BeLeaf It of Not! Video project

Bill Cook, Michigan State University Extension -

While many other good forestry videos can be found, “BeLeaf It or Not!” targets elementary school classrooms, with a “Bill Nye the Science Guy” approach, about a wide range of forest and forestry topics.

Cook and Peterson.
Bill Cook and Georgia Peterson. All photos by Bill Cook, MSU Extension.

MSU Extension and the forestry community in Michigan and Wisconsin are currently in the process of making a set of 30-35 YouTube videos. In spring, 2019, a YouTube channel was created that features the first five episodes. 

The main idea is to produce professionally-filmed video shorts, each five to seven minutes, placed on a YouTube channel, and then supported by an informative website. Episodes would each address a particular topic about forest and forestry, especially topics related to management, logging and industry. Many of the video themes will complement curriculum elements in school grades four thorough seven. The overall tone of the videos would be light-hearted with a serious focus, somewhat like the "Bill Nye The Science Guy" programming. This approach, for school classrooms, has not been found on YouTube as a comparable educational resource, although many other informative forestry videos are available. The videos will be supplemented by information on a website.

The YouTube channel currently has the first five episodes: 

  1. "Crowns, Trunks and Roots"
  2. "Tree Regeneration" 
  3. "Jack Pine Forests" 
  4. "Carbon Cycle" 
  5. "Photosynthesis and Respiration" 
1IMG_5862
Filming an episode of BeLeaf It Or Not!

Now in post-production, soon to be posted, are five more episodes: 

  1. "Logging Products"
  2. "Mill Products"
  3. "Vernal Pools" 
  4. "Tree ID #1" 
  5. "Tree Growth" 

The supporting website has been drafted and partially populated, but is not yet online. 

The core team consists of three people. Extension educators Bill Cook (Escanaba, MI) and Georgia Peterson (East Lansing, MI), along with James Ford, the owner of Great Lakes Digital Video and tenure-track professor at Grand Valley State University. The team will be hitting it hard in 2019. The project will likely continue into 2020. A number or draft scripts have been prepared and list of potential topics has been assembled by an advisory team of foresters and teachers. 

One year ago, the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association (GLTPA) board agreed to help financially support the project. This spring, the board agreed to continue that support. The GLTPA will have funded a quarter of the $40,000 project. Other contributors include the Society of American Foresters, Weyerhaeuser, the U.P. Sustainable Forestry and Wildlife Fund and the Michigan Forest Foundation. Additional funding is necessary to reach the number of episodes desired. 

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

Did you find this article useful?

More About Forestry

More About Natural Resources

Tag List
  • beleaf it or not,
  • forestry,
  • forestry videos,
  • msu extension,
  • natural resources,
  • video series
  • follow us on youtube
  • follow us on flickr
  • follow us on instagram
  • follow us on linkedin
Michigan State University
  • Spartans Will.
  • © Michigan State University

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential.

Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Quentin Tyler, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.

The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707.

We comply with the Federal Trade Commission 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).