A Walk in the Forest: Elementary Students’ Perceptions and Knowledge of Forestry Principles

Authors

  • John G. Peden
  • Alice Hall Georgia Southern University
  • Gail Westcot Mary Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center
  • Samuel Police Georgia Southern University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/JPRA-2016-V34-I2-5987

Keywords:

Environmental education, environmental perceptions, environmental knowledge, fire, forestry, partnerships, wildlife

Abstract

A Walk in the Forest is an educational program sponsored by the Society of American Foresters, Project Learning Tree, and the American Tree Farm System. The purpose of this outreach effort is to educate participants about forest-related benefits, increase awareness of forest ecosystems, and promote understanding of the forestry profession. The Mary Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center conducted Walks for over 3,000 sixth grade students, teachers, and parents between 2002 and 2008. This outreach effort was the result of a partnership between the Warnell Center, the Savannah SAF chapter, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and many others. This paper reports the results of a pilot study that assessed changes in perceptions and knowledge of forestry principles among 285 fourth grade students who participated in the 7th Annual Walk in the Warnell Forest. Positive outcomes of the Walk were evident despite changes in the duration, scope, and location of the event necessitated by inclement weather. Consistent with previous research, findings suggest that environmental knowledge was more amenable to change than environmental perceptions. Results of the pilot study provide insight on the planning and design of environmental educational programs that can be used to meet the needs of local school children. The Walk is an inherently experiential and multidisciplinary program that relies on local environments and local forestry professionals to address state-mandated academic content through the lens of forestry and related professions. The Walk addresses salient needs in environmental education by emphasizing community learning, as well as the interconnectedness of ecological and social dimensions of forestry. The authors recommend that future educational efforts devote increased attention to the roles of fire, timber harvesting, and hunting as forest management tools.

Downloads

Published

2016-06-15

Issue

Vol. 34 No. 2 (2016)

Section

Programs That Work

License

Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)

Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors

PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.

I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Park and Recreation Administration to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).

THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

Assignment of Copyright

I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.

Reversion of Rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.

Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes

I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.

All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact gbates@sagamorepub.com for further information.

In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.

Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.

Author Representations

  • The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
  • The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
  • The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
  • I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
  • If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.