Be-leaf it! An organization dedicated to making Ontario’s forests greener is calling on young people to test their knowledge of local trees in a three-day virtual competition.
As part of the York Region Tree Bee, Forests Ontario is inviting students in Grades 4 to 6 to learn how to identify trees and test their tree knowledge against other teams in a three-day virtual competition. Community groups and libraries may also register youth ages nine to 12 to participate in the free competition.
Teams must be made up of a minimum of two participants to a maximum of 28. Team breakdown is at the discretion of the Tree Bee teacher or coach. Participants must either live in York Region or belong to a school, community group or club located in York. In the event of multiple teams per class or group, Forests Ontario will accept one test per team up to a maximum of five tests per group. The class or group’s overall score will be determined by test average.
Registration closes Wednesday, Nov. 16. The virtual competition will be held Wednesday, Nov. 23 to Friday, Nov. 25. The test will be accessible via Google Forms for 36 hours and is expected to take 30 to 60 minutes to complete. The winning team will be announced the week of December 12 on York Region and Forests Ontario social media channels.
The name of the 2022 winner will be engraved onto a plaque alongside past winners and can be displayed at their school or organization for the remainder of the school year. Winning team members will receive a digital certificate and some York Region environmentally themed prizes. Second and third-place teams will receive a digital certificate and prizes. All participants will receive a digital participant certificate.
Registrants will have access to Forests Ontario’s webpage, The Hive, which houses a teacher/coach guide, lesson plans, activity sheets and practice tests. Visit york.ca/treebee to learn more.
