Classrooms Equipped With Pine Beetle Education Kits

The Province and the Council of Forest Industries have teamed up to develop education kits for teaching secondary school students about the mountain pine beetle and how British Columbia is responding to the epidemic.

“Students want to know what’s happening with the mountain pine beetle,” said Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman. “These kits provide the learning tools to teach them everything from how a beetle attacks a tree to the economic impacts of the epidemic and how to mitigate them.”

A teacher’s binder, classroom posters, video, slide show, vials containing adult beetles and larvae, and bark and wood samples are featured in the kits. The teacher’s binder includes a lesson plan, curriculum connections, activities list, glossary of beetle-related terminology, background notes, and links to other learning resources.

“Studies relating to the pine beetle are a valuable addition to the high school curriculum,” said Education Minister Shirley Bond. “It's important that students understand how the pine beetle is impacting B.C.’s forests.”

Students will learn through suggested activities such as research, written and oral reports, visual presentations, class discussions, guest speakers directly involved in pine beetle management, and field trips.

“The Council of Forest Industries is pleased to have partnered with the BC Market Outreach Network to develop this teaching resource for B.C. secondary schools,” said Doug Routledge, vice-president, COFI northern operations. “This new resource provides teachers the tools they need to teach their students about the significance of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and its impacts to B.C.’s forest industry as well as impacts to our forests, communities and economy.”

The mountain pine beetle education kits have been distributed to more than 90 school districts across the province.  A similar teacher resource was developed two years ago for students in grades 4-7. The secondary school kits build on the success of that project with more advanced curriculum and learning outcomes in mind.

The provincial government’s BC Market Outreach Network partnered with the Council of Forest Industries to develop the pine beetle educations kits. The BC Market Outreach Network is a program of Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd., a Crown corporation committed to promoting B.C. forest practices and products internationally.

Raising awareness about the mountain pine beetle epidemic and mitigating its impacts is a key objective of the provincial Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan. For more information on the Action Plan, or to download a copy, visit www.gov.bc.ca/pinebeetle.