How to use this resource...

Our Forest, Our Future helps teachers and pupils to explore the interdependence of people and forests and the vital role forests play in sustaining our environment – in the past, the present and hopefully the future.

The Scots Pine forests in Scotland and the Congo Basin rainforest in Africa provide case studies through which pupils will begin to understand why our forests are under threat and the implications for our planet. Further information about these forests is provided in the following documents.

In making connections between consumerism, people and the environment, pupils will be encouraged to see how they and their actions have an impact on the lives of others globally. It encourages reflection on the possible futures of the world's forests and ways of taking positive actions for a future where people and forests co-exist in a sustainable way.

The resource is structured around a global citizenship framework devised by Oxfam.

The reflection and evaluation sections in each activity support formative assessment and ongoing monitoring of pupils learning.

Additional assessment opportunities are indicated by...

Outdoor learning opportunities are indicated by...

Homework activities are indicated by...

Taking Action for Change

Education for Global Citizenship is committed to enabling pupils to bring about positive actions for change either locally or globally. This process should support pupils to make their own informed choices through a critical evaluation of the options open to them and the possible implications of those choices.

Throughout the resource there are ideas for possible actions, such as reflecting on our power as consumers, peer education and tree planting. Your pupils themselves should be encouraged to think creatively about the many actions they could take, critically evaluate the impact these actions might have and then evaluate what they have done.

The materials below support your pupils through this process.

> Making connections

4. Exploring the Scots Pine forest and the Congo Basin rainforest

What you need:

Photo of Scots Pine forest
Photo of Congo Basin rainforest
Maps of forest distribution around the world to display on white board: Global Tree Cover and Forests in the World.
Atlas
Copies of world map [pdf]

Aims

To find out where the world's forests forests are located

To find out where coniferous and tropical rainforests are located

To begin to explore the Scots Pine forest and the Congo Basin rainforest

What to do

Show the class the photos of the forests and ask them if they know or can guess what part of the world they are from. Encourage them to find clues in the pictures. Establish that one is a picture of a forest in Scotland and the other is from the Congo Basin rainforest.

Show pupils the two world maps. Global Tree Cover shows forest coverage in the world and the Forests in the World shows where the types of forest are distributed. Ask pupils to locate the rainforests. What do the pupils notice?

Explain that the Scots Pine forest would have covered large areas of the Scottish highlands but has now almost totally disappeared. This forest would have been part of the Boreal Forest (marked in brown on the map). Pupils should locate Scotland on their maps and the area where the Scots Pine forest would have been.

Pupils research the Congo Basin rainforest and the Scots Pine forest (either as homework or as an IT session using search engines).

Pupils present information to each other in groups.

Facilitate whole class plenary using the teacher prompts below.

Teacher prompts for reflection and evaluation

What are the main differences between the two forests?
What are the main similarities?
What is the climate like in each forest?
Do you think people live in these forests?
What do you think it would be like to live in these forests?
What have you learned about the location of the forests around the world?
What have you found out about the distribution of trees around the world?

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4