Page 28 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2020

EDUCATION PROGRAMS
‘Goods from the Woods’
Miniseries Spotlights Forest Products in NC
processes used to make the product, and the essential workers involved. Each video will have corresponding lesson plans and activities that expand upon the key points. Production will begin this fall, with the goal that the series will be ready for the 2021-2022 school year.
The miniseries aims to educate third- through eighth-grade homeschool students and at-home learners. To date, there
are over 91,000 homeschools educating 227,000 students in the state of North Carolina. This represents 13% of the
state’s total K-12 population. This number has increased due to the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in these environments have the benefit of a flexible and highly adaptable curriculum, and teachers often utilize
the natural world as an extension of the classroom. However, teachers must rely
on online resources, and information accessed may be inaccurate or rooted
The forest products industry has always been an important part of North Carolina’s economy. The
state’s “Tar Heel” nickname traces its roots back to colonial times, when North Carolina led the world in the production of naval stores, such as pine tar and turpentine.
Today, the forest products industry in North Carolina is responsible for making over 5,000 products that we use every day. Lumber, cardboard boxes, paper, sports equipment, medicines and even cosmetics all have one thing in common: wood!
For the past 20 years, the NCFA has shared its “Goods from the Woods” box with educators and professionals across the state. The box is a visual representation to help students make the connection between
our forests and forest products. “The Goods from the Woods box is a great tool for an educator,” says NCFA Education Manager Amy Juliana. “My favorite object in the box is the tube of toothpaste. Kids are shocked when they learn that the cellulose gum in toothpaste is derived from wood!”
This year, the Goods from the Woods campaign will become a multimedia project in order to reach more students in the state. The Goods from the Woods film project will include a miniseries of short educational videos that highlights the forest products made in the state of North Carolina. Products that NCFA hopes to highlight are dimensional lumber, paper, biofuels, and secondary forest products. Videos will spotlight the supply chain, the
A Tree’s Dream Retells a
Classic Forestry Story
Commission Education Coordinator Matt Schnabel has been coordinating the A Tree’s Dream project and also organized a curriculum team to write accompanying lessons on various forestry topics for teachers to use with the video. The Langdale Company in Georgia agreed to film and produce the video at no cost. The NCFA provided funds to cover the cost of recording new music.
We hope educators will be showing the A Tree’s Dream video across the nation to teach young children about forest conservation. The video is posted on the Langdale Company’s YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/777wq0VIEFg.
A dedicated webpage is being
developed that will house the video and accompanying lessons. The webpage will also include contacts for each of the 13
BY MATT SCHNABEL
In 2019, members of forestry organizations from South Carolina and Georgia met
to discuss remaking House, a forestry
video that was owned by the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA).
The video told a story about a tree
that dreamed about becoming part of a family’s home. The story followed the
tree from the forest, to the mill, to all the products that were in the home (as well as other forest products), while also teaching the economic, environmental, and social benefits of sustainable forest management.
The message of teaching children about forest products and sustainable forestry was great, but the video was over 20 years old and had become dated.
The SFPA gave permission to remake the video. The new video, A Tree’s Dream, includes the original story of a tree wanting to become part of a family’s new home and messaging about sustainable forest management. However, A Tree’s Dream also showcases forestry practices and resources in the Southeastern United States. South Carolina Forestry
26 ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2020