Forest in a Box – Design and Make

Explore forest systems, geography and sustainability through Forest in a Box – Design and Make resource package. This set of four innovative wooden design resources encourage design thinking, collaboration and critical thinking. 

This large wooden resource provides students from years 3 through 10 with the opportunity to physically demonstrate their understanding of key concepts across Science, Geography and Design and Technologies. 

Forest in a Box package includes:

  • 4 Wooden construction kits (5 boxes total)
  • Teacher Pack – Curriculum links, suggested activities and supporting materials
  • Professional Learning

Forest in a Box – Design and Make

Integrate STEM in your Primary or Secondary classroom with Forest in a Box.

This wood based resource encourages students to investigate design and innovation in wood with a hands on construction kit. The resource package of four interacting sets (Interlocking Pieces, Blocks Challenge, Species Hotel and Marble Run) allows students from Year 3 through Year 10 to physically explore and demonstrate their learning around forest systems, design and future perspectives.

 

Forest in a Box package includes:

  • Wood based construction kit
  • Forest Education Foundation Excursion
  • Teacher Pack – Curriculum links, suggested activities and supporting materials
  • Professional Learning

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES

  • Explore needs or opportunities for designing, and test materials, components, tools, equipment and processes needed to create designed solutions (AC9TDE4P01)
  • Select and use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions (AC9TDE4P03)
  • Sequence steps to individually and collaboratively make designed solutions (AC9TDE4P05)

SCIENCE

  • Compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the differences between the life cycles of plants and animals (AC9S3U01)
  • Explain the roles and interactions of consumers, producers and decomposers within a habitat and how food chains represent feeding relationships (AC9S4U01)

HASS

  • The importance of environments, including natural vegetation and water sources, to people and animals in Australia and on another continent (AC9HS4K05)
  • Sustainable use and management of renewable and non-renewable resources, including the custodial responsibility First Nations Australians have for Country/Place (AC9HS4K06)

 

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES

  • Investigate needs or opportunities for designing, and the materials, components, tools, equipment and processes needed to create designed solutions (AC9TDE6P01)
  • Select and use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions (AC9TDE6P03)
  • Negotiate design criteria including sustainability to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions (AC9TDE6P04)
  • Develop project plans that include consideration of resources to individually and collaboratively make designed solutions (AC9TDE6P05)

SCIENCE

  • Examine how particular structural features and behaviours of living things enable their survival in specific habitats (AC9S5U01)
  • Describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface (AC9S5U02)
  • Investigate the physical conditions of a habitat and analyse how the growth and survival of living things is affected by changing physical conditions (AC9S6U01)

HASS

  • The management of Australian environments, including managing severe weather events such as bushfires, floods, droughts or cyclones, and their consequences (AC9HS5K05)
  • The influence of people, including First Nations Australians and people in other countries, on the characteristics of a place (AC9HS5K04)

 

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES

  • Analyse how characteristics and properties of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment can be combined to create designed solutions (AC9TDE8K06)
  • Select, justify and use suitable materials, components, tools, equipment, skills and processes to safely make designed solutions (AC9TDE8P03)
  • Develop design criteria collaboratively including sustainability to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions (AC9TDE8P04)

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES

  • Analyse and make judgements on how characteristics and properties of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment can be combined to create designed solutions (AC9TDE10K06)
  • Select, justify and use suitable materials, components, tools, equipment, skills and processes to safely make designed solutions (AC9TDE10P03)
  • Develop design criteria collaboratively including sustainability to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions (AC9TDE10P05)

The Forest in a Box – Design and Make is a package of learning, including Professional Learning, Teacher Guide, Online Portal and Support Materials. The package costs $150, with a loan period of 4-5 weeks. Why not take your learning further and also participate in an excursion for $150 per class, with the opportunity to receive a bus subsidy of $100 for schools using external bus hire.

To support the integration of the Forest in a Box – Design and Make package, teachers are provided a Professional Learning experience, outlining the learning outcomes, curriculum links and planning the integration of the kit.

Content includes:

  • Introduction the Forest Education Foundation Educational Goals
  • Explore environmental education models and how to scaffold forest competency in the classroom

Design Make Box introduction

  • The Brief
  • Connecting the Design Make box to Theme questions/ Environmental education models
  • Explore Curriculum links
  • The Design Make Box – how it works/ suggested activities/play
  • Integration strategies and approaches (discuss/plan)

The excursion aims to further increase learning outcome of Forest in a Box- Design and Make and aims to build students’ Forest Literacy. The location and focus of the excursion will be explored and planned to support and address the relevant learning outcomes of the unit developed. The excursion is flexible and might explore forest systems and their importance, forest management and sustainability or wood innovations and design. This will be negotiated with the FEF.  *Subject to availability

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