Snorkeling Fun
Submitted by Kim Matheson on Thu, 2015-07-16 00:00
We started out the day at Devil’s Elbow, our campsite from yesterday. We had a conversation involving sharing of how we can bring all that we’ve learned back to the class. It was shared that a photo journal project along the bike trail would be a great way to involve students while promoting connection to the outdoors that would hopefully instill care for nature through outdoor fun. The students could document the ecosystems though photo journal. It was suggested to teachers to keep in mind the lesson plan for the field trip should be “standards based” which helps to increase probability of getting permission from school Administration. We talked about involving community partners in these trips to help organize so it’s not such a burden on the teacher. Two teachers from different schools talked through the planning of pairing up the high school students with younger students to work on a field trip project together; putting the high-schoolers in a more responsible role (that they seem to take on naturally when put in this type of situation).
(photo #1) Will Young from Fernan Forestry shared information about the North Fork and Moose Drool Watershed Restoration. The biggest issue is sediments from roads. When we stopped at Argument Creek after our snorkeling stop, Will pointed out as well as displayed by the map handout (photo #4), that many, many roads were built in the Moose Drool Watershed area. At the time of the road construction, the decision makers weren’t concerned (and maybe not knowledgeable?) with the long term affects on the surrounding ecosystems as well as the continued maintenance issues. The sediment, and lots of it, has been going into the water reducing water quality and fish habitat. According to a handout, impaired waters are those that “do not fully support beneficial uses. Restoration activities are designed to improve hydrologic function and enhance fish habitat…” I didn’t catch who, either The North Fork WAG (Watershed Ag Group) or the Forest Service is the group responsible for working on a $1.87 million project of reducing roads (while still considering recreational access to key spots) and doing work on creek bottoms. In the background of the snorkeling pictures you can see an example of where trees have been pushed back or buried into the creek edge to enhance fish habitat and hydrologic function.
(photos #2 and #3) The highlight of the day was getting to snorkel. With the cooler than recent air temperatures on our partly cloudy day and very cold water, everyone seemed to be reluctant to get in the water to snorkel. However, once some fish were spotted, most if not all braved the cold and did a little bit of snorkeling. The cold water was less of a hindrance, paling to the excitement of spotting a large cutthroat trout. A few people got footage and underwater pictures of the trout so hopefully they’ll share here after they get a chance to download them to their computers. I heard comments from some participants afterwards that they’d never gone snorkeling in this type of setting. My experience of snorkeling in Hawaii with lots of different fish all over is a different experience than this kind. I, as well as others thought it was a special experience to snorkel here in Idaho; it’s something I plan to do again. The logistics of doing this with students may be a little bit of a challenge, depending on the students but mostly the time frame we deal with as teachers. If I could work it into the early fall schedule before the weather gets cold, it’d be a nice treat for the students.
How about any of the web participants, have you guys ever snorkeled? Does anyone have ideas about how any of this can be worked into a classroom activity?
Comments
teacher lessons
Kim,
It is definitely worth it to bring everything you learn back to your kids. The best adivce I can offer is have LOTS of people in the community come help you out if you are deciding to turn it into a field trip day. I called local fishermen and brought in experts in the field to help out our team of science teachers. We took 100+ sophomores out on Spirit Lake and the creek that feeds into the system and did water quality testing. Each group consisted of around 10-12 kids. We needed lots of volunteers, but people are more than willing to help.
Community Resources
Kim- I would totally agree with finding volunteers to help. It is important to remember our community resources that are willing to help. I was once talking to a woman that teaches CPR and she said she would love to come to our school and teach the students, but she doesn't want to overwhelm teachers by asking. The first rule of sales "If you don't ask you have already decided for them they don't want it." Ask and get turned down instead of not asking for community partners to come help! Ask everyone! It could be a local sports gear shop that comes to talk about the importance of water purification when outdoors, or any partner that would be willing to participate to monitor students while they work!
I am glad to hear that you are starting to think about how this will apply to your students. Stream tables are awesome, but also costly. I once did an activity where each kid got a piece of paper, crumpled it up, opened it up a bit (not completely flattening it), then sprayed water on it. They then got to see how the highest parts of the paper (mountains) drained their water into the lower parts (valleys). We then talked about where is the watershed in their paper and drew some boundaries. (see attached lesson example)
Glad to hear you are enjoying the experience and taking full advantage of your experience in the field.
Community Resources (response)
Thanks for the information! I agree with working with partners in the community, especially the experts. I'm lucky in that I know several people that work on Natural Resources projects that I can reach out to, so hopefully other teachers do too. I will definately try out the lesson plan you attached.
teacher lessons (response)
Wow 100+ students is a lot, and definately requires outside help from the community. Thank goodness I'm at a much smaller school. I'll probably pick a certain grade or two to actually take a field trip with, to do the water quality testing and maybe even snorkeling depending on what the Fisheries experts suggest for the creek near our school. There are experts in Fisheries programs that I can ask to assist with the technical parts, but yes, the community volunteers will also be helpful to have. Thanks for your advice!
Snorkeling!
That is AMAZING that y'all got to go snorkeling! I've done a lot of snorkeling and some SCUBA but pretty much only in the tropics. I think this is a creative, out-of-the-box activity to get kids active and learning about our fish and local waters. I bet they'd really dig it...I suspect that few have ever had the opportunity to snorkel. Logistically, I think it comes down to permission from school districts (many schools freak out at the thought of kids going in the water above their knees, let alone snorkeling) and gear rental. I think this kind of activity can be worked into an overall early-fall field trip with rotations, like we've done before in The Confluence Project. A small group of 5-10 max at one time would ensure safety and make gear acquisition manageable. I'm in--let's do this! :)
Also Kim, totally agree with your ideas of involving community partners in field trips and pairing high school students with younger ones.
Snorkeling! (response)
It was so much fun. You don't see as much fish here locally as in the tropics but it was still cool being here local. If you're lucky enought to be at a school without the restrictions like I am, then it's more of a possibility to be able to take the students out. I like your suggestion of taking a small group out to make it manageable. I think making three stations, one snorkeling for 5 students, another 5 students at a station upstream to test water quality, and then maybe one more station with water restoration information would provide activities for a group of 15. Our school takes kids to the local pool, so thankfully that shouldn't be a problem. The gear that we used was simple ($25 for the mask and snorkel), but if I can't find local programs that would have wet suits that will fit 6th-8th graders, we may have to brave without them since I anticipate those being pretty spendy. I'm definately looking forward to doing this with my students!
Thanks for the information you provided to begin the process of thinking through logistics.
Also, The idea of involving community partners in field trips and pairing high school students with younger ones was not my own, I was merely sharing highlights of our group discussion. So hopefully whoever suggested those things reads your post. :) I agree with those ideas too.
RE: Snorkeling Fun
That is so cool that you got to go snorkeling and see some of the fish that you have been talking about. I've gone snorkeling before, but never in a river, now I want to try it! I am sure that students would absolutly love doing something like this, except for the few that might not want to get their hair wet! This type of field trip would certainly be pretty involved in planning and managing, but getting other people from the community involved could certainly help with that
RE: Snorkeling Fun (response)
Yes, I agree there may be a few reserved students who don't want to get their hair wet or mess up their make-up. It might be a different story once they get out there because in a way it's similar to what happened to us...we were all worried about the cold...then as soon as a fish was spotted hiding under the rock everyone braved the cold water. It was worth it. Planning and managing will be involved but I think it'll be worth it. :)
I didn't have enough time to put in my summary that we had an introduction (with pictures) to the types of fish that we might see, which was great. It was funny that the fish that I saw moved so fast that there was no way that I could identify. But that was also an experience to see how fast fish really do move. The group that saw the trout hiding under a rock shelf had a much better experience, enough of one to get great video footage! I hope someone will share some footage on this site. :)
Snorkeling & Field Trips
I too have snorkeled in warm waters, but not really at home. Every August we go up to Hope for a couple of weeks & the kids always float around with masks & snorkels looking for fish. Ocassionally I will too. We've never snorkeled in the river though. The next time we are on one, we'll be sure to pack the masks & snorkels!
Field trips: The district makes it SO hard to take a field trip. Unless it's within walking distance, the cost of a bus is ridiculous and kids aren't allowed to drive. There is so much OUTSIDE of the 4 walls of a classroom. I wish cost wasn't a factor & there weren't so many hoops to jump through. Talking about something & looking at pictures is one thing. Experiencing something firsthand is another.
Snorkeling & Field Trips (response)
Thanks for your comments. :)
You may not see as many fish in the river/creek as in warm waters, but it was still fun to see fish move so fast. There was a group of teachers that saw one trout hovering under a rock overhang, moving slowly enough to get video footage. The hint that we had from the expert was to make sure to look in overhangs and in nooks and crannies...they like to hide there where it's cooler.
I agree that there is so much outside of the classroom that will engage and provide an experience for the students. Experiencing is much better than seeing pictures or talking about a subject. That's why it was so fun to have the opportunity to attend the live portion of this Adventure Learning. I feel like I learned so much, and makes it so much more meaningful having real experiences. I'm lucky in that we have a small, sort of public school, at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal School where field trips aren't as restricted. That's unfortunate that a lot of other schools have to jump through so many hoops. That's one of the topics our group discussed on Thursday morning...so sad.