Teacher Resources

Teach

The National Forest Week-BC Coalition (NFW-BC) provides free services and materials to teachers regarding forests, forest stewardship, and the forest environment, with a focus on the K-12 curriculum, year-round.

In addition, the coalition provides awareness of external education materials in the form of classroom lessons and videos for consideration by teachers in educating their students.

We will send the materials, for free, upon completion and submission of the request form.

The coalition, through an agreement with the Forest Nursery Association of BC, also provides tree seedlings to teachers and forest professional volunteers for use as handouts to students. Contact the coalition about seeding requests, or click the link for a list of nurseries.

NFW Bus Rental Assistance Program Available to K-12 Teachers in BC

The BC Coalition now offers grant funding to support bus rentals for forestry-related school field trips throughout the province. 

The coalition program supports field trips to local forests so K-12 students can learn about forestry and nature. Now, thanks to the Canadian Institute of Forestry Vancouver-South Coast Section, NFW-BC provides grants to assist with the cost of bus rentals for such trips. 

Requests are considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Interested teachers should contact coalition executive director Bill Bourgeois at info@bcnfw.ca regarding available funds and steps to apply for a grant.  

For information about field trips, see our Plan an Event page.

BC Tree, Wood, and Cone Teacher Resources

The BC coalition has produced a Teacher Resource Kit as a tool to provide teachers or volunteer forest classroom educators with a package of material to base a lesson plan upon, for Grade 4-5 classes, regarding the main BC trees. 

Although the kit focuses on this level of instruction, there is information that could be used for other elementary class levels.

The coalition has also produced a Tree Cone Lesson Kit. It contains lesson plan information regarding nine BC tree selections, including seeds from each cone type, as well as matching exercises. 

CIF Teaching Kits

The Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF) has updated all eight of its Canada’s Forests Teaching Kits.

The free kits, available in English and French, feature curriculum-connected lessons for grades 1-12. They cover a wide variety of forest-related topics, from forest heritage and climate change to species at risk and water/wetlands.

Click the link to access Canada’s Forests Teaching Kits.

Online Education

A sampling of educational materials produced by instructors and institutions in BC:

• Forest Quest is an educational and career resource from Project Learning Tree Canada.

Whether you are an educator, high school or university faculty, career/guidance counselor, or a mentor, this valuable tool can help students understand why forests matter, the benefits of sustainable forest management, and the impact forests have on people and the planet. 

It’s also a great way to expose young adults to various green jobs and inspire them to take action on behalf of forests. 

Click to the link to learn more, and sign up to begin your Forest Quest online experience: 

Forestry Career Resources

What foresters do

• BC’s Forests Require Special Care – Professional Reliance and Forest Professionals (4.23’ video) 

Forest conservation resources

• Virtual Forest Tour in Pacific Spirit Park, by Dr. Nina Hewitt (Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, UBC). Hewitt created the video in spring 2020 as a substitute for in-person field trips for the UBC Geography course: Our Changing Environment: Climates and Ecosystems. Hewitt also produced an augmented reality app version of the tour:

Forest animals in the winter

• Scavenger Hunt: Preparing for Winter Forest lesson (PDF file)
• Scavenger Hunt: picture guide lesson (PDF file)
• Hibernation adaptation introduction lesson (Power point file)

Forests & Climate Change

• Tackling climate change – use wood (5.34’ video)  
• Forest products are part of the climate change solution (2.12’ video)
• Genomics in Society, a collaborative UBC initiative with the purpose of developing multimedia online educational materials tailored to the BC high school science curriculum, with a specific focus on connections to Indigenous heritage, community, and traditional knowledge.
• How carbon flows through forests and wood (PDF).

Forest Ecology Resources

• Hélène Marcoux, BCIT Forest and NaturalAreas Management faculty member, produced a series of Youtube videos called “Interviews with Plants,” including one on Pacific ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus):

Forest birds

• Introduction to bird identification – wings, beaks, feet, songs (21.48’ video) 
• Merlin Bird ID, Cornell University, bird identification using basic information, such as size, colour, location;
• BirdNET, Cornell University, features app to record, analyze, and identify birds by sounds;
• eBIrd, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, bird identification and the ability to create checklists;
• All About Bald Eagles (article);
• Bird migration in the western hemisphere.

Forest Stewardship Resources

Indigenous Forest Knowledge

First Nations and forests

• • Definition of Indigenous (2.26’ video)

Safety

If you’re planning a trip outdoors, leave a trip plan. AdventureSmart, a national prevention program for Canadians and visitors who participate in outdoor recreational activities, offers an app to help plan your outdoor excursion, as well as a other safety information and a video to help you plan a safe trip.