Australia’s Amazing Mountain Ash
Teacher Overview
StudentswilllearnaboutAustralia’sMountainAshtreesandtheproductstheyprovideuswhentheyhavebeenharvested.
Learning Objectives Studentswill:
•
UnderstandthevalueofAustralia’sMountainAshtreesinprovidingtimberandotherwoodproductslikepaper.
•
Describehowtechniquesfortimberharvestinghavechanged.
•
LocatewhereMountainAshtreesarefound.
Background
Australia’sMountainAshtreesaretheworld’stallestfloweringplants.MountainAsharehardwoodtrees(hardwoodsare
flowerbearingtrees,whereassoftwoodsareconebearing).Theygrowinhighrainfallareas,generallyover1000mabove
sealevel.
MountainAshproducesabeautifulhardwoodtimberwithlittleornodefects.It’sforthisreasonthatitstimberishighly
soughtafterforfurniturepiecessuchasdiningtables.Itisalsohighlydesirableforflooringduetoitscolourandlackof
imperfections.
Duetoitsstrength,sectionsofthetreethathasimperfectionscanstillbeusedforstructuralpurposes,suchasroofing,doors
andwindowframes.Unsuitablewoodisturnedintopulp.Nopartofthetreeiswasted.
TheActivities
Therearefouractivitiestoselectfrominthislesson.Youmaychoosetoundertakeallofthemoralternatively,choosethose
relevanttotheobjectivesyouwishtoachieve.
Activity 1 – Australia’s Amazing Mountain Ash
Trees
Watchtheclip:http://youtu.be/nw-MbsT92Bs
-
BrieflydiscusswhatstudentsknowofMountainAshforestinVictoria
WatchthevideoGoingBushSeries5Episode1AandanswertherelatedquestionsonActivity1ofthe
StudentWorksheet.(Insertedbelowforyourreference)
Studentspresentanddiscusstheiranswers
1. Atthestartofthevideo,thenarratorsarestandingnexttoaMountainAshtreethatishowmanyyearsold?
2. WhatisthenameoftheareainVictoriawherenearlyallMountainAshtreeharvestingtakesplace?Howdidthe
areagetthisname?
3. WhattypeofmachineisusedtocutdowntheMountainAshtree?
4. Afterthetreeisfelleditispickedupbyaskidderandtakentothelandingforwhichstageofprocessing?
5. WhatisoneofthemainbenefitsofharvestingyoungMountainAshtrees?
6. Whatpartofthetreeisusedtoproduceflooringandfurniture?
7. Whatpartofthetreeisusedtoproducestructuraltimbers?
8. DoesthetipofthetreecontaintheLEASTorMOSTamountoffaults(‘defects’)?
9. Whatproductismadeoutofthetipofthetree?
10. Startingwiththeletter‘C’,eachtreeisgradedbasedonitsWHAT?
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Oncethetreehasbeengraded,howdotheytransportthesectionstothemill?
Whathappenstothebaseofthetreewhenitarrivesatthemill?
Whatdoesthemilldowiththesmall,shortandnarrowbitsoflow-gradetimber?
Whatisthesawdustusedforatthemill?
Startingwiththeletter‘F’,whattypeoffactorydoesthetopqualitytimberendupin?
WhatdoChristianCole’scustomersmostlikeaboutMountainAshtimber?
IstheMountainAshaNATIVEAustraliantree?
Activity 2 – The World’s Tallest Flowering Plant
Thisactivityallowsstudentstogainanhistoricalperspectiveofharvestingtechniquesandmeasurements.
-
StudentsreadtheparagraphandanswerthequestionsforActivity2ontheStudentWorksheet.
(Insertedbelowforyourreference).
Studentsdiscusstheiranswers.
TheMountainAshistheworld'stallestfloweringplantandtheworld’s2ndtallesttree,reachingheightsofover100metres!
TheonlytreesthataretallerarefoundinNorthAmerica.
MountainAshtreesgrowveryquickly–atarateofmorethanametreayear–andcanreacharound65metresin50years.
ThebaseofaMountainAshcanbemorethan15metresincircumference!
Thefollowingparagraphisfromtheabookcalled‘ForestsofAustralia’,writtenbyAlexanderRulein1967.Itrecordsthe
felling of a Mountain Ash in the Derwent Valley, Tasmania in 1942. Read the paragraph and then answer the questions
below:
"Itisrecordedthattwoexpertaxemen,workingonaplatform15feet(__metres)abovetheground,tooktwoanda
halfdaystocutascarf6feet(__metres)deepintothemightybuttasapreliminarytosendingthegianttopplingto
earth.Thecrashofitsfallresoundedformiles(kilometres)aroundandevenhardenedbushworkersaresaidtohave
downedtoolsinsilenthomagetothefallenmonarch.Itsagewasputat400yearsanditwascalculatedthatwhen
AbelTasmandiscoveredtheislandin1642thistreewasalreadyanoblespecimenofbetween150(___metres)and
200(___metres)feetinheight."
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
WhenAlexanderRulewrotehisbook,AustraliawasstillusingtheImperialsystemofmeasurement(yardsand
feet).Wenowusethemetricsystem(metresandcentimetres)tomeasurethings.Fillinthemissingmetric
measurementsabove,usingthisapproximateconversionrate:1foot=0.3metres.
WhattooldidtheyusetofellMountainAshtreesbackin1942?Howisthisdifferenttothemethodusedinthe
Goingbushvideo?
Howlongdidittaketheloggerstocutdownthetree?
Howmanyyearsoldwasthetreeestimatedtobe?
Whatworddoesthewriterusetodescribea‘wedge’or‘cut’inthetree?
Usingadictionary,findthemeaningsforthefollowingwords:
•
butt __________________________
•
toppling __________________________
•
•
•
resounded
__________________________
homage __________________________
noble
__________________________
Activity 3 – Back in the time of Abel Tasman
ThisactivityallowsstudentstoresearchandtoreflectontheageofthefallentreefromActivity2andtheeventsthatoccurred
duringthetimeitwasinearth.
1.
StudentsreadthepassageontheStudentWorksheetandcomposeapoemaboutwhathistorical
eventsthetreemayhave‘seen’initslifetime.
Thewriter,AlexanderRule,talksaboutthefactthatthetreewasprobablyalreadyatleast150feet(46metres)tallasfar
backas1642,whenAbelTasmandiscovered‘VanDiemen’sland–theplacewenowcallTasmania.
ThinkaboutthethingstheoldMountainAshtreewouldhaveseenthroughthecenturies–from1642rightupuntil1942.
SearchtheInternettofindsomeinterestingeventsinAustralia’shistoryandwriteapoemaboutyourlifeasthistreebelow.
Activity 4 – Where can we find Australia’s
Mountain Ash Trees? ThisactivitygivesstudentsinsightintothelocationofAustralia’sMountainAshforests.
1.
2.
OnthemapofAustraliaonthestudentworksheetsstudentshighlightthedistributionofMountainAsh
forestsinAustralia.
Studentsshowothersintheclasswheretheyarefound.
Sources: MountainAshtreefacts:
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/322202/mountain-ash4.pdf
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2013/02/australia’s-tallest-trees/
http://vnpa.org.au/admin/library/attachments/PDFs/Fact%20sheets/Climate%20change%20fact%20sheetFire%20and%20the%20future.pdf
ForestsofAustraliabyAlexanderWang(1967)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10739198?selectedversion=NBD688258
MountainAshtreedistribution:
http://anpsa.org.au/eregn.html
CreativeCommonsLicense
ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial4.0InternationalLicense.
ForestLearning
IsaninitiativeofForestandWoodProductsLimitedandtheseresourceshavebeendevelopedbyqualified
educatorsanddesignedtoassistteachersdelivertheAustralian Curriculum.