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teaching dendrology advice needed

Started by caveman, October 07, 2014, 10:28:08 PM

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caveman

Good evening.  I have a group of very motivated students who will be competing in the national FFA Forestry Contest later this month near Louisville, Kentucky.  They have been studying several hours a day for the past six weeks or so.  Part of the event is tree i.d.  Many of the possible specimens are not easily obtained in central Florida.  The students have made power points using fact sheets, memorized characteristics listed, compiled many pictures and have looked at all of the locally available trees on the list.

Do any of you have any suggestions on any other, more effective methods of them learning tree i.d. on trees foreign to us?  There are several spruce trees and a few others that seem to be giving us fits.  Being able to touch the samples and compare/contrast them side by side has been most helpful to me when learning them.  I will try to collect as many as possible on the drive up. 

If anyone is interested in sending a sample or two, please let me know and I will list some of the species they could benefit from having in hand.
Thanks, Caveman (Kyle)
Below is a picture of a recent forestry practice at my neighbor's place with the team competing in the national contest and the teams competing in the district contest from Kathleen High School this Thursday.
Caveman

WDH

Kyle,

I have judged many FFA dendrology competitions.  If you are coming up I-75, you could stop by on the way up and we could have a tutorial session and I will share what I know.  I am only 10 miles off the Interstate near Perry, GA.  There are some tricks and methodology that really helps narrow down the possible choices when you are looking at a specimen.  I also bet that I have some specimens of some of the stuff that they have not actually seen.  Send me a copy of the list.  I will PM you with my e-mail address. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Raider Bill

I spent a day taking Danny's tree ID course. The man knows his trees! ;)
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

caveman

I would love to do that.  I have learned a ton by just reading the posts of the forum's knowledgeable members.  Eventually, I would like to meet some of the folks whose posts that I spend so much time reading. 
Caveman
Caveman

curdog

I just got done judging ffa  dendro  yesterday. My county didn't compete in forestry this year but had probably 8-10 schools competing.  I really enjoyed it. Those students were all business. None of the goofing off that could have happened. I was definitely impressed with the behavior and attitude of these students.
If you could use any leaf samples I'd be glad to round up what I can. We have a mix of Appalachian hardwoods to typical piedmont stuff. So pretty much anything from black birch and sugar maple to loblolly  and water oak.

caveman

Curdog and WDH I really appreciate the offers.  We will have our district forestry contest tomorrow at Lake Kissimmee State Park.  The winning team will advance to Perry, Florida to participate in the state contest next month. 

The team that we are taking to Louisville won the state contest last November.  We will be heading up I-75 on Saturday, October 25.  Perry, Ga. is about five hours north of me.  If it is convenient for you, we would love to stop by for a session.  I will try to get the list together tomorrow and post tomorrow or Friday the ones that we do not have or could use some help on.
Thanks again,
Caveman
Caveman

WDH

Kyle,

Well, the best laid plans  :).  I am heading to Cape Hatteras that day for a week of surf fishing, so I will not be able to meet you and your students.  I did get the list, and I will look it over to see how I can help. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

caveman

Thanks, I tried to send you an instant message (I am technologically challenged) but it arrived at my school e-mail.  Good luck fishing.  This is one of my favorite times of the year to fish but it is also one of the busiest times of the year for me.

If you have a few free hours next weekend, we may be able to arrange a field trip. We are going to stay in north Georgia near Ivy Log for a few days and hopefully the team can get a grasp of measuring hardwoods, work on team activities and practice interviews on forestry issues.

Our teams that participated in the district contest were fortunate enough to finish 1st and 2nd yesterday.
Kyle
Caveman

caveman

Happy FFA forestry students at the district contest. The temperature was about 90° and felt great (low humidity).
Caveman
Caveman

WDH

Quote from: caveman on October 10, 2014, 08:07:22 PM
If you have a few free hours next weekend, we may be able to arrange a field trip.

I think that will work OK. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

sandhills

Congratulations caveman and congratulations to your team!   8) 8)

caveman

Thank you Sandhills.
Danny, I will need to let my let my students know that we may be taking a daylong trip next weekend and, of course, work with you and your schedule to create the smallest inconvenience to you as we possibly can.  Most would dread an extended drive with four high school seniors but it as an opportunity for them to get a week's worth of study time in one day.
Thanks,
Kyle
Caveman

WDH

No problem.  It will be fun.  Can't help with the western conifers too much, but they we can work on some of the other stuff. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

caveman

Well, next Saturday is out.  On of the team members plays competitive soccer and he has an out of town game next Saturday.  I guess we will have to do what we can with what we have and what we can gather on the way up.  One of these days I hope to get by your place and take the tree I.D. course Raider Bill endorsed.  Thanks again for the offer.
Caveman

WDH

OK, good luck at Nationals.  That is quite an accomplishment for you and your team. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

petefrom bearswamp

Good luck to you and your team caveman.
I can send some Norway spruce and White spruce branches if it will help.
By the way I am going to be a snow bird living Jan thru March in a development near Summerfield by the villages.
What is the predominant species of pine that i see on the Ocala Natl forest?
Also i see truckloads of small tree length on the roads.
What is tis used for?
Pete
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Raider Bill

Bring your hiking shoes, Danny's a walker! ;D
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

WDH

Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on October 13, 2014, 07:54:18 AM
What is the predominant species of pine that i see on the Ocala Natl forest?

Also i see truckloads of small tree length on the roads.

Pete

Slash pine and longleaf pine. 

Pulpwood.  5 or 6 pulpmills in North FL. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

petefrom bearswamp

WDH thanks for the info.
I thought maybe pulpwood or chips.
I'll have to get my old dendro book out and bone up on these pines.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

caveman

Petefrombearswamp, There are also a lot of sand pines (Pinus clausa) in the Ocala area.  They thrive on dry sand hills with a clay layer that is quite deep below the surface.  The sand pines have much shorter needles than the slash, longleaf or even the loblolly pines have and their needles are in fascicles of two.  The cones of the sand pines should remain closed until they get heated up and open (serotinus cones).   

White spruce is one of the spruce species they need to know.  I would really appreciate you sending a small sample.  If you do send a sample, please let me know so that I can check the incoming mail daily.

Raider Bill, I don't mind the walking.  We have our long forestry practices on Thursday's.  Sometimes we take four or five mile walks looking at trees, discussing forestry topics, and looking for bug/disease samples.   



Kathleen High School Attn: Kyle Carlton
1100 Red Devil Way
Lakeland Fl, 33815


Caveman

WDH

Sand pine was planted im West/Southwest GA on the very sandy soils.  Does OK, but some mills will not take it.  Not much of a commercial species. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

caveman

Thank you PetefromBearswamp for the samples.  They finally arrived today.  Can you give me a list of what you sent?  The conifers held up well and I think they are white spruce and balsam fir but I am not really familiar with either.  If there is anything I can ever do for you, let me know.
Kyle
Caveman

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