School of Forest Resources & Conservation

Faculty, staff, and students at the School of Forest Resources and Conservation work on several projects in Environmental Education and Environmental Communication:


Natural Resource Education for Youth

  • 4-H Project Books - Four 4-H Project Books have been developed for individual youth and 4-H clubs to explore Florida’s Forest Resources. Teachers will find the activities will help supplement national curriculum with a Florida-specific flare. The books are:
  • 4-H Forest Ecology Contest - A contest for 4-H youth to identify trees and other forest organisms is held every year. Support information to assist youth in learning about Florida’s forests can be found at: www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h . Information about this year’s contest is located at the 4-H site. Funding for the Forest Ecology website was provided by the UF 4-H Foundation.
  • Give Forests a Hand - This middle school environmental service learning program is adapted from Give Water a Hand. Youth groups explore trees and forests in an urban or rural context and identify projects that could enhance their community. Working with local resource partners and their leader, the youth go through a process of researching their topic, assessing possible futures, planning an action project, and conducting their service. Reflection questions at each step help reinforce the learning process. Funding to support this program has come from CSREES, US Fish and Wildlife Service, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, and College of Natural Resources and Environment. (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FR117)

Environmental Education Training and Resources for Educators

  • Florida Project Learning Tree
    SFRC is the lead partner of several who coordinate PLT in Florida. Jenny Seitz coordinates facilitator training and new projects that extend PLT to new audiences and new ways of using these curriculum materials. We have conducted an evaluation of how teachers use PLT (see Easton and Monroe 2002) and are currently investigating student interest levels when teachers use PLT activities in conjunction with reading and writing lessons. A Florida Urban Forest Supplement was designed to help urban teachers use PLT more effectively. EDIS publications that support PLT include:

Faculty, staff and students at the School of Forest Resources and Conservation work on several projects in the wildland urban interface:

  • Changing Roles: Wildland Urban Interface Professional Development Program (http://www.interfacesouth.org/products/training/changing_roles.html) is a regional training program for natural resource professionals produced with the Southern Center for Wildland Urban Interface Research and Information for the Southern Group of State Foresters. The materials are available on-line. We are currently tracking use of these materials and providing support to agency training programs. EDIS publications that support this program include:
  • Wildland Fire Education Toolkit was developed to help extension agents and county foresters increase citizen awareness of wildfire and how they can live safely in fire-prone areas of Florida. Over 150 kits were distributed throughout the state at regional workshops. In the first four months, DOF and Extension educators used these resources to educate over 2000 people in workshops, reach over 23,000 people in fairs and exhibits, and promote these concepts with mass media that reaches 2 million Florida residents. EDIS publications that support this program include:

 
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