Day 1: Restoring Equilibrium to Maximize Biodiversity of Benewah Creek

Thank you for sharing, Josh. 

Benewah Creek is beautiful in photos.  I have never visited, but very much enjoyed your description which allowed me to learn with you. 

The restoration progress you described is very encouraging.  Our Portneuf River has, too, been straightened, re-routed, and had canopy cover removed and has suffered the consequences.  While the section of river in Pocatello that was reworked was for flood control purposes versus the logging at Benewah, we have experienced many of the same devastating consequences with reduced wildlife, reduced aquatic life, and poor water quality and reduced habitat.  Interestingly, the sections of the Portneuf that we tested were hovering around that 17* mark and canopy cover, unfortunately, continues to be removed from our levees. 

I am very excited about spending more time getting my students out in the field with a citizen-scientist's mindframe.  I agree with you that real world applications and personal relatability are vital to successful lessons.  Time in the field, as it did for me my week here in Pocatello and an in-person adventurer, made all the difference.  What an impact!  I am fortunate that my current role as a physical education teacher and a creative photography teacher teaching on a large campus with trails and trees provides me oppotunity to be outside.  I am looking forward to using iNaturalist with my walking/trekking class so they can help log and identify flora and fauna on campus.  I am looking forward to doing repeat photography with my photogrpahy class so we can capture and analyze changes in our campus landscape.  I took the class with a colleague that teaches art and we discussed his class doing some earthworks based art and my photography class regularly photographing how the students' artwork changes as it is exposed to the outdoor elements.  I have thought about coordinating a bioblitz on campus (Google National Geogrpahic BioBlitz if you are curious)  or planting some native plants with our science teachers.  Our English teachers bring students outside for creative writing inspiration and I know my daughter, as an 8th grader last year, kept a weather journal documenting clouds.  I have also reached out to the three national parks that are geographically closest to me.  They use iNaturalist and repeat photography concepts and have interpreters/rangers who are paid to coordinate with school teachers for field trips.  Funding is an issue I haven't addressed yet for bigger excursions, but making a list of what trips may be available is a start.  We are fortunate to be switching to 70 minutes class periods next year.  I'm making a list of everything within walking distance of campus that I can put to use for mini-excursions. 

Thanks again for the insight!

Hello,

At Timberlake High School, three years ago we started our own adventure learning ecology project by taking out 150 sophomore biology students onto Spirit Lake and Brickle Creek that feeds into the lake. Our students do water quality testing in both areas, and they have had a blast doing such. The biggest thing that we are trying to accomplish right now is getting them to write papers that detail their experience and collected data. We are getting better at data analysis, however, students still struggle with their writing skills. We are going to bring in local scientists to our classrooms to show them that the writing process does not need to be some big gigantic process. Our goal is to not scare kids away from the scientific field, because of the writing process. Our english teachers have been a big help too with creating a rubric for us to grade the papers (more on content than grammar).

Even if you don't have a lake or river right now to you, you can always go out into the "playground" area and observe habitats around your school. I think just getting kids to put down their phones and observe their surroundings is huge. Maybe you can incorporate some sort of technology into it, but I prefer writing things down that I see.

My ultimate suggestion is to start small. Don't overwhelm yourself trying to incorporate everything all at once.

A number of years ago, some of our English teachers (I am at Pocatello High School) got a grant--I don't know where it was from--to try something cross-curricular. At that time, I had a sophomore biology class that was testing our local river, so they chose to team up an English class with my class. My students learned the science behind water testing, then did all the tests. The English class came with us to the river, and had to observe, ask questions, and take notes. My students had to teach the English students about the tests they were doing, and what the results meant.

After all the testing was done and the data were analyzed, my students had to write scientific papers about the project. The English students critiqued their papers, but also had to write persuasive articles, in not-too-scientific terms, explaining to the public what was happening to our river.

Unfortunately, the next year I wasn't teaching that class any more (and our funding for field trips was cut back), so we didn't get to repeat. However, it was a great learning adventure for everyone involved!

Administrator support is a difficult ball to get rolling. I have had success with inviting the administration to join us for as many activities and experiences as I can.  Most times, they can't make it. However, any time they can be involved with the kids and the learning experience, they will feel more connected to making the opportunity available to students.  In addition, I take video and photos when we go out. For the larger excursions, I create a video in iMovie I can put on my website and email to counselors, supporters, and administrators. For the smaller ones, I just send out a small write up that includes some student quotes and photos.  The key, I think, is to include the learning objectives of the trip and the results.  The videos are something I've had a lot of success with.  My school district has even featured them on the website. If you have a creative kid in the class, let them take on this role.  We have an exciting, interactive way to teach science here, and for it to be sustainable, administrative support is key!