Gift has put Wood Magic program on the road

A corporate gift to the university's Forest Products Laboratory is allowing the lab to hit the road with one if its most popular teaching programs.

The Forest Products Lab has used a $30,000 contribution from the Georgia-Pacific Corporation in Atlanta to purchase a Pace Arrow trailer to transport exhibits used for the Wood Magic Science Fair held on campus each fall, said program coordinator and forest products professor Dan Seale. The fair teaches about the many uses of wood in everyday life.

"This program for third- and fourth-graders was implemented three years ago to change the misconceptions about how and why wood is used and the impact it has on the state economy," explained Seale. "We have worked with more than 18,000 schoolchildren in that three-year period. By taking this program on the road, we will be able to develop programs for other groups, including high school students and the general public."

Students who come to Mississippi State for the Wood Magic Science Fair participate in scientific experiments, hands-on production activities, and interactive communication with the faculty, staff, students, and volunteers involved in the event. Making plywood and particle board are part of the activities, along with furniture testing and a termite show.

Participants also hear about career opportunities available in the forest products industry, something Seale said will be especially useful to high school students who will see the new on-the-road version of the fair. "This event is good public relations for the forest products industry in the state," he noted. "By taking it on the road, we hope to put out factual information to overcome the many misconceptions such as the belief that we are running out of trees. While in that process, we can show how some of our processes are done and give the students and the public a show to remember."