Welcome to

Barking Up The Right Tree (BURT)

Thinking Trees for Primary

Thinking Timber for Post-Primary

Like or lump it, all the big issues the world is facing today are fundamentally tied to people, places and things and the interactions, interconnections and implications all three have on each other—they are geographic issues by nature with local, regional and global influences. To wrestle with these often complex economic, social, cultural and environmental issues requires a society that can consider and use geographic information to make wise decisions —in other words, a geo-literate society.

Both programs will use the geo-literacy method of learning to influence teachers and students about nature’s supermarkets using societies every-day dependence on forests as the “hook” of engagement. In both programs teachers and students will examine nature’s contribution to the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental fabric of society.

Becoming ‘geographically literate’ will help teachers and students to develop their knowledge, skills, values and behaviors thus allowing them to explore and come to a greater understanding of both the human and natural worlds and how we interact with each. Throughout BURT Just Forests will use the three ‘I’s’ which form the foundation of geoliteracy:

Interactions – How the world works: a geoliterate individual is able to reason about the ways that human and natural systems function and interact
Interconnections – How our world is connected: a geoliterate individual is able to reason about the ways that people, places and things are connected to each other across time and space.
Implications – How to make well-reasoned decisions: a geoliterate individual is able to systematically evaluate the potential impacts of his/her decisions.