Magness Memorial Tree Farm is the World Forestry Center’s education forest. It’s 80 acres located about a half an hour’s drive from the World Forestry Center itself.

We’ve only visited once, & I’ll admit that I left there a bit underwhelmed. I don’t know why. It was a nice place, just not what I was expecting. I think maybe I was envisioning an education center along with the trees or lots of in depth information about the trees. I don’t know.

Although, that being said, I appreciated the area and whoever is upkeeping it. We have visited a couple parks & gardens claiming to show how a real forest looks or how its ecology works. They are phoneys with lots of landscaping done to spruce it up. I live in a forested area. It’s not spruced up & tidy. Magness Memorial Tree Farm really has a natural feel to it with varying heights of trees, shrubs & ground plants. You really are in a Pacific Northwest forest, but with the added convenience of trails.

Much of the forest are Douglas-fir trees, but the tree in the middle of this photo is a Pacific Madrone.

Left: On the day we were walking through the forest, we spotted many of these millipedes crawling on the trail.
Right: Herb Robert Geranium
We have these around our house, too. It’s a cute plant with nice foliage & a pretty flower. However, it is highly invasive.

Oak Tree

Left: A lovely creek for the kids to explore.

Along the trail were signs explaining a variety of things about the forest.

Western Red Cedar.
These probably are my favorite tree, especially the ones that are a few hundred years old.

These log cabins are available to rent.

All in all, it was a pleasant walk and a nice way to spend the afternoon with the kids.

To learn more about the Tree Farm check out this video. After watching the video I’d like to go back and get a tour from Bill, the man in charge.

To see what others are sharing for the month of October check out write31days.com

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Our final stop on our trip around the world was the deciduous forest of Europe.

Wikipedia describes a deciduous forest as:

 forests that are dominated by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm, moist summers and mild winters.

School Room

For this weeks biome display I had the boys go to their room and find animals that could be found in a deciduous forest.

Deciduous Forest Pocket Chart

Left: Farm Kid1’s deciduous forest postcard.

Right: From the Russian tundra to the deciduous forest of Europe is about 3960 miles. We marked it on our map.

Other

Left: We watched the Seasonal Forests episode of Planet Earth.

Right: This weeks art project was based on the yearly cycle of a deciduous tree. Farm Kid1 started out by drawing one tree shape with branches. Then, I made 3 more copies of the tree. Now he had 4 trees – one for each season. Next, he used a pencil eraser to dot leaves on the trees. After the paint dried he glued his trees in order & titled his artwork.

We rummaged through our continent box filled with all things European.

To finish off the week we visited the World Forestry Center to learn more about deciduous forests.

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

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The first stop on our world tour was a temperate rainforest in North America. This is very similar to the biome we live in, so it was a great place to start. Although, I think the idea of a temperate rainforest confused Farm Kid1 a little bit. He’s only ever heard about tropical rainforests. I could have also chosen a coniferous forest as our home biome.

Wikipedia‘s basic definition of a temperate rainforest is:

Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall.

School Room

This week the pocket chart showed the following information:
• average high temperature around 76°
• average low around 35°
• annual rainfall definitely varies, but averages around 100″
• example plant producers are salmon berry and moss
(Click here for a quick peek of our hike at Munson Creek Falls, with a stop for picking salmon berries)
• example herbivores are deer and elk
• example carnivores are black bear and cougar
• example decomposers are slugs and worms
(Click here for a post on how slugs mate)

Left: I stamped Farm Kid1’s “passport” with evergreen trees.
Right: Farm Kid1 chose to do his temperate rainforest animal report on the coyote.

Front side of his temperate rainforest postcard.

I sent Farm Kid1 on a mission to collect things from his bedroom that are found in the temperate rainforest. These are the things he came back with. They are placed near our world map and continent boxes.

Since we were visiting North America, we rummaged through our North America continent box – even though there wasn’t much on the temperate rainforest.

Field Trips

We had fun visiting both the Tillamook Forest Center and the World Forestry Center.

Around our House

Some maps state we live in a temperate rainforest, some don’t. Either way, we have many of the same plants and animals as Olympic National Park, which is a temperate rainforest. The temperate rainforest is dominated by large trees, but is also home to many mosses, lichens and epiphytes. Right now one of my favorite wildflowers is in bloom, the trillium.

This was a fun week. I actually learned a few things about our environment, as well.

For more information on a temperate rainforest check out this post from Marietta College or this pdf from Nasa.

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

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Farm Kid1 has visited the Tillamook Forest Center twice with Cub Scouts, but this was my first time going. I really enjoyed it. It’s a great discovery center & it’s free (donations accepted, of course). The museum has a ton of information on the Tillamook Forest including plants, animals & how people use the area.

Out Front

The building design is different. To be honest, I didn’t even realize this was the main exhibit hall when we first drove up. Thank goodness the boys knew where to go. Not long after being there, the building grew on me. I actually think it’s fantastic. It’s environmentally friendly, many of the building materials are local and that cute pond in front has many uses including acting as a heat exchange for the cooling system. The long gutter-thing sticking out in between the 2 buildings collects rain water from the roof and dumps it into the pond.

Replica of a forest fire lookout tower. Of course we climbed to the top and were rewarded with a great view of the forest. Inside the small room was a bed, a large map to chart the location of the fire & a radio to warn others.

Inside the Museum

Tillamook Burn

Left: All dressed up to practice putting out a fire.

Top Right: It’s hard to notice in this pic, but this is a 3D map with lights showing the different areas of the various fires during the Tillamook Burn.

Bottom Right: We can’t discuss forest fire safety without thinking about Smokey the Bear.

This is way past my running level, but here’s an ultra event for any one interested in checking it out: Run the Burn 5o miler & 50K

Displays

I loved all the hidden displays. This one shows what it looks like underground, but you had to pull it out to see it.

Left: Life on a rotten log. There’s even a huge magnify glass to get a closer peek.

Right: Another hidden display. This one describes rings on a tree.

This, I thought, was fantastic – especially since we have been discussing the different layers in a forest. There is a small scale model of each of the layers with a quick blurb describing the layer and drawers full of important plants and animals.

Changes in salmon eggs.

Hiking Trails out Back

To finish off our trip, we went on a short hike behind the museum.

I’m so glad we made the trip to this Forest Center. The kids had a great time & learned a bit more about the area we call home.

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