Farm Forestry: Section 6 - What Role Does Farm Forestry Have in Our Future?
-
Activity 6a: Farm forestry in our landscape
- Worksheet 6a: Farm forestry in our landscape
- Activity 6b: Is farm forestry a form of sustainable management?
- Activity 6c: Living sustainably with trees
Activity 6a: Farm Forestry in Our Landscape
Statewide
As a summary activity, students view the Farm Forestry poster series to identify farm forestry features, activities and benefits.
| VEL Domains | CSF II Links for Geography |
| Geography Economics English Community engagement Communication Thinking |
5.2 Explain how natural processes and human activities change environments. |
Materials
- Worksheet 6a: Farm forestry in our landscape
- Timer
Classroom activity
- Describe the worksheet task to students and that a time limit will be set for the competition to see who can find the most features in the posters in the time set (e.g. 3 minutes).
- Distribute the worksheet and set the timer.
- Student teams view the Farm Forestry poster to identify and list:
- Farm forestry plantings
- Farm forestry management activities (list what the people are doing)
- Farm forestry products you can see (list them)
- Farm forestry benefits to the farmer (list them)
- Farm forestry benefits to the community (list them)
- Farm forestry benefits to the environment (list them)
- As a class, compare results from the student teams.
Which team identified the most features, activities and benefits in the posters in the time limit? - Using the winning team's list, go through the features, activities and benefits identified. Add to the list from other team's results to compile a class list.
Alternatively, Conduct the activity over a longer time (without the timer) and compare results from the student teams.
Worksheet 6a: Farm Forestry in Our Landscape
- In pairs, view one the Farm Forestry posters below.
Use the letters below to mark on that poster where the feature/activity is occurring on the poster. -
- Farm forestry plantings
- Farm forestry management activities
- Farm forestry products you can see
- Farm forestry benefits to the farmer
- Farm forestry benefits to the community
- Farm forestry benefits to the environment
- Create lists of:
- Farm forestry management activities (what the people are doing)
- Farm forestry products you can see
- Farm forestry benefits to the farmer
- Farm forestry benefits to the community
- Farm forestry benefits to the environment
- Repeat for all three posters.
Activity 6b: Is Farm Forestry a Form of Sustainable Management?
Students prepare and deliver a Powerpoint or poster presentation to summarise what they have learnt about farm forestry and sustainable management.
| VEL Domains | CSF II Links for Geography |
| Geography Economics English Interpesonal development Community engagement Communication Thinking |
5.2 Explain how natural processes and human activities change environments. 5.3 Explain how people's use of natural and human environments changes over time. 5.4 Develop a plan to address impacts of change. 6.1 Explain the processes and interactions between people and major natural systems. 6.3 Predict the effects of resource development and use on a selected natural and human environment. 6.4 Develop a comprehensive strategy to resolve an issue related to the use and management of a natural or human environment. |
| VCE Adaptable | |
| Geography Environmental Science Outdoor and Environmental Studies Agricultural and Horticultural Studies |
Classroom activityies
- Student teams prepare a Powerpoint or poster presentation to explain if and how farm forestry can contribute to the sustainability of a farm and the environment. They need to include an explanation of ways farm forestry can:
- be a productive crop and
- help manage the impacts of human activities on natural systems.
The presentation should cover:
- Global trends in timber supplies and the implications for farm forestry
- Roles farm forestry can play in managing land degradation and biodiversity conservation
- Benefits and limitations of farm forestry to 1) the farmer and 2) community
Activity 6c: Living Sustainably with Trees
Students identify personal actions for sustainably using timber and timber products.| VEL Domains | CSF II Links for Geography |
| Geography Economics English Community engagement Communication Thinking |
5.3 Explain how people's use of natural and human environments changes over time. 5.4 Develop a plan to address impacts of change. 6.3 Predict the effects of resource development and use on a selected natural and human environment. 6.4 Develop a comprehensive strategy to resolve an issue related to the use and management of a natural or human environment. |
| VCE Adaptable | |
| Geography Environmental Science Outdoor and Environmental Studies Agricultural and Horticultural Studies |
Classroom activities
Personal Action
- As a class, brainstorm a list of actions that families, students, teachers or people in general can put into place to use timber products more wisely and waste less of them (e.g. use both sides of a sheet of paper, recycle paper and cardboard etc).
- Each student identifies a personal action they will put into place that helps sustainably use wood products.
They monitor this for the next month and report back on how easy/hard it was to put this action into practice.
If there were difficulties, discuss ideas for making that action easier to adopt.
- Encourage students to continue with their chosen action, and to adopt a new additional personal action to help sustainably use timber products.
Products
- Students investigate a range of timber products sold as 'sustainable' or 'environmentally friendly'.
They investigate and describe what it is about how the timber is grown or produced that makes it a more sustainable product compared to other similar products.
Discuss as a class, is the 'sustainable' or 'environmentally friendly' claim justified for any of the products investigated?
