The document summarizes educational activities that a class participated in to learn about forests. The class watched presentations about forest development and biotopes. They played a tree identification game and made sticker albums and herbariums of tree samples. Students observed tree buds, bark, and anthills under magnifying glasses. They identified birds by song and drew pictures of them. Boys made bird houses. The class read folk songs and riddles about forests and tasted birch and maple sap. They had a cross-country run in a nearby forest and do spring cleaning in their school yard. In May there is a creative competition about forests where students make posters, pictures, and tales or collages using forest materials. The overall goal is for the

1. Forest

2. Brainstorm – What is forest for us? Forest Birds Lumbering (forest works) Filter of dust Place to relax Plants and berries Animals Insects Source material - wood Oxygen

3. We watched a video presentation about forest development

4. With a great interest we listened lection by Iveta Ence (environment expert) about Valmiera forest biotopes

5. To learn what kind of trees we have in our forests we played lotto (join picture of tree with its name) and we also made a sticker album about trees

6. Swedish oaks in our school! Process of acourn planting

7. We were making a herbarium with branches from different trees. Some of us look for their Latin names

8. With help of magnifying glass we studyed branches of trees and bushes in our school yard We also studyed how do buds develop and grow to leaves

9. An interesting adventure was when we looked what is happening under tree barks

10. Observing anthill. Before going in nature we read a literature about ants and their life.

11. We watched a video about birds and then went outside and tried to identify them by their songs and externals. We also drew them.

12. In handicraft lessons boys made bird houses for tomtits

13. We also read folk songs and guessed riddles about forest. Some of us had a possibility to taste birch and maple sap

14. Before two weeks we had a spring running(cross-country)in the nearest forest

15. Every spring we are working in our school yard

16. In May we have creative work competition – “Save the forest”. Students are making pictures and posters, some of them are writing tales. One class had made a collage from things they could find in forest

17. We want to be friends of the forest!