Observe: Forests are a Natural Resource

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Trees are used to construct useful and necessary products.  What are some items we get from trees?

Look around your home or watch the Products of Trees or How Paper is Made to find out more.

If you are uncertain what a natural resource is, view
  • Brain POP Video: Natural Resources  
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    Wood from a tree can be used for food products and spices, construction, furniture, electrical outlets, insulation, paint, dance slippers, or paper.  Even soft drinks get ingredients from Kola trees.
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    CCO Piqsels
         

    What do trees have to do with a cancer survivor?  Quite a lot!  The native peoples of the northwestern coastal forests used the needles and twigs of the Pacific Yew tree to brew teas for a wide range of ailments including cancer. The bark of this tree contains a substance called taxol, which still is used as a treatment for various cancers such as lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer.

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    Medicines are made from tree wood, bark, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits or seeds. Trees are essential to the health of millions of people. We get quinine, a cure for malaria from the cinchona tree. Trees provide ingredients for cough syrups, laxatives, pain relievers, and tranquilizers.

    Trees are used for unusual health products. For example, rub your hands down the bark of an aspen tree, and you will be covered with a powdery white substance that makes a natural sunscreen.

    Trees are used for fires, shelters, and ropes. Because of their usefulness, forests are considered a natural resource. But the best news is, they are renewable. The resource replaces itself unless it is overused.

    Therefore, how this natural resource is used is of great interest to those who wish to continue to benefit from forests in the future.

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      Career Connection

    Forest resources are very important. The harvesting of trees provides thousands of jobs and brings well-being to many Canadians.

    Watch the videos Forestry Equipment Operator and The Boreal Forest is Where I Want to Be and The Footprint of the Canadian Forest Industry to learn more about how the forest is linked to economic opportunity.


    Career Profile - Forestry Equipment Operator
    The Boreal Forest Is Where I Want To Be
    The Footprint of the Canadian Forestry Industry 

      Notebook: What kind of resource is a forest, and how is it used?

    1. Click here to download this activity. 
    2. Complete the activity using the links provided (in the activity and below)
    3. Save to your Trees Notebook.

    Activity Links:


      Aboriginal Connection

    Some Aboriginal peoples see harvesting trees as a way to provide jobs, bring stability to their communities, and to practice their culture. For example, the Tl'azt'en Nation in Northern BC owns a logging company, Tanizul Timber. The band also manages the John Prince Research Forest jointly with the University of Northern British Columbia.

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    However, some people do not fully agree with forestry industry practices. Watch Forests for the Future: Cree Knowledge.

    MIA Forests For The Future Cree Knowledge

    How did Native Americans and Metis use trees in the past?

    Watch this video: How to build a birch bark canoe for one way trees were useful to Native people. Birch bark canoe building