LEAF Lesson Guides

NEW! LEAF FIELD ENHANCEMENT LESSONS (takes you to a new page)

Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Lesson Guide

LEAF lesson guides are a key component of the LEAF Program, aimed at increasing the forest literacy of Wisconsin's citizens.

LEAF's K-12 lesson guides with field enhancements are unit-based and teach:

What is a forest?
Why are forests important
How are forests managed?
How do we all play a part in sustaining forests?

The LEAF lesson guides were developed to meet the principles outlined in the LEAF Conceptual Guide to K-12 Forestry Education in Wisconsin (pdf).

Unit field enhancements are available to LEAF-trained teachers, as well as non-formal educators (nature centers, camps, etc.) and landowners through LEAF workshops.

Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Lesson Guide

This guide provides educators complete interdisciplinary units that present an overview of forests and forestry in Wisconsin. The lesson guide is divided into six grade-specific units: K-1, 2-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. Each K-8 unit contains between 5 and 8 classroom lessons, a careers exploration, and 3 field enhancements. The 9-12 unit contains 5 classroom lessons and a careers lesson.

Subject areas addressed in the lessons include Arts, English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The Wisconsin Model Academic Standards and H. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory are incorporated into the guide. The standards, subject areas, and multiple intelligences that each lesson encompasses are listed in the appendix.

WI K-12 Wildland Fire Lesson Guide

This guide supplements the Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Education Lesson Guide. Ninety percent of all forest-related fires in Wisconsin are started by humans. Education is a key prevention tool to develop an informed and caring citizenry that will take action to prevent useless fires and who support the use of prescribed burning as a management tool.

This lesson guide focuses on the economic, social, and ecological implications of wildland fire in Wisconsin. This guide includes one age-appropriate lesson for each LEAF Unit (K-1, 2-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-12). The lessons teach processes and skills and include online resources.

WI K-12 Urban Forest Lesson Guide

This guide also supplements the Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Education Lesson Guide. Wisconsin’s urban forests are a very important resource. However, many Wisconsin residents don’t recognize the benefits urban forests provide. An urban forest is all of the plants and animals in a city, village, or town. In Wisconsin, more than 70 percent of people live in cities, villages, and urban townships.

The Urban Forest Lesson Guide helps Wisconsin teachers educate students about the value of and need for our urban forests. Additionally, the Urban Forest Lesson Guide can help teachers in urban areas teach the importance of forests in general by using familiar urban forest surroundings to engage students and ultimately make the Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Lesson Guide units more relevant.