The
following is reproduced from Vol 4 No. 1 edition of In Schools Today
A
Great New Teaching Resource
With
all the new resources being marketed to teachers nowadays, it’s
still not often you see one that is as thoroughly prepared, as
beautifully presented and as relevant as this!
Project Forest is a package for primary and secondary schools
and teachers which provides extremely detailed, objective and
accurate information on Tasmania’s forests, their ecology,
their management and the many different and changing values associated
with our interactions with these environments. Designed around
the National Curriculum Guidelines, the package focuses on Science,
Technology and SOSE with supporting ideas and activities in other
learning areas.
The
package was produced by Forest Education Foundation Incorporated,
founded jointly by the Tasmanian Forest Industries and Forestry
Tasmania in 1989. The package consists of three elements: the
planning guide, supporting teaching and learning resource information
and a professional development implementation program with ongoing
support. The planning guide in itself is an excellent resource
- it was placed among the top five teacher references in the annual
“Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing”. In
the complete package it is supported by twelve information booklets
which elaborate on the key ideas:
- forest
systems including forest types, change and ecosystems
- forest
management for a wide range of purposes including wood production
and conservation and how these activities affect employment,
trade and the economy
- forest
issues which will remain topical for the life of the resource
material.
Teachers
will especially welcome the inclusion of sample activities addressing
student learning outcomes. A variety of Teaching Samples from
practising primary and secondary teachers demonstrate some of
the ways that the planning guide can support classroom teachers
in the planning, resourcing and delivery of teaching units. One
of the teachers who has used the program is Pat Corby of St Mary’s
District High School on Tasmania’s East Coast. Being in a
forestry area she has found the package of great value. “It’s
really well planned,” she told IST. “The teaching material
follows a developmental model and fits excellently with National
Profiles. But what I like best is that it is not biased in any
way. So much material on sensitive issues like this leans too
far either towards exploitation or conservation, but this presents
factual material, backed up by magnificent resource documents.
I have to say, too, that the authors, David Hamilton and Darcy
Vickers are really helpful to teachers intending to use the program.
They are both teachers - that makes a difference!”
The relevance to teaching situations like Pat’s may be obvious,
but the package is clearly also an important resource for all
Tasmanian schools. The Forest Education Foundation recognises
this and makes it available to them through an in-service seminar.
However,
IST believes this package is of international significance and
will certainly prove of great interest to teachers throughout
Australia. There is a shortage of accurate material about the
unique forest environments of our continent and the importance
they play in our ecology and economy. As background to many different
aspects of the curriculum, the mass of detail in the resource
booklets is, in our experience, unparalleled.
Take, for instance, the book Print and Visual Texts which provides
a bibliography of books, poetry, videos and posters, including
reviews and suggestions for their use in class. Or, Tasmanian
Native Fauna with fine illustrations, distribution maps and a
thorough scholarly listing of reference materials.
The whole package is brilliantly illustrated with photographs
and line drawings of flora and fauna, as well as a collection
of maps which occur in text and also separately in a large format
suitable for classroom use or reproduction.
