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6-810. Gone Fishin'Summary
Submitted by irene on Sun, 2005-10-23 12:18.
9. Hare and Lynx PopulationsSummary
Submitted by irene on Sat, 2005-10-22 13:39.
8. Ecosystem OrganizationSummary
Submitted by irene on Sat, 2005-10-22 09:29.
7. Habitat SurveySummary In this activity, students finally get to apply their skills of soil analysis and observation to a 1 meter by 1 meter area of the schoolyard, restoration site, or creek bank. Teams of students get down and dirty exploring the soil, vegetation, and insect life in their microhabitat. Students practice using the soil analysis tools they learned previously and also practice using field guides to identify plants and insects. Upon returning to the classroom, they compare their results with other groups to see the differences and similarities between their microhabitats. This is a superb activity to use before and after a habitat restoration project or simply to track changes in a habitat throughout the year. I used this investigation to introduce the idea of native vs. non-native species and to begin a debate about invasive species. My students really “got it” when they examined our adopted restoration area and discovered that there was a monoculture of invasive, non-native English ivy all across our site. They visited our adopted site 3-4 times throughout the year pulling ivy and planting native plants. When all was said and done, they repeated this investigation in the spring to discover exactly the magnitude of the change they made on the environment – and to find that the native plants recruited a wider variety of insects than they had seen at that site in the fall.
Submitted by irene on Wed, 2005-09-28 10:29.
Sub Plan - Fighting for FoxesSummary In order to help understand the complexity of the issues surrounding protecting endangered species, students read an article about the Channel Island fox published in the Smithsonian magazine in October 2004. They create and use food webs to better understand the reasons for the foxes decline. This is a superb follow up to the Food Webs activity.
Submitted by irene on Sun, 2005-08-28 15:15.
Field Trip - Point ReyesSummary This section will give you information to help you plan a field trip to Point Reyes National Seashore. My classes went to Point Reyes for an overnight camping trip between lessons 7 and 8. The first day, we went to the Bear Valley Visitor Center and did a ranger led program called Monitoring Creek Health. After creek monitoring, we played and hiked at Linmatour beach before retiring to our campsite. The following day, we took a kayaking tour of Tomales Bay. Our kayaking guides taught the students about the wildlife and geology of the area throughout the trip. The happy and exhausted students and teacher then made their way back to school.
Submitted by irene on Fri, 2005-08-26 16:03.
6. Food WebsSummary
Submitted by irene on Fri, 2005-08-26 15:50.
5. Food ChainsSummary
Submitted by irene on Fri, 2005-08-26 15:28.
4. Pond WaterSummary Delve into a micro-habitat that is the size of a drop of water. This lesson allows students to explore the plankton (organisms that drift with the currents) that exist in a drop of pond, lake, or bay water. A microscope is required to view most organisms although some are observable with a hand lens. If possible, this is a fantastic opportunity for students to collect the pond water themselves using pantyhose and a small bottle. If you are pursuing a restoration project, collecting water might be an excellent excuse for an initial visit (as long as the creek/body of water has regions of relative calm where algae can grow on the rocks). Plans for both an initial creek visit activity and a classroom investigation of the water sample are included in this lesson plan. If it is not possible to bring students to the creek or pond, then you can collect the sample ahead of time and skip the creek visit and sense of place activity.
Submitted by irene on Thu, 2005-07-21 15:11.
2. Water AnalysisSummary Students conduct 3 tests of water quality in the classroom that can then be applied to their terraqua columns and to the outdoors: pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. They make comparisons between different types of water and draw conclusions about how "healthy" each water source is for fish and other organisms. Through this process, students practice their observational and data analysis skills. Water quality monitoring data is routinely used in the "real world" to determine the effects of habitat restoration, development, pollution, and wastewater treatment. It is often the initial step in describing the health of an ecosystem. There are hundreds of ways to extend this simple activity and make connections to the real world - from monitoring water quality in a local creek to making comparisons between different bodies of water in your area.
Submitted by irene on Wed, 2005-07-20 10:05.
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