Mountain beech forest : an educational resource

Abstract

Many teachers of biology in Canterbury enjoy taking their students into mountain beech forest for field studies. An oft-expressed complaint in the past has been the lack of simple, readily available resource material to assist both teacher and student in their study. This book is an attempt by three biology teachers to fill this gap. The book has three aims. The first is to introduce the reader to the mountain beech tree and the beech forest community (including stream ecology). The second is to describe activities which students may use in beech forest. Lastly, the book identifies forest areas in Canterbury where field studies can be conveniently carried out by school groups. The original idea for the book came from the Canterbury Science Teachers' Association. The idea took a step towards becoming reality when financial support was provided by the Environmental Council to C.S.T.A. to produce the book. Teacher release time was provided by the Education Department, support and assistance given by the staff of the Canterbury conservancy of the New Zealand Forest Service and editorial and publication assistance was generously given by the Centre for Resource Management, Lincoln College. In total a large number of people belonging to a number of different agencies combined together to produce the book. It is hoped that this will not be the only exercise of this kind where educational and scientific agencies in Canterbury combine to produce an educational publication on ecology. It is also hoped that student and teacher alike find the book helpful in interpreting and understanding the ecology of mountain beech forest. But please remember - it was written as an aide to, and not a substitute for, field work.