North Carolina's system of Educational State Forests has been developed for use as a living outdoor class room.

Their purpose is to teach children and adults about the complex, interdependent ecosystems that make up a forest and which can be managed for a multitude of uses.

Ranger conducted classes are available to groups of ten or more visiting the forest.

Special study sites are available to assist teachers or other group leaders in using the forest as an outdoor classroom.

Instructor's activity packets and special study sites are available to assist teachers or other group leaders in using the forest as an outdoor classroom.

Listed below are some of our specialty classes designed and taught by TCESF rangers.

• Boy Scouts of America Forestry Patch classes
• Land Use Simulation/Land Management classes (high school and up)
• Science Olympiad team skills practice for forestry
• Meet Your Tree/Tree Identification classes
• Tree Art – Charcoal drawings and using nature to make art
• Skins and Skulls – discussion on adaptions of forest animals
• Becoming a Forest Ranger 101 – tools of the trade and forest measurements
• Bugs of the Forest -- Insect ID, Insect communication, etc.
• Fire Class 201 -- An in depth look at fire control and some real activities working with fire (offered pending no burn ban in effect)
• Nature Journaling - creating a nature journal based on an experience in nature (small groups of 10 or less only)
• Envirothon team Tree ID and measurements skills practice

Educator Resources:

• TCESF Overview One-pager
• Letter to Educators
• TCESF Class Offerings
• Teacher's Guide to the NC Educational State Forest System
• NC Office of Environmental Education
• NC Department of Public Instruction

Turnbull Creek ESF also provides resources for educators to bring the forest into their classrooms! We provide professional development workshop opportunities throughout the year by way of Project Learning Tree workshops and Investigating Your Environment Workshops for formal and non-formal educators. Project Learning Tree (PLT) is a world renowned professional development program with supplemental curriculum materials in the form of activities using trees and forests to increase students’ understanding of the environment. Turnbull Creek ESF is a PLT Outpost, and can provide workshops during the year and provide PLT "Tree Trunks" on loan to educators to recreate activities learned in workshops. Investigating Your Environment (IYE) is a week-long professional development workshop for educators held annually in the mountains of North Carolina by N.C. Forest Service staff and facilitates the learning of multi-faceted forest, wildlife, soil, and water investigation modules. If you’re interested in being a part of either a PLT Workshop or an IYE workshop, please contact us.