Covering the unit of competency: FPICOT3247A: Select timber for forestry operations
Introduction
Selecting timber covers the principles of wood technology, and the background knowledge needed by workers involved in choosing the most appropriate timber species for various end-uses and customer needs.
The unit is presented in four sections:
- Wood in the living tree.
- Characteristics of timber.
- Organisms that destroy wood.
- Seasoning of timber.
Tasks
Each section in the unit has a Task for completion. Its purpose is to provide an activity that tests the learner's understanding of the principles, and their ability to apply these principles to their own day-to-day job. The Tasks are suitable for use as assessment activities, and may be either emailed to the trainer or submitted in hard copy as assessment evidence.
The Task for Wood in the living tree asks the learner to choose a species of timber that they work with in their job, and answer a series of questions about the forest conditions the species grows under.
The Task for Characteristics of timber requires the learner to describe various properties and characteristics of four species of timber that they are familiar with.
The Task for Organisms that destroy wood asks the learner to find four examples at their workplace of damage done by wood-destroying organisms, and identify the species of organism and the conditions under which it was found.
The Task for Seasoning timber asks the learner to choose two timber products that they handle at work and answer a series of questions relating to the drying process and how it affects the properties of the timber.
Learning activities
Each section contains a range of Lessons, which provide the content information for the subject. Each lesson has a Learning activity, designed to reinforce the concepts presented and allow the learner to apply them to their own workplace situation.
For learners who are undertaking group training, or have access to learners in other locations, these activities also provide the opportunity for them to share their thoughts and discuss the similarities and differences in their experiences.
The learning activities are set out below.
Section 1: Wood in the living tree
Lesson | Description of learning activity |
---|---|
How trees grow | Requires the learner to use the knowledge they have gained in the topic to answer two questions relating to the growing process of a tree. |
The stem | Asks the learner to make up a growth ring gauge and check the curve of the growth rings on various pieces of timber, and identify where the heartwood changes to sapwood. |
Section 2: Characteristics of timber
Lesson | Description of learning activity |
---|---|
Structure of hardwoods | This learning activity is combined with the learning activity for the next lesson, Structure of softwoods. |
Structure of softwoods | Provides a drag and drop exercise, testing the learner's ability to classify some common species as either hardwood or softwood. |
Growth rings | Requires the learner to examine the growth rings on several pieces of timber and look for certain features. |
Durability | Asks the learner to refer to the Durability table contained in the lesson and answer four questions relating to timber durability. |
Density | Asks the learner to refer to the Density table contained in the lesson to find the Green density and the Air dry density of seven listed timber species. |
Section 3: Organisms that destroy wood
Lesson | Description of learning activity |
---|---|
Fungi | Requires the learner to find different types of fungi in their own workplace and to note the conditions under which they found the timber. |
Borers | Asks the learner to identify different types of borer holes in timber in their workplace. |
Termites | Asks the learner to find examples of termite activity, either in their workplace, local bushland or in their own homes. |
Section 4: Seasoning of timber
Lesson | Description of learning activity |
---|---|
Measuring moisture content | Asks the learner to calculate the moisture content of a piece of oregon using the formula given in the lesson. |
The drying process | Provides a drag and drop exercise to test the learner on significant points in the drying of timber. |
Shrinkage and movement | Provides a drag and drop exercise dealing with defects that result from drying problems. |
Employability skills
Below are the employability skills and learning and assessment strategies applicable to this unit.
- Communication
- Working in groups, either face-to-face or via a social networking site
- Communicating with and responding to other learners
- Teamwork
- Group discussion, either face-to-face or electronically
- Working in a team
- Interactive activities
- Problem Solving
- Case studies
- Researching
- Decision making activities
- Initiative and enterprise
- Researchy
- Suggesting changes and improvements
- Planning and organising
- Planning
- Collecting and analysing information
- Self management
- Work plans
- Learning
- Using skills in different contexts
- Self-evaluation tool
- Technology
- Using the internet
- Using ICT skills to complete activities and communicate with others
Communication activities
It is envisaged that most learners will be undertaking a qualification via flexible delivery mode, and will be working independently through the learning material in this Toolbox in between scheduled site visits by their trainer/assessor. Where learners in different locations are undertaking the same units of competency with a Registered Training Organisations (RTO), the trainer may decide to put them in contact with each other via email, and to hold regular web-based group training sessions.
The learning activities are designed to promote discussion between learners and their trainer, either in a face-to-face group session, or via a range of electronic means, including. telephone hook-ups, group emails or a social networking site.
Assessment suggestions
Each section contains a Task, which is designed to provide some of the evidence required for an RTO to assess a learner as competent in the unit being undertaken. Other evidence that would need to be gathered by the RTO would include evidence of practical skills through observation and questioning and/or a third party report from the learner's supervisor. Trainers may also wish to use the completed learning activities and the discussions generated between learners as further evidence of competence.
For candidates who believe they may be eligible for recognition of prior learning (RPL) assessment, the RPL Expressway provides detailed information on the specific performance criteria that apply to the unit, and the types of evidence they would need to present to the RTO. The RPL Expressway is also useful for learners who are self-assessing their progress and identifying any gaps in their current level of skills and knowledge.
Related resources
All resources needed to complete activities are provided within the site, with the exception of external sources of information that the learner may consult while carrying out their own research. Internally linked resources include a range of PDF and Word documents. Website links are also provided for learners to follow up if they wish to research a topic more thoroughly.
Unit of competency
The Unit of Competency relating to this Toolbox unit is linked below.
For more information about the Competency, please go to the National Training Information Service (NTIS) website to see the Forest and Forest Products Training Package (FPI05).
FPI05 Training Package (NTIS website)