Abstract:

Since the publication of the Rocard report (2007) it has been officially noted that the decline in young people’s interest for science is putting at risk the quality of research and Europe’s capacity to innovate. Moreover, the dominance of a hegemonic urban culture has led to the disjunction from rural areas, increasingly perceived in a mythical perspective but whose real management is scarcely known.

Nowadays, in fact, scientific education needs to be provided not only through the teaching of theories, but, more and more, introducing the students to the scientific method through the experimental practices. At the same time, a scientific approach to the analysis of environment can lead the students to a deeper knowledge of the area where they live, and provide them with the means to be active part in decision making and management.

In this perspective, an experimental project aiming to introducing the students to the knowledge of forests and their management has been proposed to the fourth class of a high school (Liceo Scientifico Giotto Ulivi), located in Borgo San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, in an area characterized by the presence of farmland and forests.

The work started with frontal lessons about forests (what a forest is, its functionality and importance, how to manage a coppice or a high forest, dendrometry, the energetic potential of firewood), the techniques used to evaluate tree dimension and biomass in the forest, the use of related equipment. The use of instrumentation was taught using the trees in the school’s garden.

Subsequently, the techniques were tested in the analysis of a riparian wood, including mainly white poplar. Here, the students refined their ability to work in groups, to coordinate their ideas and impressions, and gained experience in the use of instruments.

Finally, the techniques were used in the survey and measurement of a beech forest; The beech forest had been object of a similar study in the frame of a graduation thesis in 1990: this made possible for the students to compare the data from the two field campaigns. The energy value of the existing biomass was calculated for both the examined forests.

The project involved the use of instrumentation, the elaboration of data, the ability in imagining, designing and conducting an experiment aiming to the collection of reliable data for a practical purpose. In addition, the students tested their manual skill and their ability in problem solving, in work organization, in data evaluation and elaboration, in writing and explaining the results. The interdisciplinarity of the approach, that involved knowledges from botany and mathematics, together with others specific of forest science, was another added value of the project.

Finally, the practical work fully introduced the students to the evaluation of sustainability in forest management.

Keywords:

Science dissemination, forestry, rural development.