Science Week 2009

Each year the Forest Education Foundation provides opportunities for small groups of students and an accompanying teacher to work in the forest with a scientist for a day as part of National Science Week.

Places are very limited so schools need to apply early.

When and where are these opportunities available?

In 2009 the following dates have been set aside for schools to participate with the Forest Education Foundation.

Southern Tasmania:	19th and 20st August
Northern Tasmania:	25th and 26th August
North Western Tasmania:	1st and 2nd September

How many can attend each day?

Two groups consisting of 5 students and 1 teacher can attend each day.

How is the day organised?

Each group is collected from their school by a Forest Education Foundation teacher by 8:30 am and transported to the days’ venues. Participants need to supply their own lunch, snacks and drinks and need to be suitably dressed for the prevailing weather conditions. The Forest Education Foundation supplies all safety gear required. Students are expected to participate in a range of practical activities that involve data collection and recording, interpretation and analysis while working with a forest scientist. The group will return to school around 5:00pm. More detailed information is provided to groups close to the appropriate day.

What sorts of things might be offered?

Southern Tasmanian groups usually visit the WARRA Long Term Ecological Research site in the Southern Forests. Here, students may participate in one or more of the many research projects being conducted in the area, including hydrology, log decay and invertebrate research, silvicultural trials, regeneration surveys and wildfire chronology sequencing.

Northern Tasmanian groups will have the opportunity to choose one of two activities:
- Learning about archaeology in State forests through visiting a range of historical sites in the Cluan Tier forests. Groups will learn about mapping and recording historical sites, why they are important and need to be protected, how they are protected and what they can reveal about our cultural heritage. Old sawmill sites, remnants of huts, tramways and trestle bridges will be investigated.
- Learning about soils formation and profiles and relationships to forest types and tree growth. Groups will prepare and sketch soil profiles, carry out structural stability tests, complete transects to search for earthworms as an indicator of soil health and measure tree heights and diameters to calculate volumes of plantation trees growing on different sites. They will ultimately be investigating how soils form, factors that control soil diversity and the effects of soils on forest growth.
Groups from the North West of Tasmania will also have a choice of two activities:

Learning about archaeology in State forests through visiting a range of historical sites in the Cluan Tier forests. Groups will learn about mapping and recording historical sites, why they are important and need to be protected, how they are protected and what they can reveal about our cultural heritage. Old sawmill sites, remnants of huts, tramways and trestle bridges will be investigated.

Learning about paper from the seed/nursery to managing and growing plantations, harvesting and processing to paper making and testing paper properties at the Gunn’s Fibre Technology laboratory in Ridgley

Who can be involved and how do I book a place for a group?

These Science week activities are available to students from grade 5 to Grade 12. For more information and booking details please contact the Forest Education Foundation on: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)