Forest Management 101- Secrets of the Tree Whisperers

• This podcast highlights the important role that forests play in the fight against climate change, focusing on types of forests, forest management, sustainable forestry, urban forestry, and the best ways to conserve forests.
• Students will learn more about sustainable forest management, as well as the integration of urban forestry with urban planning for climate benefits, as they listen to interviews with two experts in the field.

Positives

• The narrator of this podcast is engaging, funny, and relatable to young people.
• This episode encourages students to find ways to protect forests and to spend time in them.

Additional Prerequisites

• There are several options for how to access this podcast, including listening directly on the site, downloading it, or finding The Big Melt within Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts.
• The narrator in this podcast uses phrases and colloquialisms (such a "B-T-dubs," meaning "by the way") that may not be familiar to all students and could require explanation.

Differentiation

• Since this podcast is more than 30 minutes long, break it up into smaller parts, prompting students to take notes on the definitions of forest types, the relationship between forests and climate change, the two interviews, or even smaller chunks if necessary.
• Show students how to locate episodes of The Big Melt that they might enjoy as they find other episodes of interest or even subscribe to the podcast.
• Put students into groups and ask them to discuss the interview with Cindy Cheng about urban forestry, also further researching the impacts that forests can have on urban areas.
• As an extension activity, have students analyze this scientific article which provides an overview of forest protection and assesses the qualitative and quantitative benefits of protecting forests.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.