Video from Summer Trip

The video of our experience across West Virginia to learn first-hand about the science and history of the timber and rail industries in the state is available HERE.
Throughout the course and the summer we learned how the timber and rail industries not only influenced each other but how those industries shaped our state.

Blog updates

Please remember to keep your Forestry and Rail Transport blog up-to-date by posting at least once each week.  Your blog can be an excellent resource for your students as well as educators and students in other locations.  Your blog entries can contain information on the forest products or rail industries that you have learned from the presentations, guest speakers or your reading.  You can summarize things that you learned from viewing the DVDs that you have been given or from the books and other print materials.

Another great way to use your blog is to post thought provoking questions for your students.  You can ask them to describe why Shay, Climax and Heisler locomotives could ascend steep slopes that rod locomotives could not.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of rod and geared locomotives for different situations?  What major changes have taken place in the climax forests of West Virginia since the late 1800s and what factors influenced these changes?

The blogs that were produced by the coal project participants are in wide use throughout the state and across the country.  Those blogs are excellent documentation of the coal project and are great resources for teachers and students as well as individuals who are interested in coal.

Let’s make the blogs for the current project on Forestry and Rail Transport even better than last year’s blogs.

Forestry & Rail Transport Field Trip – 21 April 2012 – Ritter Park

Plans are continuing for the Saturday field trip to Huntington’s Ritter Park.  A goal for the day are:

• learn (or to refresh for the 2011 returnees) the water quality protocol;
• document the diversity of trees in Ritter Park
• estimate the board feet in example trees.

This is an all day outing at the park.  Lunch will be provided.

Specific information (time, meeting place, etc) will be announced on this blog as April 21 approaches.

For this session you will need the following items:

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab (fully charged);
2. Vernier LabQuest (fully charged) units will be provided for teachers who were not in the 2011 session
3. All Vernier probes
4. Tape measure (to determine DBH)
5. Tree identification guides

Wear comfortable shoes and bring a change of shoes and socks in case you get wet (you will get wet).  Please dress with the unpredictable April weather in mind.  This trip will take place rain or shine.