Dovetail Environmental Quiz - 2016 Update

An Environmental Quiz that Can Open the Door to Inquiry and Learning about Forests and Forestry

Just for fun sometime, ask your kids, grandkids, or another child what they know about forests. What you will find – and this observation is supported by surveys of many young people over a twenty year period – is a pervasive pessimism about not only forests, but about the environment in general. Moreover, if you ask questions that have verifiable answers (for instance, trends in forest land area, trends in forest growth and harvest, percent of paper collected for recycling) you will encounter answers that are consistently and significantly to the pessimistic side of wrong.

Narrowing the gap between perception and reality requires that students be engaged in thinking and discussion about forests – where they are, how forests in various regions differ, how forests change through time, forest trends, the basics of forest succession, the types and uses of products that come from forests. What is needed is more than a presentation, a video, or a book. Ideally, at least a portion of learning can occur within a forest, but in any event  the opportunity must be provided for discussion, questioning, informal responses to questions, and more questions. An environmental quiz that has been found useful in initiating such discussion and exploration is available.

2016 Update

As of November 1st, 2016 the Environmental Quiz has been updated with the most current available data.

Download the 2016 Environmental Quiz

Contact Dovetail Partners for more information about using the Environmental Quiz with your group (612)-333-0430; info@dovetailinc.org.

Past Updates

2014 Update: The quiz was updated with the most current data in August of 2014.

2013 Update: The quiz was updated with the most current data in April of 2013.

2012 Update: The quiz was updated with the most current data in March of 2012.

2010 Update: The quiz was updated with the most current data in January of 2010.