What the Forest Gives
Students scour the Tongass National Forest for products and remedies both ancient and modern
Juneau, Alaska—Beneath a towering canopy of hemlock and spruce, a group of 11- to 14-year-olds bushwhacks through thick undergrowth in the Tongass National Forest. Their objective: to reach assigned 10- by 10-meter-square sections of forest where they will identify, measure, and catalog plant life. They will also determine which stage of forest succession—old growth, mature, or secondary regrowth—these patches of wilderness exhibit.
As they explore, the students look for such signs as diameter of tree trunks, fallen trees, and snags. The young trees can be as slender as a woodpecker's beak, the old ones as wide as a grizzly is long. In the older sections, students also find indicators of natural decay and seasonal storms. Over time, such natural events have created gaps in the canopy, allowing sunlight to filter down to the forest floor where it inspires ground cover plants such as fern-leaf goldthread, five-leaf bramble, and blueberry to flourish. So a patchy canopy, burgeoning undergrowth, and—with luck—the sighting of the Sitka black-tailed deer that feed on the understory provide evidence of an older forest. In contrast, newer growth areas are characterized by denser stands of evergreens, a nearly solid canopy, a scant understory, and fewer signs of natural decay.
Students know this because this trek through the forest is part of an interdisciplinary project for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School's Alder House. Here, in this school within a school, science teachers Paula Savikko, Callauna Dick, and Tom Thompson have teamed up with social studies teachers Amy Lloyd, Julie Leary, and Woodland Hood to teach their 180 students about the 16 million-acre forest that is, literally, in their backyard. The project encompasses the study of forest characteristics and forest succession, the science of logging, the sustainability of natural resources, the history of Alaska, the culture of native populations, and the use of native plants.
As students make their way through the forest, they keep their eyes peeled for plants they've studied in school and may return for later. This includes species that Alaska Natives have used for generations for both practical and medicinal purposes—plants like fireweed and geum root, and an exotic-looking plant called devil's club.
Danielle, a young Tlingit girl, points to a plant with tall, wandlike stems leading up to huge leaves around a cluster of white flowers and red berries. Her classmates are rapt as she explains how her mother removes the spiny outer bark of this ginseng relative and harvests the inner bark to steep for tea, and how she boils the roots of the plant to create an air freshener. Danielle adds that the plant can also be used to create a soothing balm for cuts.
This is useful information for Danielle's classmates because the culmination of the Tongass project involves harvesting sustainable plant life to create and market products from the forest. "We teach students to show respect for the forest and take only what they need." Savikko explains. "A lot of this is really a more native way of looking at the forest." About a quarter of Alder House's students are Alaska Natives, mostly Tlingit, whose ancestors have lived in harmony with the forest for generations. Savikko tells students, "When you come across geum root, don't take the strongest, healthiest root, and don't take it all from one place." This way, plants can better weather the trauma and survive to provide again.
The students show great respect as they gather samples. Dick says: "They even say 'Thank you' to the plants, out loud."
Students create a variety of products, including:
- Stationery made with leaves and flowers
- Bath products made with such ingredients as spruce tips
- Lip balm made with cottonwood buds, fireweed roots, and spruce sap
- Salves and ointments made from willow bark, alder bark, devil's club, and other plants
- Facial scrubs made from glacial silt
- Survival packs containing spruce sap, a highly flammable material
Once the products are finished, students market and sell their wares on a special community market day. Each product's packaging, labeling, and advertising must inform the public about some aspect of the Tongass, such as forest facts, location, or management issues.
To help students acquire the skills to create and market their products, instructors teach "toolbox classes" —workshops on marketing and advertising; design and layout; using technologies such as scanners and digital cameras; research and interviewing; and cooperation.
The Tongass project provides "a place for students to work on desired school outcomes" and state standards, according to Savikko. Students, she says, can become self-directed learners; quality producers and performers; complex, creative thinkers; global and community contributors; and good communicators. "Students learn to use scientific knowledge to make informed decisions," she reports, "and they gain an understanding of the complexity of the ecosystem in relation to managing resources."
This message of sustainability is a key lesson students will take away from the Tongass and share with the next generation, as naturally as a Tlingit woman shares a recipe for devil's club with her daughter.
