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Background
Typically, an old growth forest has the most abundant
amount of organisms and the most diversity among species of
any stage in the succession of a forest. You will find old
trees still standing and dead trees both standing and lying
on the ground. Fallen trees house decomposers and insects.
The snags (stumps of fallen branches are perfect homes for
many mammals and birds.
Fallen trees leave gaps in the canopy; these gaps provide
growth opportunities to shade intolerant brushes and trees.
The old growth community usually has a luxurious understory
with many kinds of fungi, mosses, lichens and herbaceous
plants. Old growth forests are vital for millions of species
of organisms and, properly managed, can also serve as a
source of lumber for human use.
Resources/Materials/Supplies
- Internet access
- textbooks
- encyclopedias to help guide research into beetles,
woodpeckers, etc.
- Video Segment - Program #4)
Description: In this activity, students will:
- Research specific information about the ecosystem of
the old growth White Spruce Forest under attack spruce
bark beetles.
- Organize research information into groups of no less
than 25 facts about their assigned topic
- Group these facts to make generalizations to help
answer the following questions:
Management Suggestions:
- First group meeting: Organize and discuss the tasks
and objective of the activity.
- This activity is dependent upon Internet access.
Before you divide the class into groups, inform your
students about the school's Internet access. You and they
may wish to work out a sign up system. Suggest to
students who have Internet access at home to use that
resource as well.
- Have groups appoint team captains or leaders, divide
up the work and set a deadline for individual
research.
- Be sure student groups sign up to review the video
segment from Program #4 of the Field Trip in order to
take notes on facts given in this segment. Students may
also look at a video summary of this segment on the SCETV
site.
- Help students, individually and in their groups, set
reasonable deadlines to complete their work.
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