2021: Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
NACD's 66th Stewardship Week is April 25 - May 2, 2021
The NACD Stewardship and Education Committee is pleased to announce the 2021 Poster Contest and Stewardship Week theme: “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities”
Click the logo above to download a copy of the file. Logo | Black and White Logo
Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere, stabilize the soil, filter water, provide healthy habitat for wildlife and offer many additional benefits – for nature, people and biodiversity. Not only is it necessary to protect existing trees and plant new ones, but it’s also important to advocate and educate about trees and forest conservation within your community.
Contact your local conservation district to learn more about how you can help promote forest conservation in your community.
Rules, entry forms and other resources for the 2021 NACD Poster Contest are available on the contests page. The 66th Annual Stewardship Week will take place Apr. 25 – May 2, 2021. Please use the 2021 stewardship materials for educational purposes only.
Please contact Stewardship and Education Coordinator Diana Blackwood for additional logo file types.
Click here to access all of our free educational materials available for download. Interested in purchasing printed 2021 Stewardship materials? Visit the Goetz Printing storefront to “print-on-demand” high-quality materials without going through the trouble of finding and vetting a local printer.
Booklets:
Printing booklets at your home or office? Visit this blog for a step-by-step guide.
Booklets are available for free download here for the following levels:
Educator’s Guide |PDF|
Bookmark |PDF|
Poster |PDF|
Placemat |PDF|
Banner |PDF|
Church Materials:
2021 Church Leaders Guide |PDF| Guide Cover |PDF|
2021 Litany |PDF|
2021 Program Insert |PDF| Blank |PDF|
Additional Resources
- NACD Forestry Bingo | Bingo Sheet PDF, Forestry Bingo Instructions PDF
- Let’s Learn About Trees Coloring Book from the Virginia Department of Forestry.
- How a Tree Works– an activity presented by Garden Naturalist Club that teaches students about different parts of a tree and how they function as an entire system by building a “human” tree.
- Why Would Anyone Cut a Tree Down book | Lessons
- Finding my forest – a teacher’s guide to discovering the forest. For grades 3-8.
- Neighborhood Forests – a learning guide developed for teachers to plan lessons and activities for students to understand the importance trees play in our communities.
- What Tree is It? – an interactive and educational site that teaches students to identify the trees by leaf, fruit or name.
- Environmental Education Activities to Do at Home from Virginia Department of Forestry and Project Learning Tree
- Thank You, Trees! – a fun way to start a discussion with your students about the importance of trees and acknowledge some of the trees that are important to their lives. Plum’s Nature Sketchpad is an open-ended digital drawing activity that lets kids create their own PLUM LANDING artwork. If your kids don’t have computer access, this can be a great pen-and-paper activity, too.
- What Tree Is That? – an illustrated, identification field guide that makes it easy to identify a tree simply by the kinds of leaves it produces.
- Treetures – represent an environmental education effort with a direct focus on trees. They are a community of whimsical characters that are dedicated to carrying the message of the tree planting and care.
- Urban Trees Lesson – In this Urban Trees lesson, presented by The Nature Conservancy, students learn how trees renew our air supply by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, and how they clean our air by filtering out dust and greenhouse gases. Grades 6-8
- What Can I Do to Preserve our Forests?– eSchool Today has a list of activities that kids can do to help protect and conserve the forests.
- Educational videos for kids to save trees.
- Seven Ways Kids Can Help Save Trees– this website includes activities on reusing paper, sharing and planting trees.
- Discover the Forest – this website aims to inspire students (ages 8-12) and their parents to reconnect with nature, experiencing it firsthand.
- Tree Basics for Kids
- Forest Stewardship – an article written for parents, educators and other adults who are interested in teaching youth about land management and forest stewardship.
- U.S. Forest Service (USFS) – provides a variety of educational programs and resources for kids, parents and educators.
- FS Nature LIVE, Bringing Nature to You – provides a series of webcasts, webinars, lesson plans and other online education resources.
- Smokey Bear – a USFS program designed to teach students to prevent wildfire and protect the forests through a variety of educational activities and games.
- The Natural Inquirer – a middle school science education journal. Scientists report their research in journals, which enable scientists to share information with one another. The Natural Inquirer focuses on scientists, their research and introducing students to scientific journals.
- National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) – NEEF has a variety of resources available for kids, teens, and adults to learn about their connection to the environment. These resources include toolkits, activity guides and lessons about things like water quality, tree identification and backyard pollinators.
- Project Learning Tree (PLT) – PLT uses forests and trees as the focus of its environmental and conservation education for Pre-K through high school. PLT has a curriculum for teachers and activities for families to learn at home. They provide fun and educational activities for students such as guided forest walks, backyard tree projects and soil experiments.
- Arbor Day Foundation – this website is loaded with awesome games and activities that help kids learn more about trees and why they’re so important to our world. For teachers, there are also plenty of fun and educational resources to use in the classroom.
- The American Forests Organization – this group works to plant trees and conserve forests across the country. There are a number of ways people can get involved in their activities.
- American Forestry Foundation – a group that works with families, teachers and government officials to protect the forests and woodlands of the U.S.
- Tree Preservation – The Tree Preservation organization works to preserve and protect one tree at a time.
- The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources released a video on their YouTube channel highlighting the 2021 Poster Contest.