After yesterday and last night our group cranked out most of our final work. Today was spent piecing everything all together.
Katie gets the gold star for today. She is nearly done with our website which is just fabulous! The layout is very user friendly and we believe teachers and scout masters will be able to navigate quite easily. Once we complete our lesson plans, she'll be able to upload them onto the website and we should be finished.
Katherine and I worked on formatting all the lesson plans so that they are all consistent with one another. Katherine using her editing skills copy-edited all our lesson plans to make sure they were up to par and had NO mistakes. We can't look sloppy being educators now :). I finished up our introduction and project proposal section and scanned our "clothing guide" information sheet which will then be put on the website.
Elaina finally finished the map of the Barrington Headwaters, after having several formatting issues. Steve helped her overlay our plotted points on a satellite image of the property. It looks pretty cool. I think it's already uploaded onto the webpage.
Johanna spent the whole day working with the GPS unit to prepare for our lesson plan presentation tomorrow. She has created an informative handout for the groups tomorrow and now understands thoroughly how to use the GPS. We have decided to use the Go To function to make it easier on the class and have them find the points easier. This function actually steers them in the direction of the points they have inputted. She walked the whole route to see what would be easiest and to see if in fact our activity would be possible. With her hard work today or activity should be a success tomorrow!!!
Tonight we shouldn't have much work. Elaina has been kind enough to print out all the documents that will be compiled into our binder. We want this to look sharp, so we got some nice thick paper and a nice binder. Tomorrow we will work together in the afternoon to actually put the binder together. (yay)
We are all excited that we are nearly done :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Busy Busy Busy
Last week was a very productive week for us. The two wetland sites and the woodland site are coming along. We have finally figured out how to describe what we want the kids to do when they see our sites, and we've done all the initial measurements. We've spent a lot of time discussing the best way to teach the difference between just a wetland and a more specific vernal pool, even if just superficially.
The students will be at each site for at most 30 minutes (more like 20), so maximizing that onsite time is crucial. So ultimately, the question becomes, do we suggest going over the differences before or after the visit? The concern we have is that if we tell them before, it takes away from the exploratory/observational/ discovery nature of the experience. BUT if we don't tell them before, they might not take in enough details onsite in order to remember the difference for the classroom and will completely miss the point of the exercise.
I imagine we will have to suggest a couple of variations for the teachers to accommodate teaching styles; such as bringing a camera, asking pointed questions that they must answer on a worksheet onsite.
The fun part of this project is going to be for the kids to see how the size of the vernal pool changes over time and the wetland site does not. I hope some students will get into looking for biological evidence for classification of a vernal pool or maybe participating in some of the Vernal Pool Association outreach programs. That would be very rewarding. And I think that kind of extension project has the potential to cover more of the NH Department of Education curriculum standards.
Working on my background section now...
On to the Cellar Hole:
Last week provided me the chance to finalize my study of the vegetation and historical background. Today Katherine and I finally finished our coring samples. It was mightly hard to sand down the maple sample so it was actually easy to read. The pine was much, much easier and barely had to be sanded at all in order to read the rings. I discovered that both trees were roughly 50 years old, which is pretty cool. I was wishing they'd be older so to show how long ago the house/barn disintergrated. I still had a fun time coring and counting the rings. It is pretty impressive that you can find a tree's age simply by taking out such a small sample!
My lesson plan is almost complete, just needs a little tweaking. I think the students will enjoy this lesson because it enables them to discover nature for themselves. They get to read the landscape to figure out the history and see connections within their lives and the past. I really want them to appreciate nature and the landscape and be able to find a sense of place. My site is based more on inqury and journaling rather than scientific study. Since they get that in other sites, my site provides the time for reflection.
And the tree site:
The cores of the three trunks disproved my hypothesis! Judging by the DBH of the trunks, I thought they would be three different trees -- the center trunk is much larger than the two on the outside. But the cores gave me the chance to count the rings (which was no easy task), and it proved that the trunks are the same age. That led me to conclude that they all sprouted from the same stump about 20 years ago.It seems that the center sprout had the best position -- it shot up in the middle of the stump, where it had the best access to resources from below and the best access to light from above.
Now that my research is complete, I can focus on composing and compiling the many pieces of the project. My teammates are taking great initiative and are holding up beautifully under the pressure of our deadlines, so it's all coming together nicely. I hope our final project reflects both our hard work and the fun we've had producing it!
The students will be at each site for at most 30 minutes (more like 20), so maximizing that onsite time is crucial. So ultimately, the question becomes, do we suggest going over the differences before or after the visit? The concern we have is that if we tell them before, it takes away from the exploratory/observational/ discovery nature of the experience. BUT if we don't tell them before, they might not take in enough details onsite in order to remember the difference for the classroom and will completely miss the point of the exercise.
I imagine we will have to suggest a couple of variations for the teachers to accommodate teaching styles; such as bringing a camera, asking pointed questions that they must answer on a worksheet onsite.
The fun part of this project is going to be for the kids to see how the size of the vernal pool changes over time and the wetland site does not. I hope some students will get into looking for biological evidence for classification of a vernal pool or maybe participating in some of the Vernal Pool Association outreach programs. That would be very rewarding. And I think that kind of extension project has the potential to cover more of the NH Department of Education curriculum standards.
Working on my background section now...
On to the Cellar Hole:
Last week provided me the chance to finalize my study of the vegetation and historical background. Today Katherine and I finally finished our coring samples. It was mightly hard to sand down the maple sample so it was actually easy to read. The pine was much, much easier and barely had to be sanded at all in order to read the rings. I discovered that both trees were roughly 50 years old, which is pretty cool. I was wishing they'd be older so to show how long ago the house/barn disintergrated. I still had a fun time coring and counting the rings. It is pretty impressive that you can find a tree's age simply by taking out such a small sample!
My lesson plan is almost complete, just needs a little tweaking. I think the students will enjoy this lesson because it enables them to discover nature for themselves. They get to read the landscape to figure out the history and see connections within their lives and the past. I really want them to appreciate nature and the landscape and be able to find a sense of place. My site is based more on inqury and journaling rather than scientific study. Since they get that in other sites, my site provides the time for reflection.
And the tree site:
The cores of the three trunks disproved my hypothesis! Judging by the DBH of the trunks, I thought they would be three different trees -- the center trunk is much larger than the two on the outside. But the cores gave me the chance to count the rings (which was no easy task), and it proved that the trunks are the same age. That led me to conclude that they all sprouted from the same stump about 20 years ago.It seems that the center sprout had the best position -- it shot up in the middle of the stump, where it had the best access to resources from below and the best access to light from above.
Now that my research is complete, I can focus on composing and compiling the many pieces of the project. My teammates are taking great initiative and are holding up beautifully under the pressure of our deadlines, so it's all coming together nicely. I hope our final project reflects both our hard work and the fun we've had producing it!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Almost there...
One week left. We have a lot of work behind us, and a lot of loose ends to tie up. But I have no doubt it will all come together nicely.
On Thursday, we returned to the Tamposi to mark our sites with small cairns. Steph and I began sanding down our tree cores, and I hope to take a closer look at them on Monday -- I'm excited to find out if my hypothesis is correct: that there are three trees in my maple stand, not one.
This weekend, I'm wrapping up the lesson plan to go with my site, and I'm working to finish several other aspects of the project. I hope to be well prepared for the busy week ahead.
Ps -- I now revoke my previous name of "just Katherine." Hereforth I shall be known as "Cutthroat Katherine the Swarthy." Arrrr, maties!
On Thursday, we returned to the Tamposi to mark our sites with small cairns. Steph and I began sanding down our tree cores, and I hope to take a closer look at them on Monday -- I'm excited to find out if my hypothesis is correct: that there are three trees in my maple stand, not one.
This weekend, I'm wrapping up the lesson plan to go with my site, and I'm working to finish several other aspects of the project. I hope to be well prepared for the busy week ahead.
Ps -- I now revoke my previous name of "just Katherine." Hereforth I shall be known as "Cutthroat Katherine the Swarthy." Arrrr, maties!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Work and Play!
Greetings from The Navigators!
Today was great! The navigators accomplished everything we had planned to do today, so we feel very proud of our teamwork. We started the day building cairns at each site. This was our last opportunity to venture out to the Barrington Headwaters to work on our project, so as you can see we made sure we left sometime for play.
Here are some of our cairns.
Here is Johanna directing Steph with the wheelbarrow.
We had an added person to our team today. Perry the photographer taking pictures and asking questions about our project for the DCE catalogue next summer. Now we are minor celebrities!
We also visited the vernal pool and noticed that a moose had walked through the site. You can visit the vernal pool group's site to see those pictures.
Next week we will be finalizing our web page and posting!
Today was great! The navigators accomplished everything we had planned to do today, so we feel very proud of our teamwork. We started the day building cairns at each site. This was our last opportunity to venture out to the Barrington Headwaters to work on our project, so as you can see we made sure we left sometime for play.
Here are some of our cairns.
Here is Johanna directing Steph with the wheelbarrow.
We had an added person to our team today. Perry the photographer taking pictures and asking questions about our project for the DCE catalogue next summer. Now we are minor celebrities!
We also visited the vernal pool and noticed that a moose had walked through the site. You can visit the vernal pool group's site to see those pictures.
Next week we will be finalizing our web page and posting!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
DBH and Tree Identification
Greetings!
Today Steph and I identified and measured the DBH of trees inside our plots. We noticed that the cemetery tree population is predominately older white pine, and the homestead is mostly young red maple trees. We think that this is because the white pine had a mast year at the cemetery site, while the red maples had a mast year at the homestead. A mast year is when a tree produces an enormous amount of seed, and only occurs once every few years.
I don't have any pictures of Steph and I measuring DBH, so here is a picture of Katherine measuring the DBH at her site.
Tomorrow we will head out into the field to build the cairns at the five sites. The cairns will serve as markers for our tour of the Barrington Headwaters.
Enjoy the sun!
Katie
Today Steph and I identified and measured the DBH of trees inside our plots. We noticed that the cemetery tree population is predominately older white pine, and the homestead is mostly young red maple trees. We think that this is because the white pine had a mast year at the cemetery site, while the red maples had a mast year at the homestead. A mast year is when a tree produces an enormous amount of seed, and only occurs once every few years.
I don't have any pictures of Steph and I measuring DBH, so here is a picture of Katherine measuring the DBH at her site.
Tomorrow we will head out into the field to build the cairns at the five sites. The cairns will serve as markers for our tour of the Barrington Headwaters.
Enjoy the sun!
Katie
Narrowing it down
We are in mid-project now and starting to prioritize. Today we went to the Tamposi first thing before the heat set in. Elanor came with us to see our sites. First we stopped at Katherine's site. Elanor helped us i.d. some trees that we were not sure about. Then Katherine and I took the dbh of trees and stumps in a 10 meter plot in order to get a better idea of the history of the site. Next we went to the vernal pool. It was almost gone! We took the pH and temp. Next we went to the wetland site to measure it and found that there was too much brush at the edge. We debated whether or not to include boots or hip waders in our materials for our lesson plan. Elanor suggested that students take an approximate measurement. Elaina and I need to decide how to deal with this set back and how to change our lesson plans and still meet our goals.
We went back to campus and worked on our lesson plans. Tomorrow we are going to meet at the Tamposi to set up cairns and spend some time at our sites deciding what is left to do. We also have to clean up our lesson plan for the class. Five and a half credits down!
- Johanna
We went back to campus and worked on our lesson plans. Tomorrow we are going to meet at the Tamposi to set up cairns and spend some time at our sites deciding what is left to do. We also have to clean up our lesson plan for the class. Five and a half credits down!
- Johanna
The Cellar Hole Site
Hey All!
Today we got the chance to go back to the sites that we plotted out and actually did the vegetation study. The cellar hole site was really easy. The site had only 14 trees within the 150 m2 plot. This was vastly different from the cemetery site which had over 26 trees! I guess we shouldn't be too surprised because we figured that the cellar hole site was cleared at one point for the settlement and the cemetery was left untouched.
I have to admit that I get a little chill each time I enter the cemetery site, I'm glad my main site was the homestead. I'm not sure what it is about that cemetery site but I think because it has been left untouched for so long and mounts are falling down or have disappeared. I think every childhood fear of the unknown comes to the front of my mind when I step in the site. It is spooky yet calming all at once. Very Strange!
I'm looking forward to seeing the vernal pool and wetlands sites that Elaina and Johanna are working on. I've spent some time on Katherine's site but have NO clue what the other two are up to! I need to feel connected at all times :).
I'm ready for tomorrow and setting up the Cairns and then finishing up the coring samples.
Take Care!
~Steph
Today we got the chance to go back to the sites that we plotted out and actually did the vegetation study. The cellar hole site was really easy. The site had only 14 trees within the 150 m2 plot. This was vastly different from the cemetery site which had over 26 trees! I guess we shouldn't be too surprised because we figured that the cellar hole site was cleared at one point for the settlement and the cemetery was left untouched.
I have to admit that I get a little chill each time I enter the cemetery site, I'm glad my main site was the homestead. I'm not sure what it is about that cemetery site but I think because it has been left untouched for so long and mounts are falling down or have disappeared. I think every childhood fear of the unknown comes to the front of my mind when I step in the site. It is spooky yet calming all at once. Very Strange!
I'm looking forward to seeing the vernal pool and wetlands sites that Elaina and Johanna are working on. I've spent some time on Katherine's site but have NO clue what the other two are up to! I need to feel connected at all times :).
I'm ready for tomorrow and setting up the Cairns and then finishing up the coring samples.
Take Care!
~Steph
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