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Forest Encyclopedia “Wonders of the Forest”

Sponsored by the students of 4th grades Slonim gymnasium 1

Slonim, BelarusTeacher - Irina Volynets

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CREATORSCREATORS

1. Tanya Benko2. Kate Dyatlova3. Kate Sinitsa4. Kate Risunova5. Ksenya Sosnovskaya6. German Deshko7. Diana Alisevich8. Dasha Belevich9. Kate Skobeiko10. Slava Tsydik11. Vanya Volynets

1. Tanya Benko2. Kate Dyatlova3. Kate Sinitsa4. Kate Risunova5. Ksenya Sosnovskaya6. German Deshko7. Diana Alisevich8. Dasha Belevich9. Kate Skobeiko10. Slava Tsydik11. Vanya Volynets

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5th gradersSt. Stephen the

Martyr School , USA

1st graders from Lynnwood Elementary, USA

3-5 graders

Greenacres School , USA

TEACHERS: Christine Kolstoe

Kelly Kerani, Gina Fosco,

Kate Marshall

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CONTENTS

Forests in BelarusSlonim gymnasium 1, Slonim, Belarus

Pages 11 – 33

One way or another to be clean

Greenacres School, Scarsdale, NY, USAPages 34 -36

The Temporate Rainforest in Washington State Lynnwood Elementary, Lynnwood, WA, the USA

Pages 37 – 51

Forests in Nebraska, St. Stephen the Martyr School

Omaha, Nebraska, USAPages 51-60

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A forest is a large area of land covered with trees. But a

forest is much more than just trees. It also includes smaller plants, such as mosses, shrubs, and wild flowers. In addition, many kinds of birds, insects, and other animals make their home in the forest. Millions upon millions of living things that can only be seen under a microscope also live in the forest.

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Forests cover 30% of the earth’s surface

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• Forests help conserve and enrich the environment in

several ways:• Forest soil soaks up large amounts of rainfall, it thus

prevents the rapid runoff of water that can cause erosion and flooding;

• Forest plants help renew the atmosphere;• Forests provide a home for many plants and animals

that can live nowhere else.

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Forests can be called “lungs” of our planet. They remove

carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen, e. g. One hectare of pine wood takes 12 tons of carbon dioxide and produces 10 tons of oxygen annually though one hectare of fir wood – 22,3 and 18,9. People and nearly all other living beings require oxygen. If green plants didn’t continuously renew the oxygen supply, almost all life would soon stop. And if carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere, it could severely alter the earth’s climate.

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The natural beauty and peace of the forest offer a special source of enjoyment. In our country, huge forestlands have been set aside for people ‘s enjoyment. Many people use these forests for such activities as camping, hiking, and hunting. Others visit them simply to enjoy the scenery and to relax in the quiet beauty.

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Forests have a profound influence on our health

Forests produce a lot of phitoncides - volatile

substances that have bactericidal qualities - they can kill pathogenic microbes. They have a wholesome influence on neural system, improve substances exchange and stimulate heart activity. The phitoncides of Poplar buds, some kinds of apples-kill viruses of influenza. A branch of a fir which is brought in the room, reduces microbes in the air by 10 times. The leaves of an oak destroy bacteria of dysentery and abdominal typhus .

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One third of Belarus is covered with forests

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A Belarusian forest is great and mysterious. It can never be dull or monotonous. Each path leading deep in the woods brings you to a green temple full of wonders, rain-washed and sun-heated, smelling of conifers, flowers and herbs – to a fascinating world of mysteries, wonders and new discoveries.

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Forest ecosystems are characterized by exclusive high biodiversity. The flora consists of around 111 different types of trees. About twelve thousand species of plants and mushrooms can be found in these forests. Mainly fir and pine wood trees form these dense forests. There are thirteen types of pine woods and 12 types of fir woods available here. In Belarus forests, 28 types of trees as well as around 70 types of shrubberies can be found.

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A pine is any of a large group of evergreen trees that have needlike leaves and bear cones. There are about 100 species of pines. Almost all of them grow naturally only in the Northern Hemisphere. Pines are found in a wide range of environments, but they most often grow in sandy or rocky soils. They are especially common in the mountains of western and southeastern North America, southern Europe, and southeastern Asia. Some pines reach heights of about 60 meters. Others are small and shrublike.

Pines belong to a group of plants called conifers. All conifers reproduce by means of cones that produce pollen and seeds. A pine differs from other conifers in the way its leaves grow. Nearly all pines have needles that grow in bundles of two, three, or five each. The leaves of other conifers grow in larger bundles or do not form bundles.

Pine rank as the world’s most important source of timber. Most pines grow rapidly and form straight, tall trunks that are ideal for timber. Some pines produce resin, a substance used to make such products as turpentine, paint, and soap. The wood of many pine species makes excellent pulp for the manufacture of paper. Pines are also grown as shade trees. Some people use sometimes pines as Christmas trees.

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Scientific classification. Birches belong to the birch family Betulaceae.Birch is the name of a group of about 40 slender trees and shrubs that grow in parts of Europe, northern Asia and North America. They have a thin bark that peels in horizontal layers. Some birches have bark that separates into sheets almost like paper. Birches produce long catkins (scaly spikes), which contain tiny flowers. Birch trees may grow in pairs and in clusters. Their leaves grow alternately on the twig, and are generally bright green, turning yellow in autumn. The birch is a tall, graceful tree with delicate branches. The slender trunk of the birch has thin peeling bark.Silver birch grows in the country where I live. Silver birch is a graceful Old World species. It is easily recognized by its papery, peeling, black-and-white bark and the ragged base to the trunk. The brunches of the silver birch usually droop at the tips (hence the Latin name pendula, which means hanging). Silver birch grows mainly on sandy and gravelly soils. In Belarus the sap from a variety of silver birch called weeping birch is used in spring to make syrup.

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Scientific classification. Oaks belong to the beech family, Fagaceae, and make up the genus Quercus.

Oak is any of a large variety of trees or shrubs that bear acorns. There are more than 600 species of oaks. Nearly all of them grow naturally in the Northern Hemisphere only.

Oaks vary in size and the way they grow. Some oaks never become taller than shrubs. Other reach height of more than 30 metres. Many oaks that grow in warm climates do not lose their leaves in autumn. But most oaks found in regions with cold winters are deciduous- that is, they shed their leaves each autumn. The leaves of many deciduous oaks turn beautiful colours, such as deep red and golden brown in early autumn. In spring oaks produce small, yellowish-green flowers. Once fertilized, a female flower will become an acorn. The acorn is the fruit of the oak. Acorns vary in length from less than 13 millimetres to more than 50 millimetres.

Oaks grow slowly and usually do not bear acorns until they are about 20 years old. But these trees live a long time. Most oaks live for 200 to 400 years.

Oaks are an important source of timber. Oak wood is heavy, hard and strong and it has a beautiful grain. Manufactures use it for furniture, barrels, boats, and railway sleepers. Many of the once extensive oak woods of Europe were destroyed long ago to provide timber for boat building and house construction. Cork comes from the bark of some oak species. Acorns are an important source of food for wildlife. In some countries pigs and poultry are fed on acorns.

Several kinds of oaks are used to provide fannin for curing leather and for making blue-black ink. Tannin is found in the bark of oak trees but it is also concentrated in galls. Cortex Quercus is used as medicine for diarrhoea, pulmonary tuberculosis, women’ s diseases, and eczema, for strengthening teeth and gaggling a throat.

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Forests offer a diverse set of habitats for different Forests offer a diverse set of habitats for different plants – mushrooms, flowers, berries, herbs and plants – mushrooms, flowers, berries, herbs and bushesbushes

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The Fauna of Belarus is noted for its diversity. Around 464 species of invertebrates and more than thirty thousand vertebrates make the fauna of Belarus. About 60 species of fish and 305 species of birds are present here. About six classes of mammals represent the mammal family in Belarus. Elks, wild boars, deer, roe deer, wolves, hares, beavers, and wolves are mostly found in the country

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Hares are very fast-moving. The European brown hare (Lepus

europaeus) can run at speeds of up to 72 km/h (45 mph). They live solitarily or in pairs, while a "drove" is the collective noun for a group of hares. Their bodies are capable of absorbing the g-force produced while running at extreme speeds or while escaping predators. Hares live in simple nests

above the ground, and usually do not live in groups. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur

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The Hedgehog The hedgehog is the name of a dozen species of small, mainly nocturnal

mammals that have a thick prickly coat. Hedgehogs hunt for food at night. They eat insects slugs, worms, small mammals,

snakes, birds, and birds’ eggs. When cold weather comes, hedgehogs settle down to hibernate.

The common European hedgehog is about 25 centimeters long. It has short ears and legs, a short tail and a long nose. Stiff, needlelike growths called spines cover its back and protect the animal from its enemies. When it is in danger, the hedgehog rolls itself into a ball. It builds a nest of grass and dead leaves. The young are born with the spines beneath the skin to avoid damaging the mother. The European hedgehog has been introduced into New Zealand.

Long-eared hedgehogs and the desert hedgehogs of Africa and Asia dig out burrows where they nest during the heat of the day.

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The Wolf The wolf is one of the largest members of the

dog family . Wolves are expert hunters and prey chiefly on large hoofed animals, such as caribou, deer, elk and moose. Many people are afraid of wolves. They believe wolves attack human beings, and the animal’s eerie howl frightens them. But wolves avoid people as much as possible.

Wolves look much like German shepherd dogs. But a wolf has longer legs, bigger feet, a wider head, and a long bushy tail. Most adult male wolves weigh from 35 to 55 kilograms. They measure from 1.5 to 2 meters long, including the tail, and are about 75 centimeters tall at the shoulder. Female wolves are smaller.

A wolf has excellent vision, a keen sense of smell, and fine hearing.

Wolves eat almost any animal they can catch. Many of animals they hunt, such as caribou and elk are faster and stronger then wolves.

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The Roe deer is the smallest and the most widespread from all European deer. It is widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from the British Isles to the Caucasus.

It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. The weight of a big male is about 27 kg. It has rather short, erect antlers and a reddish body with a grey face. Its hide is golden red in summer, darkening to brown or even black in winter, with lighter undersides and a white rump patch; the tail is very short and barely visible.

The Roe Deer is primarily crepuscular, or primarily active during the twilight, very quick and graceful, lives in woods although it may venture into grasslands and sparse forests. It feeds mainly on grass, leaves, berries and young shoots. It particularly likes very young, tender grass with a high moisture content, i.e., grass that has received rain the day before.

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A lynx is a medium-sized wild cat. It's brown and has a lot of dark brown spots on its fur. Lynx have short tails and characteristic tufts of black hair on the tip of their ears(we call them brushes as they look like brushes).They have a ruff under the neck, which has black bars), resembling a bow tie. They have large padded paws for walking on snow, and long whiskers on the face. Lynx live in forests where there are a lot of shrubs, reeds, and tall grass. They hunt on the ground, but they can climb trees and can swim swiftly, catching fish. People have killed many lynx and now this animal is included in our Red Book. Hunting lynx is forbidden.

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These species of birds inhabit our forests

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Woodpeckers live in forests or woodland habitats. They possess predominantly white,black and brown, green and red plumage and exhibit patches of red and yellow on their heads and bellies. They have strong bills for drilling and drumming on trees and long sticky tongues for extracting food. They eat mainly insects and their grubs taken from living and dead trees, and other arthropods, along with fruit from live trees, nuts and sap both from live trees. Their role ecologically is thereby keeping trees healthy by keeping them from suffering mass infestations.

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A bullfinch is a small, stout-billed songbird found in Europe and Asia. Its short, thick, bulging bill makes it look a little like a bull. It is slightly larger than a sparrow. The male has a blue-grey back, rosy-red breast, and a black beak, crown, wings, and tail. Bullfinches feed on berries, seeds, and the buds of shrubs and trees. They can cause a great deal of damage to fruit trees and flowering shrubs.

The nest is a distinctive structure with a framework of twigs, moss and lichen lined with small roots.

The bullfinch has a soft, piping call, which is repeated at intervals.

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Different insects and micro-organisms live in the forest.

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The Belarus Red Book was created to protect rare and vanishing species of plants and animals.  Currently protected and recorded within the Red Book are: 17 mammal species, 72 bird species, 4 amphibian species, 10 types of fish, 72 types of insects

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Forests are in danger nowadays.

Every 45 minutes a hectare of the world’s forests is destroyed forever.

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The Greenacres Hawk:Energy Web in Action

by Lily and Lindsay

Watch http://web.me.com/kttrue/Greenacres_Chronicles/Videos.html

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Forests in Nebraska

Here are the questions these students answered• What kind of forests are in Nebraska?• What animals live in these forests?• What plants grown in these forests?• Are there endangered animals in Nebraska?• What can we do to save forests in general?

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• 1. We have a forest called the Nebraska national forest. It is 142,000 acres long. It is the biggest forest in Nebraska. The rest of Nebraska is mostly a grass land and marsh type of land

• 2. A lot of animals live in forests. Usually foxes, birds, etc. Our state bird sometimes lives in the big forests or in grasslands. It is the Western meadowlark .

• 3. Flowers are a big thing in Nebraska. We have flowers like sunflowers. We also can grow crops like corn in grasslands.

• 4. Yes there are many endangered species in Nebraska. One of the species is buffalo. They live on the west part of Nebraska. They are mostly raised like cattle, not just in the wild.

• 5. We save forests by cleaning. We need to save forests for paper and trees and wild life. Also stopping wild fires in forests.

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Brianna• 1. We don’t have a lot of forests but

these are some of the native trees in Nebraska, Ponderosa Pine, and Eastern Cottonwood, Common Hackberry, Black Walnut, Bur Oak.

• 2. Some animals that live in Nebraska are butterflies, rabbits, squirrels, eagles, geese, turkeys, and deer.

• 3. Some plants that live in Nebraska are grass, corn, soybeans, green beans, wheat, and trees.

• 4. Some endangered animals are beetle, crane, curlew, bald eagle, ferret, plover, shiner, sturgeon, and a tern.

• 5. Some ways to save the environment is to pick up trash, don’t pollute.

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Ben• The types of trees in Nebraska are

Coniferous and Deciduous • The animals that live in Nebraska

are unique because we have a lot of bunnies, butterflies, deer, fish, ducks, birds, and farm animals. Sometimes we hunt animals for food.

• The plants that grow in Nebraska are a Goldenrod which is our state plant. There are prickly pear plants which is a pear growing on a cactus. We have a lot of grass so we have a lot of farming. And then Sun Flowers that grow naturally.

• An animal that lives in Nebraska that is endangered is a Black Footed Ferret. Another one is a swift fox. Or an Eskimo Curlew that is a bird.

• Nebraska can stop polluting and stop smoking. We can also stop hunting animals and stop cutting down trees and polluting the air.

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Alexis• In Nebraska we have Elm, Ash, Hardwoods,

Ponderosa Pine, Oaks, Eastern Red cedar, Hardwood, Cottonwood, Willow, and Ag-forest planting forests. Some are located by lakes like the Zorinsky Lake. Others are located in some other places around other lakes and areas. Most forests are located in central and western Nebraska. There are some National forests here, too.

• Animals that live there include a bald eagle. It also includes sometimes a black bear. There’s also the white-tailed deer.

• Plants that grow there include Elm and Maple trees. It also includes the Pecan tree.

• Animals that are endangered in our forests include the whooping crane. It also includes the American buying beetle. I only listed some of the endangered animals in our forests. There aren’t very many endangered animals in our forests.

• To save forests we should not litter. We can also donate money to save them.

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Lauren• One of the forests in Nebraska is Nebraska National

Forest. It is a United States National Forest. Another forest in Nebraska is Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest. It is located in the north-central Sandhills.

• The animals that live there are the black-footed ferret. There is also a prairie dog. There are also many more. All the animals in Nebraska forests are wild. The black-footed ferret is considered the most endangered animal in North America.

• The plants that grow in Nebraska forests are grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. Many plants grow there. These plants though are most common in Nebraska forests.

• One of the endangered animals is the black-footed ferret. Like I mentioned before they are the most endangered animal in North America. These animals are have the widest range of any endangered animal

• To save the forests you can collect money and give it to a forest in Nebraska. We can also go to someone who works at a forest in Nebraska and ask them what you can do. There are many ways you can save the forests.

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In Nebraska there are forests having lots of trees and plants. The trees are pretty tall with lots of leaves in the spring. There are different trees in our forests. We have no mountains in our forests. It is kind of flat with hills. We have a lot of birds like robins, eagles, hawks and other many birds. The most common snakes we have in our forests are Gardner snakes. We also have a lot of squirrels that live in our forests. There are also a lot of deer and turkey. Some plants in our forest are trees like maple trees, and a lot more. We have flowers like mums . There are also different types of grass. There are endangered animals in Nebraska. Some animals that are endangered are prairie dogs and black footed ferrets. We cannot cut down so many trees . We could save forests by not putting harmful toxins into the forests. We could also save forests by preventing wild fires.

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• Here are the kinds of forest we have in Nebraska, there are no original trees but Nebraskans though trees where important so they made a national forest where they planted trees.

• The kinds of animals we have here are squirrels, deer, birds, frogs, crane, bison, and cats.

• The plants that grow here are the goldenrod, sunflower, American bellflower, common boneset, narrow-leaf coneflower ,and Virginia strawberry.

• The endangered animals we have in Nebraska are eagle, crane, beetle, ferret, curlew, and plover.

• The things we can do to save forest are using less paper, planting more trees, not littering, and not cutting down trees.

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There aren’t many natural forests in Nebraska. The animals that live here are deer, foxes, turtles, and moose and all the animals at the zoo like tigers, bears and farm animals. They live in trees or at the zoo. The plants that grow here need a lot of water. Don’t burn down trees or recycle and do not us as much paper. Pick up litter on the street. Do not pollute. Find new idea’s to help the environment. Do not take as long as showers or don’t let the water run when you are brushing your teeth. Join a club to help keep the earth clean. Clean up trash at the beach if you live by one.

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