Temperate Forest Foundation: Education Kit Contents Page

Education Kit Contents

The Temperate Forest Foundation's Education Kit is a tool for teachers to educate their students about forest products and sustainable forestry issues. The Education Kit is composed entirely of forest products, even down to the packaging, and illustrate the myriad of ways they are utilized in our everyday lives.

Eco-Links Publications
Videos
Posters
Forest Products samples

Download a PDF version of this content sheet, shown here:

Box

The Education Kit Box is made of corrugated kraft paper

The box is a recyclable corrugated container. 95% of all products in the U.S. are shipped in corrugated containers. This box is a "kraft" paper, which is a German word for "strong" and also the name of the process used to make the paper used in the box.

Eco-Links

Some of our Eco-Links The Education Kit includes a set of our most popular Eco-Links. Eco-Links are a great way to learn about forest ecosystems, and explore the related issues and options. Information about all of our other issues is available online. Most of them can be downloaded free in PDF format.

Videos

Three videos are included with the kit The kit contains three award winning videos produced by the foundation; America's Forests, The Dynamic Forest, and The Miracle Resource. Each of these videos is between 14-23 minutes long and will give you an overview of North American forests and forest products. By understanding how forest work in space and time, we put ourselves in a position to make informed choices.

These videos can also be purchased separately.

Posters

Posters included with the kit The kit includes several posters ready for hanging on the wall; Nature's Perfect Recycling Factory, The Right Choice, Things We Get From the Forest, Panorama of Papermaking, and The Life of the Forest set by International Paper.

Some of these posters can also be purchased separately.

Maps (Forest type)

Some of the media included in Education Kit-Forest Type Maps This education kit has the current forest type maps of the U.S. and Canada. While there is a political boundary between these two nations, forest ecosystems don’t recognize the boundary. North America’s forests range from temperate to boreal (far North), and also include temperate rain forests (along the West coast). These maps can be used to explore where the forests are, what their composition is, and how forest products flow from rural areas to major metropolitan markets where they are used. Our economic and ecological systems are interwoven, just like our rural producing communities and urban consuming communities.

Tree Finder (wheel):

Some of the goodies included in the Education Kit--Tree Finder Wheel This tree wheel is a good tool to learn something about oaks, pines, firs and other important trees that grow in North America. Simply dial in the type of tree you’re interested in, then flip over the wheel and read all about that tree.

Engineered-Wood Products

Engineered wood products represent the culmination of science and woodworking. They offer alternatives to demands on high quality lumber and provide an opportunity to utilize smaller trees or wood that might otherwise have gone to some other use. See our Eco-Link on engineered wood products for more information. The kit includes samples of an I-joist, Oriented Strand Lumber (OSL), and finger-jointed redwood.

Cones

One of the many forest product included in the Education Kit-Yellow Pine Cone This kit contains two kinds of cones from conifers. Conifers are the main group of gymnosperms and the source of our softwoods. Conifers have open seeds that fall out of the cones. People tend to call all cones "pine" cones. However, pines, firs, spruces, hemlocks, cedars and redwoods all have their unique cones.

Tree Cookies

One of the many forest product included in the Education Kit-Tree Cookies from managed and unmanaged forests Tree cookies are cross-sections of a tree trunk. The rings tell us how old the tree is and how fast it's growing. Trees with more sunlight, water and nutrients grow faster. Each two tree rings (one light and one dark) represent one year’s growth. Trees need to be thinned out when there is too much competition. Note that these two tree cookies are approximately the same diameter. However one tree is much older than the other. The younger tree came from a well-managed forest and had plenty of sunlight, water and nutrients. The older tree had more completion for these resources and may have grown on a poorer site. When stands of trees become overcrowded, they can be thinned “releasing” the remaining trees to grow. Overcrowded stands of trees are also "stressed" and can be prime targets for insects, diseases and fire.

Red Oak (hardwoods sample)

From a simple acorn comes the mighty oak tree. From the oak tree we get excellent wood for fine furniture, flooring and other uses. This red oak sample is actually an engineered-wood product. Look closely to see how pieces have been edge glued together to form this piece from a stairway banister. Than look through the magnifying glass - you can actually see the pores or ends of the vessels, which are found only in hardwoods. All hardwoods are angiosperms meaning they have enclosed seeds as typified by the acorn.

A board foot of yellow pine

A solid piece of Southern Yellow Pine measuring one board foot (12" x 12" x 1"). Solid wood is sawn from logs. The US uses over 50 billion board feet of lumber annually, of which about 35% is imported.