Pocket Guide: Seeds to Trees: Introduce Young Children to Nature Through Trees and Forests, Project Learning Tree

Green jobs represent one of the fastest growing and changing segments of the global economy. At the same time, today's youth are seeking rewarding careers that help us move towards more sustainable lifestyles and greener economies.

The next generation wants to work with purpose. They want to find a job they can be proud of; they want to feel like they are making a difference in the world. Moreover, an estimated 30% of the workforce in the forest and conservation sector will retire in the next ten years.

You have an opportunity to introduce young people to career paths that are not only in demand, but that are also rewarding and help conserve the environment.

This Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers guide contains four learning activities that engage youth in actively exploring forest-related green careers. Anyone can use this resource with youth ages 12-25 in settings ranging from community youth programs and school classrooms, to college and career prep, to field trips and forest tours. It is especially appropriate for educators, career and guidance counselors, Scouts, 4-H, and FFA leaders, foresters, and job training advisors.

Learning Activities

Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers includes four hands-on instructional activities that help youth explore forest-related careers and get excited about green jobs. Youth research forestry jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources with these activities.

Activity 1 -- Who Works in This Forest?

As an introduction to some of the people who work in and on behalf of forests, learners research different forest sector careers to learn what it takes to perform these jobs.

Activity 2 -- If You Were the Boss

Acting as foresters, learners grapple with decisions about how to manage a forest sustainably while serving different needs.

Activity 3 -- Monitoring Forest Health

Through a variety of health indicators, learners assess the health of a forest area and see how soil scientists, wildlife biologists, arborists, and other forest professionals monitor forests.

Activity 4 -- Seeking Sustainability

Learners explore the concept of sustainability by examining the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, while also taking a look at some jobs involved in ensuring forest sustainability.

The activities are designed to be flexible. They may be taught as individual, stand-alone lessons or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction. Depending on your program, you may teach them in the sequence provided, switch the order around, or pick and choose components from different activities.

Each activity has a suggested time allotment, ranging from one to three 50-minute sessions, plus time for youth to conduct research, participate in learning in the field, or prepare presentations, depending on the activity.

Some or all of the learning activities may be used to enhance a range of subjects:

• Arts
• Biology
• Career Technology Education
• Earth Science
• Ecology
• English
• Environmental Science
• Forestry
• Geography
• Government
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Studies
• Mathematics
• Natural Resources
• Science
• Social Studies

What's Included

At the heart of the program is a set of GreenSchools Investigations that provide a blueprint for student Green Teams to examine their school's energy use, waste and recycling, water consumption, school site, and environmental quality.

Each investigation details specific things for students in grades 6-12 to measure and observe, along with student worksheets to fill out and guidance on how to combine data collected into a school-wide analysis. Using the results of their investigations, students select, design, and implement one or more action projects, and measure their impacts. Thus, students apply their skills to the real world and it gives them a voice and the knowledge that they can make a difference, all while improving students' academic performance in STEM subjects.

What's Included

This book includes an Adult Leader Guide and a set of five hands-on, student-driven investigations. Using critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, students will analyze their school's Energy, Water, Waste and Recycling, School Site, and Environmental Quality.

Adult Leader Guide -- This section includes information on the benefits of becoming a green school, who to involve, how to form a Green Team, the steps to take to support students in conducting the Investigations, and ways to obtain grants for action projects.

Energy Investigation -- Students investigate how much energy their school uses, the main sources of that energy, and ways to implement energy-saving strategies.

Environmental Quality Investigation -- Students investigate areas where improvements can be made in indoor air quality, transportation, chemical use, and more.

School Site Investigation -- Students investigate natural habitats, wildlife, trees, grounds maintenance practices, and ways to to improve their school site, including planting trees and creating outdoor classrooms.

Waste & Recycling Investigation -- Students investigate how much waste their school generates and where it goes, as well as renewables, recycling and composting efforts.

Water Investigation -- Students investigate the source, cost, and quality of their school's water supply, and ways to enhance current water conservation practices

Features

The PLT GreenSchools Investigations have been carefully designed to make them visually appealing and easy for students to use. Each investigation includes:

• Green Team Guide that prepares students to lead the Investigation, including a checklist of what students will do, streamlined directions, background information, a list of related careers, and a glossary.
• Investigation Worksheets that contain straightforward directions, data gathering surveys, analysis questions, and structured data collection charts for Green Team members to collect and record data on the five environmental topics.
• Links to helpful "how-to" videos. These videos explain how to use a variety of tools and equipment to collect data for the Investigations. For example, in the Energy Investigation, an option is to use a watt meter to find out which devices in a classroom use the most energy. The video "How to Use a Watt Meter" shows students using this device with step-by-step instructions. In another video "Discover iTree" you'll see how easy it is to calculate the dollar value and ecosystem benefits of the trees on your school grounds using a simple online tool.