PLT Canada offers its first-ever environmental education workshop series in French

April 21, 2026

“What if I climb the tree and let the measuring tape unroll all the way to the ground?”

This was one of the more creative—and ultimately vetoed—ideas a Grade 7 student suggested during a recent PLT Canada workshop activity on measuring tree height. The activity was part of PLT Canada’s first series of French-language workshops offered to students in the Miramichi and Moncton regions of New Brunswick.

Over two days, nearly 200 students from kindergarten to Grade 8 in the District scolaire francophone Sud took part in hands-on, inquiry-based learning experiences designed to connect young people with nature and teach them about the environment through the lens of trees and forests. Through movement, visuals, and storytelling, the youngest participants learned about the life cycle of a forest and how to estimate the age of a tree. Students in Grades 3 to 5 used creativity and teamwork to perform skits about forest-related careers—from loggers to wildlife biologists. Older groups dove deeper into how different jobs positively impact forests, with one class even heading outside to experience first-hand the tasks of a forest management team.

“Two students came up to me afterwards so excited, saying they learned about jobs they’d never heard of but could totally see themselves doing,” recounted one teacher of a Grades 6 to 8 class in the rural community of Baie-Sainte-Anne.

New Brunswick teachers also benefited from PLT Canada’s inaugural French workshop series, attending a full-day professional development training session on February 13. The focus of the event was the Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide, a collection of 50 lesson plans that integrate environmental education into the curriculum using hands-on classroom activities and outdoor field investigations. During the training, teachers explored the resource, tested out sample activities, and collaborated on how to introduce environmental learning opportunities in their own classrooms.

Connect with Ellen.Long@forests.org to learn about professional development and workshop opportunities.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, as well as the de Gaspé Beaubien and the Consecon Foundations.