lesson on trees for your interactive whiteboard. Find other resources for teaching about trees at the Science Trek Trees website

Discover the Forest is a great site to share with your students and their families. It is filled with suggested activities and resources that encourage kids to get outdoors and into the woods. Discover the Forest has activities that include identifying trees, bird watching, and nature observation.

The USFS has an excellent resource for classroom use: Water & Forests: The Role Trees Play in Water Quality.

American Forests, the oldest conservation organization in the United States, emphasizes the power of forests and reforestation efforts throughout the country.

Take a look at these ideas for fun forest activities for kids, forest-related arts and crafts, and ideas to share with families.

Go through the Crossword Puzzle Jungle jumble and learn about different products produced by forests.

25 Facts About Forests For Kids provides an overview of the types and benefits of forests and the importance of being good forest stewards.

You may want to direct interested students to these kid-friendly forest sites:

• National Geographic Kids: Forest, Rainforest, and Temperate Forest
• Kiddle Encyclopedia: Forests and Forestry
• Facts For Kids: Forest Facts for Kids and Forestry Facts for Kids
• Kids Fun Facts: Fun Facts on Forests
• DK Find Out: Rainforest Layers and Amazon Rain Forest
• USFS: Become a Junior Forest Ranger and Kids' Page