Project to elaborate seed bombs and reforest areas affected by fires or erosion.
Students begin by reading Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" as an example of how overdevelopment can cause long-lasting environmental destruction. Students discuss how to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of human industry. Student teams are asked to serve as natural resource engineers, city planning engineers and civil engineers with the task to replant the nearly destroyed forest and develop a sustainable community design that can co-exist with the re-established natural area.
This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:
"What exactly is a forest? Most people have a mental picture of what a forest is. But beyond physical appearance are values associated with what this forest provides to people and nature. Depending on your perspective, a forest may be seen as a source of timber, an ecosystem containing important biological diversity, a home for indigenous people, or a sink for carbon. A single, uniform definition of forests is unable to capture these diverse perspectives, and applying only one definition can hinder conservation, management, and restoration efforts. Yet, clear definition criteria are needed for assessing forest loss or gain at large spatial scales. To address this predicament, an international research team discusses historical forest definitions and concepts, and provides guidelines for future researchers and policy makers to navigate the complex landscapes of modern forests. The way forward, they argue, requires multiple definitions designed and applied to specific goals..."
The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.