Schools

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
  We love to educate as much as possible. I like to have a small short log already sawed in flitch, crotch wood with in grown bark makes a nice demonstration. Almost every group will ask questions and keep touching the wood and sawdust. Talk about the parts of the tree as you open up the demo piece.
Think about what they have learned about plants, how the tree lives. Growth rings is a great visual. If you can find a log with limbs sawed years back and see how the tree healed and grew over the injury. You will need to saw biscuits to show this. 
Some educators will teach them that the tree produces O2 and if they cut one down they will not be able to breathe.    Not all educators are like this. You can educate them on how the tree reproduces after the tree is cut and the benefits of renewable resources.
I am not sure they would respond to bd/ft scale and that type of information. It would be a great time to practice the math skills they have learned. It will depend on the age of the group. College students we scale the logs, saw the logs and review the tally. Talk about over run, log sweep etc.

Safety first. I like the students to get as close as possible. Do small groups if possible.  Stay away from the saw head and the chute. Stand behind the operator. If you see a child acting out of hand stop the operation. You can watch the group and adjust as necessary, find one that is paying attention to every word and make him the leader. Sometimes I let the leader operate the small mills with close supervision. Ear and Eye protection is a must.

Hope you have fun with this!

Marty