Forests cover 75 percent of Finland’s land area, and on average, every Finn lives only 700 metres from a forest. Small wonder then that each year, tens of thousands of schoolkids compete in knowledge of forest facts.
The Finnish Forest Quiz is an event unique in the world. This year, too, over 20,000 young people from 330 lower secondary schools in Finland took part. This was more than every second such school in Finland. The quiz is arranged for comprehensive school pupils on the 7th to 9th grades, aged 13 to 16 years.
Sirpa Kärkkäinen, Senior Specialist in Forest Pedagogics at the Finnish Forest Association, says that young people in Finland live in a country where forests are the predominant ecosystem and the principal renewable natural resource.
’It’s important that the young people are familiar with forests and that they know the basic facts,’ says Kärkkäinen.
The participants come from all parts of the country, from Southern Finland to Lapland. Organized since the early 1980s, the quiz has so far been taken by over 1.1 million schoolkids. This corresponds to a fifth of Finland’s population of 5.5 million.
Finland is the most widely afforested country in Europe. Three quarters of its land area consist of forest. The average distance of every Finn to a forest is 700 metres, and one half of them live less than 200 metres from one.
Updating information on forest management
The topics covered in the Forest Quiz include forest ecosystem and its protection, forest use, culture and traditions.
’The Forest Quiz is not just a test of what you know. It’s also a channel for conveying new information to school teaching about such things as forest management and innovations,’ Sirpa Kärkkäinen points out.
Almost all young Finns (80 percent) consider that forests are of personal significance for them.
’Young people are not indifferent to forests. If asked about their feelings about forests, most of them say that forests are calming and provide energy and inspiration,’ Kärkkäinen says.
The winner of this year’s Forest Quiz was Ilari Kämäräinen from a school in Vaasa, western Finland, as was reported by the Finnish Forest Association in a media release.
The winner says that he did much better in the quiz than he had dared to hope. Kämäräinen says that the foundation for his forest information comes from the fact that his home is in a forest. His favourite school subject is biology.
’I like to identify the species I come across in forests, and among others I’ve found the rare early marsh-orchid,’ Kämäräinen says.
Invitations to the Forest Quiz finals in Espoo, near Helsinki, were sent to 50 top-scoring kids who were the best in their school.
The finalists completed a forest trail along which they answered topical questions about forest nature and forestry. New wood-based products, such as textiles, were also asked about in this year’s quiz.
The Forest Quiz is a joint effort by the Finnish forest sector. It involves major forest sector companies, one bank, forest owners, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation and Metsähallitus. Even globally, this is a unique network. Finland is a small nation, so we are used to working together.
’If you’d prefer being a part of the solution to the problems faced by Finland and the world, I do urge you to study the field of natural resources,’ said Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah, speaking at the awards ceremony.
The Forest Quiz is organized jointly by the Finnish Forest Association and the Association of Biology and Geography teachers. The quiz is financed by the Finnish Forest Foundation.
’The Forest Quiz is a joint effort by the Finnish forest sector. It involves major forest sector companies, one bank, forest owners, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation and Metsähallitus. Even globally, this is a unique network. Finland is a small nation, so we are used to working together,’ says Kärkkäinen.
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Can you answer these questions?
- The process of energy conversion taking place in tree leaves is called photosynthesis, but in which part of the cell does it occur?
- Where does the energy needed in photosynthesis come from? .
- What are the substances formed in photosynthesis?
Answers: 1. Chloroplasts, 2. The Sun 3. Sugars and oxygen
Source: Forest Quiz 2024
