ED 152'499 - ,SE 023 778. ..

f,TITLE Bnvironmentgl Education in Action, II: An SCS

, EnvironmeXtal'Quality Aid. 0INSTITUTION Soil Consitrvation Service (DOA), Washington, D.C.-PUB DATE. 75:.NOTE. , 25p.; Reprinted from "Soil conservation Magazine";

; For related document, see SE 023 177; Photographs may..

not reproduce well

EDRS PRICE NF -$0.83 RC-11.671)1as Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Education; *Conservation Education; Curriculum

Development; Educational Programs;' Elementary:"Secondary Education; Environmental Education-;Experiential Learning; Higher Education; *Outdoor

. . Education,; *Program Development; *School LocationIDENTIFIERS *Soil Conservation Service

ABSTRACTThis second of a series of reprints froi "Soil .

Conservation Magazine" presents ideas and ways of incorporating°environmental and, outdoor education into,, school programs at alllevels: This publication contains 11 such reprints. The titles whichindicate the contents are: (1) Jordan River - Utah's NewestEnvirOnmentAl Study Area; (2) Education Majors Tackle Environmental.Studies at Grambling University; (3) Dividends for the Future; (4)Credits for an OutdooeClassroom; (5) Project PREPARE and thePresuapacot River ;, (6) tWyoming Students,Delve into "Energy and ,Us ";(7) How.a Pond Turned into a Classroom; 48) tonservationEddcationInterest Sparked by Iowas County Committees; (9) Reading and theEnvironment; (10) Mother Nature Cooperates to the Bullest in RC&DConservation Education in N.H.; and (11) SCS- Workshop SparksUniversity Course on Outdoor Classrooms. (NR)

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***********************************************************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document. -*A**********************************************************************

bo

An SCS Environmental Quality Aid

EnvironmentalEducationIn Action II

RsprInted from

n, A Soil Conservationi-fi MAGAZINE

U.S.U. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURESOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

V)al 2

U S OEPARTMENTOF HEALTH,EDUCATION &WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO.woo EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIteTIO'N ORIGIN-ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPREN,SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF fifEOUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

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Canoe trips 4o observe and study plant and animal life were a part oproject.

the Jordan Riser .environmeny study

Jordan Riveri,Utalif Newest Epvironmental Study Area

4 A #

by J. Kent 4rtinDistrict conservationist, SCS, Salt Lake City, Utah

Two years ago. stu-dents from the four highschools of Jordan School Dis-trict near Salt Lake City, Utah,pioneered a summer creditcourse officially titled ''Envi-ronmental Education.. Jordan

,River Project."One hundred and thirty stu-

dents spent 3 weeks studying.the' river ,and its environme6tfor 30 miles, from its freshwaiersource in Utah Lake near thecity of Provo to the end of itsjourney A it disappears intothe salt waters of, Great SaltLake.

That pioneer study proved sosuccessful that the Jordan Riverproject not only continued the

following year, but has beenfunded for both 1975 and 1976.

For more than 128 years theJordan Rivet has been a sourceof water for people, a drainageoutlet,- a dumping ground for,sewage,,a fishing stream, and asource of irrigation water thatspreads green fields across SaltLake yallq.

The riVer was named by tkefirst settlers during the 1847annual conference of the LDS(Mormon) Cliurch. They hadnoted the similarity to thelical Jordan River...that.runs fromthe_freshwater Sea of Galilee.tothe salt-laden Dead Sea.

The idea for themental study originated withfour high school coordinator9:

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Glen Soulier, science; BooneColegrove, social studies;George' Shell, mathematics,and Lowell Boberg, Engkiish.They assembled a team of ekhtiihth schOol teachers, two fromeach-Illscipline, and met with'resource managel-s--from Soil.,,,Conservation Service, ForestService, Burea u of rt.'aftd_ Map-,agement, Bureau of Reclama-fon, with representatives of theSalt Lake County Health De-partment and the Jordan WierParkWay,' and with officialrofarArrigation corrpany.

Through the help Of studentsfrorn .the four high schools, aseries of 24 varied but river- .related projects was developedand student-tested.

SOIL CONSERVATION

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For 3 weeks that summer,the 130. students who enrolledin the Jordan Ritter projectspent 4 hours each day onsornephase of the project. Becausetheir experiences were multi-

, disZiplinary, the students couldearn one-half unit credit inany one of the four disciplines.,English, social. studies, science,or mathematics.

The format for the study hasremained much the same eachyear. Some students elect tooncentrate on water testing

at varioUs" points along theJordan while others study land-use planning in the same area-,using soils as a basis. .

Students spend one morningon the .geologic history of theriver revealed on the rocks atJordan Nafrows, apaint wherethe river cuts through moun-tains on its 'way to Salt) LakeValley.

Some of the students makestudies of the river plants andanimal species, including fishhabitat. The mathematically in-clined often choose surveying

Students gained abroad understanding

of the impqrtanceof water quality tothe people of theriver valley areas.

Amon theckoptinuing adi ities

during the 'su merwere water testing

techniques anddata recording,'

AUGUST 1975

1,--...,

and mapping of the 'river basin.History buffs learn about the

peOple who ,settled the valleyand, the changes that have oc-curred there over the years by

% visiting,. the State Historical.Society. Others collect Indianlore about the river at, theHutchins Museum in the 'nearbycommunity' f Lehi.

Besides t e natural resourceand histoii 'I studies; visits aremady to the state prison andtd a, sewage treatment plant.One project involves locatingand measuring the capacity of

( storm sewers., 'Use of water is of particular

significance in, arid states suchas Utah, so part of the projpctis devoted to: understandinghow the river water is allo-cated' and used in both agri-cultural'and municipal areas of

the valley.Specjal attractions during the

3-week course are a .6-milecanoe trip on the river andan overnight campou

On' bird-watch day thestu-,dents are_oirt early and arrive

by daybreak at Utah Lake toobserve larks, bluebi ?ds, blue-

'jays, and the, many.bther birdsalong 'the way.

putting it all together meansdiscussions before and after theproject, fifmilig a documentaryon the studies, and preparingslide-etape programs. Many,stu-dents do watercolors of riverscenes, others read river poetryand ptitc,_ their feelings 'andthoughts, into 66wns of theirown.

Nor does it stop here. Manyof these experiences are re-lived and taught to new studdents the succeeding year byteachers who become thor-dughly involved in this type ofteaching:

Students who enroll for.thesummer are of two distinctgroupsthose who love to.learn and are eager for\ newexperiences and those whoneed a chance to make up ahalf credit, preferably withoutthe drudgeryof the traditionalclassroom. Within a few days

.the differences disappear. In-

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, Through group discussion of literature onefforts by students writing poems, stories,the esthetic value of the rivei`,nvirontnent

terest in activities and the free-dom of outdoor investigationssoon erase All contrasts among

''the students.:leachers can cite many evi-

dences that the overall objec-tives of the projectto helpstudents gain a sense of theimportance of the Jordan Riveras a natural' resource in theirenvirontnent and their liveshave been achieved.,

,Positive changes in studentattitudes toward the environ-ment develop during the proj-ect. Thee changes are reflectedin post-project questiorinaires.Most significant, students areworking with real-life environ-mental Concerns, the> close-to-home problems that can soonbe tackled by the young peoplethemselves, rather than a text-book stitdy of remote and com-plex global issues far removedfrom their experiences.

Teacher enthusia %m hasmatched that of the students.

n.P

famous rivers and creativeand songs, appreciation ofis encouraged.

Many of the teachers havecqmmented that the project9 iv4s both a teaching and learn-ing experience for them.

This ye'ar, the Jordan RiverSchool District decided to ex-pand the program. The originalJordan River project will beoffered in alter ate years. Be-ginning this suthmer, a corn:anion study course focusing

on the three distinct areas ofdesert, valley, and mountain,all within or adjacent to theJordan School District boun-dary, had its first run.

Following the pattern set bythe .JcIrdan River project, stu-dents worked with the teachersin planning and testing the newmultidisciplinary program.

Desert studies will emphasizepant and animal rOationshipsin the arid environment. Nativeplants such as shadscale, greasewood, and alkali sacaton willbe studied in contrast 'to lessdesirable invader plants that

5

RIVERThe river sloshes at its banks

-And runs of wanders throughthe ranks

Of oak and sagebrush neverending,

A world of time it's spendingPeaceful, quiet, or full of strife . . .MuFh like the human way of life.

)John JohansonBrighton High SchoolJordan School District

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often _follow overgrazing ofrange landssuch plants ashalogeton and woollyloco weedthat are poisonous to livestock.The desert as a fragile ecosys-tem, where any disturbance ofvegetation requires many yearsto repair, will also be a part ofthe investigation.

The valley study will be aminiatyre Jordan River 'projectto show how this environment,is dependent on the nearbydesert and mountain areas.

Investigations. of the mounttains will show the .relationLship of the wilnter Snowpackto the water slOply for farmsand cities in he valley. Stu-dents will lea n snow surveytechniques us d to determinethe water 'cop ent of the snowand to help fo ecast the amount

'of water ava lable during thecoming year.

Of majorstudents asmountain 'equestion, "of the mouShould the

concern to thethey explore thevironment is thehat is to become

tains and canyons?be further dotted

with summ11 er, homes, condo-miniums, and resorts, or is thearea of more importance as awaershed, the source of thevalley water supplyor are thetwo extrernes of use by peoplecompatible ?" .

SOIL CONSERVATION'

ducition Majors TackleEnvironmental Studies

At Grambling Universityby Gene Warren .

Information officer, SCS, Alexandria, Louisiana. I.

One of a growingnumber of colleges and univer-sities' offering future teacherstraining in environmental stud-ies as pan of the-Division ofEducatiori. program is Gram;bling University in Louisiana.

This university has developedan outdoor learning area whereeducation majors work onconservation projects to gainexperience in developing envi-ronmental education programsat all grade levelg.

Long a cooperator with theD'Arbonne Soil and WaterConservation District, Gram-bling University has a 200-acrefirm for use by its agriculturestudents. About 50 acres of thefarm are devoted to environ-mental education and specialprojects.

The environmental studiesprogram .began in whenDr. Charles Berry, director ofThe University's Division ofEducation, and Dr. R. L. Bailey,head of the agrrtit, hire programand director of the farm, metwith SCS DiArict Conserva-tionist P. B. Colvin and SoilConservationist Leon anken-ship to discuss the dea ofusing part of the far for anenvironmental education pro-pram.

A faculty committee, withSCS assistance, developed aconservation plan for the out-door classroom and selectedsites for specific kinds of study.

To insure a multidisciplinhryemphasis for the .program, DrBerry invited division heads

AL:GUST 1975

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and key faculty members in'education and science to re-view the proposed program.

The first teacher t6 use theoutdoor classroom was Mrs.Pearl Vaughn, recreation co-ordinator' at the college. Agroup of her students under-took A garden project.

"The farm is. a fine placefor students to learn about na-tural -resources," Mrs. Vaughn

commented. "Ont of the ob-jectives is to Thow the studentsthat the qutdoors is beautiful:Some of our students still thinkof trig farm as a place of misery;they are learning that it isn't."- Professor Sara Williams, whoworks with elementary oduca-stion majors,,has outlined envi-ronmental education courses sothat the outdoor classroom canbe used each semester.. Fourteen study sites are be-ing developed on the-50-acrelearning area. These include apond for aquatic ecosystemstudies, a soil profile site, wild-life habitat, woodland, arid.Plant study stations.

"We hope eventually to haveall of our 4,000 students takingpart in outdoor classroom proj-

.ects," Dr.Berry said.

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Future teachers at Grambling University are developing outdoor class-room projects and resource' studies td enable them to wry on environ-mental education programs when they begin their teaching careers.

6

Dividends for the Future

by Dr. Constantine Curris. President, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky

Conservation educa-tion is nothing new. It hasbeen here for many years, butour failures have given it newmeaning. A generation ago,most students learned virtuallynothing about ecology or theneed to conserve and managewisely the natural resources.Occasionally we were exposedto a specialized area of thelife sciences or the pure sci-ences, but no one taught ushow all of the concepts fittogether to make trri'a dynamicsystem, an ecosystem, thatmakes life continuously pos-sible on this little island, Earth.

. We just were never taughtecological interdependence,nature's systems engineering,so that we could understandthat everything is tied. to every--thing else, everything has arole to play, and that we oughtnot to tinker With any pet ofthe system until we know whatwe're doing and what the con-sequences are likely to be.

In. short, I am suggesting.that education in its fullestmeaning' -has a responsibilityto prepare today's students iofunction in tomorrow's world

Several new t acher, educa-tion. programs aling speci-fically with enviro ental edu- .cation have been augufatedthrough our College f HumanDevelopment and Learning,which also proVides severalsummer programs for achersmaking use of the e viron-mental education facili 'es' atthe WA-sponsored Lan. Be-tween the Lakes.

We have a very strong c m-mitment at the University tosee that those teachers w ogo forth into the schools fthe nation are well trained it

indeed; we, must teach even the techniques and process ofthose who choose hot to be environmental education so ,students. \ that their students may learn

How do we teach people not from a standup, lecture inabout nature? How, can we, the c assroom but from actualworking. together With a com- doparti ipatory experiences in an\mon commitment towards en- droutdrior classroom.

yiron mental conservation, share Too long our high school,our commitment and concern ..our elementary school, andwith others in a convincing our university students havemanner which will lead to learned by reading and hearingstewardship of and apprecia- instead of by doing. Educa-tion for the envirOnmeRt? tional research has shown that

At Murray State University efficiency of learning yarieswe have begun answering directly with the number ofthese questions not only the senses which are broughtthough -Offering environmental to use in interpreting one'seducation courses, b,kit. through observations.a directed approach toward

Faculty members of the Uni-environmental study. The new'yersity and many of the teach-College of Environmental Sci-ers who come to the Universityences is comprised of thefor .summer cotirs.9.,..aTe-awaredepartments' of agriculture,that individuallA we do .notbiology, chemistry, physics,

rymathematics, geography,. and have the, expertise necessary

geology. Other disciplineseconomics,

suchmeet all the needs and an-

swer all .the question. Hdw-as econoics, sociology, andever, by working together

,educationare affjliates..professional dinservationistsWe have appointed\a coor- from agencies such as Forestdinator of environmental Oro-. Service, SoilConservation Serv-'grams who' works with otherice, Fish and Wildlife Service,colleges of the University and

functidns as a liaison betweenand expertise to

can supply the necessary

the University and state andfederal agencies. help them become teachers

°1

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-Edited from keynote address given by Dr. Curris at. conservation education seminarM cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service at the University of SouthwesternLouisiana, Lafayette, LoUislana, Noiember 6, 1974.

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willing' to use environmentaleducation programs. that in-clude outdoor experiences.

It is not simply a question of

SOIL CONSERVATION

technical expertise. The teachermust often be shown. thatthere is nothing to fear out-side the classroom, that thetrust established betweenteacher and student in theclassroom continues just'' aswell in'the outdoors. And, atthe outdoor laboratory can beUsed not only for science, butfor math, for increasing readingskill, and for stimulating crea-tive efforts. The use of outdoorlaboratories is unlimited andknows no discipline bound-aries. EdUcation truly becomesinterdisciplinary in an outdoorclassroom.

Most university' presidentsare increasingly aware that theuniversity cannot be all thingsto all people. Not all universi-ties can have forestry depart-ments, or conservation depart-ments, nor can we all havewildlife studies. But in anycommunity there are individ-uals with these particular areasof expertise and understanding,'so that when We bring themto share a common, problem,solutions can be fund.

For education is the bestinstrument for understandingchange, for getting people tovtant to change for the better,for influencing action, and forigniting constructive action. A-SmetNpolitan -areas increase indenisity, as more people moveabout more freely and morequickly over the countryside,the use of the land and itsesources becomes increasinglycompetitive. It is imperativethat w e direct increased atten-tion to the care and 'preserva-tion of the resources. Here iswhere education meets a greatchallenge. Here is wherestrong, all-pervasive enviton-mental education progams atnational, state, and local levelscan provide real dividends forthe future.

AUGUST 1975

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Willard Lovan, SCS district conservationist, discusses soils and landcapabilities with Ronald Ting (left) and intern students Diana Baileyand Linda Markham as they Tian an outdoor classroom.

Credits for anNOutdoor Classroomby Tom Marcum

Soil conservationist, SCS, Morgantown, Kentucky

Taking -* part in anew program, two seniors atWestern Kentucky University -inBowling Green developed anoutdoor classroom for an ele-mentary school this spring aspart of their internship training.

The outdoor classroom proj-ect is an innovation for theUniversity's College of Educa-tion and was made a part ofinternship training require-ments designed to give seniorspractical field experience.

The two students, LindaMarkham and Oiana Bailey,worked with teachers at FourthDistrict Elementary School, in

. the small community of Jetsonin Butler County.

The idea for the outdoorclassroom project originatedwith one of the teachers atthe school, Ronald Tines. Agraduate of Western KentuckyUniversity, Tines worked withDr. Fred Kirchner, chairman ofthe recreation department inthe College of Education, toincorporate the outdoor class-

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room development into theUniversity's internship khogram.

Tines supervised theTr-ogtan?with SCS District Conservation-ist Willard LOvan, who pro-vided technical help in devel-oping the learning sites. TheButler County. ConservationDistrict, recognizing the im-portapce of environmentalstudies in the schools, gavefurther support and help.

The five elementary schoolsand the high school in ButlerCounty have agreed to serveas cooperators in providing theopportunity for University stu-dents to complete their profes-sional training. The outdoorclassroom project is scheduledto be offered each springsemester to graduating seniors.

The project had twofoldbenefits,°Tines commented. Ithelped develop leadershipqualities and self-confidencein the seniors and it stimulatedinterest and enthusiasm amongthe students by providing avariety of firsthand learningexperiences.

Project PREPAREand the

PresuMpscotRiver

by Samuel ZaitlinCoordinator, Project PREPARE, University of Maine,

PortlandGorhann, Maine

Several municipalitiesin Maine are now using infor-matidn gathered by high schoolstudents during a watershedstudy this spring as a basis forhelping local officials evaluatewater quality problems.

. The first study of its kind tobe undertaken in Maine, Proj-ect PREPARE, which translatesas "Presumpscot River Educa-tipn Program for Awareness ofthe Regional Environment," isa joint venture of the Universityof Maine at Portland-orhamand The Maine Association ofConservation Commissions.

Funding for theproject camefrom the Office of Education,U.S. Department of Health,Education, and Welfare, underthe Environmental EducationAct.

Focus of the study was thePresumpscot River watershed.Stude is from six high schoolscollec d water samples, analyzeg t m for various pollu-tants, an gathered data on theimp. t . o pollution on thedowns eam' aTas as the rivermakes a from Sebago

Lake to the estuary on thecoast....

The watershed approach wasselected because it seemed the

--most suitable mechanism forwater resource managementstudies and because it enabledstudents to gain a broad over-view of the complexities ofresource use and managementin relation 'to the needs ofmunicipalities affected.

Additionally, the watershedapproach coincides with stateand federal recognition> of theneed for broader based con-

siderations 'in local land usedecisionmaking.

The aim of Project PRE-PARE's activities was to estab-lish within participating com-munities (1) the ability toassess and understand waterquality problems and (2)- alocal group, in this case theschools, capable of serving theneeds of the municipality inthese problem areas.

Early in the planning of Proj-ect PREPARE, the Soil Conserva-tion Service reviewed informa-tion on soils, timber resources,

and hydrology and the useful-ness of the study for wastewaterplanning.

Training for the water moni-tqring project began with a3-day workshop in October1974, under the direction ofthe Institute for EnvironmentEducation, Cleveland, Ohio.The study unit was patternedin part on the Tilton Waterydilution -:Program. publitedy th4 Environmental Protec-

t tl. n Agency in 1972.tudents andteachers from

the six patticipating highsch ols took part in classroomsess ns and field trips to learnthe t chniques of water testing.They Igo learned how to puttogeth r inexpensive home- 0made ater testing equipmentand m sure bacterial andchemica contamination.

Throu out the year, follow-up work ops.'were held toreview tes 'ng methods and toexplore so e of the biologicalaspects of the PresumpscotRiver and t estuary.

From the outset, ProjectPREPARE wo ed closely withthe Maine Department of En-

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OIL CONSERVATION

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vironmental Protection (DER).With DEP assistance, locationswere established for testingstations and parameters wereset for materials to be tested.

Eleven monitoring sites werechosen. Most of them corres-popded to existing DEP stationsfor reasons of continuity withprevious data collected, ease

'and safety of access,l,andsitesuitability. A few monitoringstations were also establishedon tributary streams at strategiclocations.

Each of the six schools setits own monitoring schedule.Some monitored weekly andothers biweekly. The usualpractice was for students tocollect samples in the field andrikUrh with them to the school

ktfor apalysis. Sa ples weretested' for th fo wing param-eters: air and water,temperature, dissolved oxygort pH, andveal coliform levels. Not onlydid this in- field /classroom ap-proach insure continuity, butit also allowed participants toshare their experiences with

AUGUST 1975

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classmates Data from each ences which students couldgroup were forwarded to the relate to comTunity needs andcoordinator who summarized to the decisionmaking respon-the information for the partici- sibilitjes of DEP as a statepants and for DEP. governmental agency.

Sources of pollution, the stu- As an indication of Eommu-

dents found, were primarily Wily support and interest, 'mid-from muoicipal wastes and way -through the year several

from pulp and paper mill municipalities approached theirre-operations. The students also` respective schools` re-

learned that sewage treatment quests for assistance inspective schools' with

va

plants are costly, and that many atingdoCal water quality prob-

of the pulp and paper mills lems. In one instance, theschool team -chose monitoringhave undertaken- 6.1°111e Control ri

measures. The mills cooperated stations specifically to provide.information to the town fatherswith the students` n their proj-

ect by supplying ;informationand figures relating to effortsto reduce pollution in the river/

Teacher participation wasencouraged by offering threegraduate credits for the year-long commitment. The teachers-took part in all of the trainingsessions and worked with stu-dents at the testing sites andin the laboratory At the endOf the project, they prepareda summary of activities andan evaluation.

Most teachers emphasized,the value of real-world experi-

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as well the DEP.Project' PREPARE completed

its comprehensive study of theimpact of pollution on thelower river and an analysis ofthe biological improvementstaking place in the estuary in elate February of this year. Theproject will be continuedyear, with 12 schools schgto participate.

The success of the pilot pro-gram and the encouraging re-sults contained in the study,portend well for the future ofthe once grossly pplluted riverin southern Maine.

e ted.

Miming Students Delve

Into `Energy and Us'

by Elizabeth Horsch, Roxie Dever, and Phoebe HolzingerChemistry instrucZor; social studies department chairman;

anti biology onsultant, Kelly WalshHigh School, Casper, Wyoming

SJart.with ?tempera-ture inversion. Mix in someemissions from a power plant.Add some interested and en-ergetic students, a power com-pany willing to cooperate, alot of in rest and expertise

A from thdlistry, governmentagencies, the cciTmunity, anda small, Federal grant to fundthe student-operated environ-mental study, and you have ayear-Jong high school projectcal ledynergy an d'Us."

. Focus' of the study was thecoal-fired pacific Power" andUgh? Dave/Johnston PowerPlant located about 25 milesfrom Casper, Wyoming, nearthe small community of Glen-rock. Fifty junior and seniorstudents at Kelly Walsh HighSchool in Casper planned, re-searched, and conducted an in-tensive multidisaplihary study

,..of the conversiorL of storedenergy to electrical energy.

Since coal for the plantcomes from the Company-

wned surface mine 10 milesway, the students also inves-igated 'reclamation of;: mined

land.To learn what grasses are

native to the _area and mightserve best for mined land reha-bilitation, the students checkedwith Robert Tresler, stateagronomist for the Soil Con-

.

servatiot Service. Tresler saidthat, with proper management,such species as thickspikewheatgrass, . western wheat-grass, green needlegrass, andfourwing saltbush are amongthe native species that will

When the students wonderedhow long natural reclamationwould take in- the I dry Wy-oming climate, Tresler andGeorge Davis, SCS district con-servationist, arranged a bustour to show examples of re-covery Zof farmland plowedmore than 50 years ago. Thestudents found fencelines werestill visible though no fences'remained, and found severalspecies of grass in the once-plowed area. The mixing of,grasses that is beginning tooccur is, in the course of natu-ral succession, toward a climaxplant community, Davis ex-plained.

The class found, hbwever,that mined land recovery ...isanother story. Old spoil pilesleft bare of topsoil years agoshowed no evidence of return-ing to productivity. This con-vinced the students that toachieve acceptable mined landreclamation, protection isneeded. in additio , knowl-edgeable people necessary

to plan and carry out reclama-tion efforts.

The class Cr:inducted a vari-ety 'o f. field studies at theDave Johnston plant. Studentsplanted Pintb beans to test forsulfur, dioxide emissions, andgladiolus bulbs on a study plotdownwind from the plant totest for fluoride emissions.River water temperatures were

and the coolingrge made visible

water red at thet. Algal growths compared at

'nd below the' Snow samplesfor fly ash con-

tent and pH. Dustfall samplesIlected and studied.eveh made an attemptg plants in fly ash.

To d termine'she "people"impact of the..4liat, the class .1wrote and conducted public .opinion surveys covering peo-

, ple'sattitudes toward the plant.The students also studiedchanging economic patterns inthe nearby community, receiv-ing some information from thepower company', but obtainingmuch of it by researching ta

"community records.. -One interesting conclusion

- reached as a result of com-paring, tax revenue and school'population was that the. needfor community services in a

- "boom, town". precedes themoney necessary to financethese services. Towns facedwith sudden growth do nothaye the financial resources toprovide the necessary services.Schools, sewer Systems, water

,systems, recreation facilities;and law enforcement agenciesere Often inadequate to meetpopulation inflthces which. ac-company rapid growth,

With the beginning of the20-day budget session of thestate legislature, students beginto realize that environmental

mon awaterby ddischarin the rivpoints abopower planwere analyze

were cStudentat grow'

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4 SOIL CONSERVATI8N

issues are politicalissues. Tomeet the national demand forelectrical energy, ffnany coal-fired energy corn4Psion plantsare planned for Wyoming, andwould have significant impacton the environment. The .clasgstudied. proposed legislation toregulate the siting of theseplants to minimize their impact.The students were keenly dis-appointed when the bill diedin committee on the dmy of.their visit to the legislature.

One of the legislators whospOke to the class aftek? thelegislative 'session challengedhe.class to "quit sniping and

offer some constructive input."As a relit, two students, with'the help of the class, preparedtestimony on plant siting anddelivered it before the Joint

°". Interim Mines and MineralsCommittee.

Two other students testified

before a U:S. Senate Subcom-mittee on coal leasing on ,fed-eral lands to express the con-cern of .the Class about theadequacy of. Wyoming waterreserves to accommodate theproposed utilization. of Wyo-ming coal.

The students made availableto thee community the resultsof their study by slide presen-tations to interested groups,by filing the report of the corn-

' pleted, study in the publiclibrary, and by serving as stu.,dent resource people for otherschools in the district.

.Ultimately, it became appar-ent to the students that theywere the consumers of theproduct which the power plantwas producing and,,they hadto accept some o the respon-sibility for th vironmentalimpact of the,power plant. The

77:1) --; --enemy and he is us" gainednew meaning.

Factors contributing to thesuccess of the energy coursewere. (1) ,grant money fromthe Office of Education, HEW,to provide transportation forthe class to various' study and:project sites, (2) a 27ho'ur timeblock which allowed bnsitestudy, (3) community People'who served as "walking text-books," and (4) the realizationby students and teachers alikethat answers to environmental

,questions do 'not tome easily.For the teachers, the prof

afforded the opportunity to-become involved in a very dif-

gkferent learning situation. Sincethey were no longer the "ex:perts,.% they were.free to learn.along with and from thestudents. Perhaps this "lettinggo" was the hardest lesson. of

Pogo quote We have met the 'all.

Grasses that help in reclamation of surface-mined land were investigatell by high school students toWyoming dining their year-long project, Energy and Us.

/60

AUGUST. 1412

a.

How a Ponda

Turned Into a Classroom J.

by Mariam Young and Bilfy F., SmithScience teacher, Montgomery Centiai High School, Cunningham, Tennessee,

and district conservationist, SCS, Clarksvilli, Tennessee

.7,

Everyone knows about the city seton a hill, but not everyone has heard aboutthe schoolhouse built' on a lake. '

Montgomery Central High Schobl in Cun-ningham, Tennessee, sits atop a 3-acre lakethat serves as an outdoor -classroom. There,the school's 900 students study water ecosys-

,tems, collect plant arid anirul specimens fo'r,laboratOry study, and enjoy it simply as a beau-tiful place to be.

The lake began as a pond designed by theSoils Conservation Service in 1950. It was builton the 100-acre site purchased by the Mont-gomery County School Board in 1939 and usedfor both elementary and,high school buildings.

arger high school was needed by196b-an arciiftect ,incorpokated thpond intotile building design, enlarged it tkits presentsize, and perched the circular administrationbuilding on the edge of the lake. Threel'pods"containing open classrooms, study carrels, andmedia centers extend out'bver the water.

The lake is stocked by the Tennessee Wild-life Resource Agency with ,bass, bluegill, andchannel catfish. Muskrat families live alongthe shore. Waterfowl often stop over a-day ortwo, during-springland fall migrations. Studentsare now placing nesting boxes for wood ducksto encourage permanent residents.

A ale-Iong,learning trail\ winds along thelake through five 'ff re plant and animalcommunities, b nni with an oak-hickorywoodland whey: violets, spring beauty, may-or*

apple, and anemones brighten every 'spring,and where warblers, bluebirds, buntings; anddozens' of other.birds come to nest.

Out of the woods, the trail crosses a plantsuccession area that once was cleared forpasture. Farther along on a steep hillside, lob-lolly and white, pine plantings by FFA membersabout 15 years ago show how one species canshade out Other plants, and how.lee plantingscan slow erosion.

Nearby is a glade 'where reindeer moss anddevil's' matchstick grow between rocks andamong the cedars. :n this area, with its manydogwood trees,.students come for discussions,study, poetry readings, picnics, and quiet ob-servation. ,

In all, ten study sites are used by the stu-' dents along the trail that ranges from gentleslopes to steep and sometimes eroding banksalong a 'small intermittent stream. SCS 'con-seryationists help with soil and water projects,planting,,a7x1 ejosion contra.

Elementary school youngsters are oftenaccompanied on' the trail by `High school stu-dents who lead discussions, answer questions,and oversee investigationS. '

In such a setting, understanding environ-mental, changes and ecosystem interrelation-ships is very much a part of the daily expe-fiences of students. Teachers are free to takeclasses outdoors at any time, to assign si5ecialprojects, and to make the most of that all-too-rare, often neglected "teachable moment."

I

4

T1.3SOIr CONSERVATION

1'

tvostiv--,x.

The 3-4cre lake that surroundsMontgomery Central High School

in Tennessee serves as an-outdoor classroom for water

ecosystem studies by elementaryand high school students. Thelake was developed from an

SCS-designed pond when thearchitect incorporated the water

area into the design for thebuilding. It is part'of a 100-acre

school site that includes amile-long learning trail and an

elementary school in addition tothe high school.

AUGUST 1975

i

14

,

A t 41

fly

7-

4

Conservation Education Interest

Sparked by Iowa's County Committeesr

by Bernard Clausen and Charles McLaughlin

Associate professor of biology, University of Northern Iowa,and assistant commissioner, Black Hawk Soil Conservation District, Cedar Falls, Iowa;

and chairman, Conservation Education Committee, Iowa Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Britt. Iowa. i

Environmental edu-cation programs come in allshapes and sizes. This flexibil-ity has one great advantagethat of encouraging programsto meet' a variety of needsrather than lirriiting conserva-tion education efforts to mono-lithic uniformity.

Iowa is a prime example ofa state where conservation edu-cation programs have beendeveloped according to localinterests and needs.

In 1967 Iowa educators andresource specialists began or-ganizing County ConservationEducation Committees. In manyof the counties, soil conserva-tion districts, as local govern-mental units with responsibili-ties for conservation programs,furnished leadership throughtheir district boards:

Today about two-thirds of

Iowa's 99 counties have somekind of conservation educationprogramming. Some have de-veloped official bylaws withCounty Conservation EdticationCommittees, others operate in-formally under the leadershipof a chairman.

Palo Alto County Board wasthe first. to orgaenize a Conser-vation Education Committee.A workbook for upper elemen-tary grades was its first project.

County Conservation Educa-tion Committees include peo-ple from nearly every profes-sion and age groupschooladministrators and teachers,high school students, busi-nessmen, faMiers, housewives,clergymen, and representativesfrom many civic and consma-tion organizations, as well asfederal, state, and .local re-source agencies.

15'

1

Frequently the administra-tors of public and parochialschool districts are asked toname a representative teacherto serve on the committee. This ,helps recognize the educationcommittee work as a. profes-sional responsibility rather thanas a personal community serv-ice. A nifinber of teachers serve,as assistant commissioners ofthe soil' conservation districtsto provide ason, with thesegroups.

. Programs within the countiesare as varied d's the organiza-tional, structures. Many diitrictsdevote considerable time andeffort to teacher workshops inconservation education.

West Pottawattamie' County

%Envirohmental Education com-mittee has for 2 years served.as host for regional workshops

SOIL CONSERVATION

sponsored by the Iowa. Con-servation Education Council(ICEC), a statewide organiza-tion working to extend conser=vation education.. West Pottaa

'wattamie also publishes anewsletter with conservationinformation and project ideasfor teachers.

County Conservation Educa-tion Committee projects andactivities include sponsoringspeech, poster, essay, and othercontests; publishing curricu-lum guides, coordinating fieldtouts for schools and devel-oping outdoor lab.tories forschools, either on 'Fe schoolgrounds or in cooperation withcity or county park systems.

Jasper County CohservationEducation Committee went astep further than most 3 yearsago by making formal appli-cation for a $20,000 grant fromthe Office of Education, U.S.Department of Health, Educa-tion, and Welfare, under theEnvironmental Education Act.With the grant money for the1973-74 school year, MichaelGross, a. local high_ schoolbiology teacher, was employedto carry out the consevationeducation program.,

During the first year Grosshelped 51 classes plan outdoorconservation education activi-ties and developed curriculumresource guides for countyschools. A survey in the fallof 1974 showed that two-thirdsof the teachers in the countyhad participated in trainingthrough these prograrris.

The grant, extended' for 1year with reduced funding, ex-pired this year, but the JasperCounty Conservation Board,county schools, and the JasperSoil Conservation District arecontinuing the program withlocal funds.

Financial support for County'Conservation Education Com-

mittees comes from manysources within the counties,including business firms, civicand community organizations,Women's clubs, and countyconservation boards.

Many County ConservationEducation Committees are now

working to establish adult edu-. cation programs in conserva-

tion. Soil conservation districtleaders believe that peoplewho are making decisions inland use and other environ-mental issues'need to be betterinformed.

Teacher training in conservation is a high priority for eckication com-mittees in Iowa. The committees help sponuir 300 teachers to 2-dayworkshops each fall. Below, Beulah Anderson and Greg Martin, bothmembers of the Palo Alto County Conservation Education Committee,update the cdnservation workbooks which the committee deyelopedfor 5th and 6th grade students. These workbooks are used aroundthe state.

16AUGUST 1975

t

V

Readingthe

Environmentby-Arlene Marturano and Dr. James Ward

Teacher, Gadsden Elementary S'Ehool,Gadsden South Carolina,

and professor of education,University of South Carolina,

Cblumbia, South Carolina

Teachers frequently ask SCS conservationists forideas that will help children in primary and early

elementary grades relate outdoor classroomexperiences to reading skills. Dr. James Wilrd,

professor of education at the University,of SOuthCarolina at Columbia, and Arlene Marturano,

classroom teacher at Gadsden Elementary School,have developed this series of outdoor learning

exercises,in observing, classifying, comparing, andgeneralizing.to help beginning readers and

stOdents who have difficulty relating to theprinted word. Larry Sandifer, SCS stale

information officer, has worked with Dr. Ward-angISMiss Marturano and sughested this

article for Soil Conservation.

17

Pond studies help childreninterpret in words what theyobserve in the water, over thewater, and under the water for aItetter understanding'of spacedimensions. Mapping the pondgives students'experiences inshifting from reading printedwords to "reading" theenvironment as they .study thewater ecosystem.

SOIL CONSERVATION

N

I

Reading the Water. Reading a Toad . . . Read-

ing for Signs, of Spring . .Mapping a Livii.ag Room ofWater . . . Mapping the WaterCycle.. . . .

These are titles children havegiven some of their environ-

_mental rducation activities inthe outdoor classroom at Gads-den Elementary School in SouthCarolina. They have come toreali'z'e that they are readers oftheir surroundings. .

Traditionally, reading instruc-tion in schools has focused onproficiency with printed ma-terial. However, recent litera-ture in education suggests thatreading is an active processof constructing meaning notmerely from the printed pagebut from the child's entireenvironment.

Furthermore, reading'the en-vironrrient seems a natural pre-requisite for success in readingthe printed page. As the child'sconcepts and vocabulary grow,he or she can approach theprinted page with a conceptualreadiness and confidence thatmake reading for Meaning pos-sible and leading thereforemore enjoyable, particularly fOrthe student who has difficultyestablishing reading skills.

Environmental educationpromotes concept develop-ment by engaging the child inactivities which require readingthe surroundings through a va-riety of conceptual skills. Forexample, observing, classifying,dekribing, comparing, andgeneralizing are the core ofconceptual skills essential toall reading.

Since these skills operat,e--primarily through language,facility with language is a, co-ordinate goal of the activities.

One t haracteristic of Ian:guage in teaching activitiessuch as these developed at

AUGUSt 1975

GatIS'den school is its power toalert ,t4 spnses. Reading theenviii.41en t requires, in part,the gath&ing and collecting ofsense data which add to envi-

.ronmenol awareness as wellas. to conceptual. skills.

Key words that can be sug-gested by the teacher or thqstudents. help to approach andto focus on the surroundingsin a meaningful way:

In- one exercise, the words"pulling," "framing," "shap,ing," and, "coloring" werepatterned in suggested activi-ties such as "Pull words fromthe clouds,'" "Frame the flowerwith words," 'Shape the vasewith words," or "Color the oaktree with words" to encouragethe children to apply their ownwords to whatever is beingobserved.

Other words that can beused as "frames" for, viewingare "color," "size," r"shape,"and "happening." Using thisdevice, the students learn toapply specific sensory observa-tions to anything from a grass-hopper's leg to tree bark, orto a soil 'profile, pond water,or almost any natural or man-made phenomena.

"Fl-aming Filmstrips" is aclose observation procedurewhich works well against a soilprofile or a tree trunk. For this

,activity, a Column of windowsis cut into a sheet of flexiblecardboard which is . taped orfastened directly against theobject to be studied. Parallelto the column/ of windows, acolumn of writing frames is'positioned. For each viewing,frame, 'the child writes a briefobservation Orstory, and in so

"doing forms an observational"filmstrip."

This activity may be extendedto a series of observations. Forexample, a soil study seriesmight 'Kip& filmstrips show-ing "Layers of Soil in a Gully,"

18

"Layers . of .Soil on- TerracedFarm Land," Or "Layers of Soilon the Bank of a Stream."

Each of these' observationsemphasizes the verbal mappingof the object through close ob--servation and- "languaginghthedescription of the object orarea viewed. The verbal record,or map, becomes the child'smental map, that functions as

a probe for further readings.The identification of se-

quences in stories is part Qpfxtraditional reading program.Environmental experiences em-phasize the fact that sequencesUnderlie all life experiences. ,

These sequences can be readby making use of words as se-quence "frames/' Such words

. as "First ... Second Third,""Before.. . . After," "Now .. .Later," and "If ... Then," whenflashed upon a scene bringforth a variety of sequencestories that are part of forests,clouds, water, airin fact,everywhere.) Time, position,correlation, intersection, cause-effect, and, in general, allchanges may be oerc,eived andrecorded through sequenceframes.

Students observing pondwater through the "Before . . .After" sequence frame noted"The water was rain beforeit was a pond," or "The pondformed after the rain."

Looking for the "Befores"and "Afters" helps childrenperceive relationships. Aboveall;we want the child's mentalmap to be a relationships maj5,not merely a collection ofwords.

1

Compari is another read--ing skill ich often posesproblems f r beginning readers.When chit ren can, relate com -'parisons to an activity, viewingthings to be compared throughthe frames of "Alike" and "Dif-ferent," they are able to com-pare any substances and occur-

0. 0

rences--water and a raw egg,water and air, Water and rock,or bare soil and grassy areas.

Preposition pattern an bean effective strategy in rit' out-door classroom to help cf ldren,capture'relkionships an ap-penings in another dimeObserving a pond, studinterpreted in word, whatfound in the' water, on twater, over the water, underthe water.

One particularly difficultlanguage pattern for somechildren is that of verb tense.Activities that promote the useof ti.144e contribute rto thechild's ability, to perceive past,present, and.-future seqUerices

.and relationships.

By making use of such pat-terns as "It is a . . .," "It was a. . .," "It could b come a . . .,"the child lays ho of the con-cept of cycles. For example, thechildren found a female' blackwidow spider with her egg sacs

, and observed her until thespiderlings hatched and thecycle was complete. Any treecan be ob;erved through thesame framing device to bringseed, seedling, sapling, andtree into focus. The caterpillarspinning a cocoon can thusbe "tensed" in language toreveal the life "cycle of .butter-flies' and moths. Thee childrencome to understand that theenvironment of the schoolyardcan furnish examples of manykinds of cycles and that lan-guage helps in the discovery ofsuch cycles.

Interfiretations must be madeboth in reading the., printedpage and in reading the en-vironment. Asp thg interpreter,tbe student must learn to shiftfluently and view the informa-tion or object from differentperspectives, each new per-spective yielding new concepts.

The "It is a . . ." pattern canbe repeated for the same object

to help the child become adeptrat shifting perspectives andthereby attaining new Informa-tion.

A simple exercise was usedto develop changing perspec-tives on a hanging fern basketat Gadsden school. The "It isa . . ." pattern as it was devel-oped by the students showedthe fern to- be "a chlorophyllmaker," "a water drinker," "afern forest," "a gift," "a beauti-ful thing," "a plant in a swing,""a cloud maker," "a rain forest

"Alike" and "different' take onnew dimensions when childrenlist, in their own words,descriptions of objects and areasin their outdoor classroom.Here, a students finds new wordsand phrases to express herfeelings about a tree in terms ofcolor, texture, shape, and size.

an open jar of water sit in theroom?" This kind of pattern-ing allows for investigation ofthe interaction between ob-jects, such as water-heat, light-plants, water-air. Students en-joy extending the relationshipsinquiry to many kinds ofilhenomena.

Learning to read and i er-pret word symbol thepririted page is som times amajor task facing the childwhen he enters school. Prior tothat, the child must, of course,have learned to interpret thesounds of spoken language. Yetthe use and understanding ofboth the spoken and writtenword are based on first learn-ing to give meaning to sur-

plant," "a little garden." rounding objects and happen-Students-,will begin experi- wings.

menting with language patterns By means of his senses theonce they understand their learner encounters the immedi-ability to read their environ- ate environment and begins toment. develop the coricepts that be-

One such patteici which en- come his individual codethecourages verbal and laboratory environmental code thatinvestigations and experiments enables him to carry on suchis that of "What happens when mental operations as describ-. ." :Tile teacher may set up ing, classifying, and generaliz-observation sessions by asking, ing. By reading the environmentWhat happens when you boil in the outdoors, another dimen-

water?" "What happens when sion and subsequent extensionyou grow a bean plant in light is added to the' perceptionsand another in no light" that further skills in interpreting"What happens when you let the printed page.

19S011eCINSEtIVATION

s,

A

'yaw q. et

A spider attracts the attention of two teachers in a workshop insponsored through the North Country (N.H.) RC&D Project.

I

St

environmental

e

education o.ganized and

`Mother Nature Cooperates to the Fullest'In Rp&D Conservation Education in N.H.

by William R. HauckRC&D project coordinator, SCS, Littleton, New Hampshire

"Conservation edu-cation may he our most im-portant RC&D [Measure," saidJames T Brewer, retired Navyadmiral and chairman of theexecutive board of the NorthCountry (N.H.) Resource Con-servation and Development(RC&D) Project.

"It makes sense to instill aconservation outlook in the--human mind as well as on thephysical environment."

AUGUST 1975

Brewer was expressing hisenthusiasm and that of theother 20 members of the exec-utive board following a seriesof conservation education"workshops which' the RC&D

,representatives had helped or-ganize for teachers.

Educators in the four coun-ties of Coos, Graftdn, Carroll,and Belknap, which make upthe North Country RC&D Proj-ect area, had worked with

20

federal, state, and countyagencies in the initial conserva-tion education effort to estab-lish a spreading network of"outdoor classrooms" through-out this area rich in mountains,forests, and lakes. By intent,many of the. study areas were

,,installed on school grounds orhandy to them.

Next step was to'give teach-ers help and encouragement inusing .the outdoor laboratories

to full advantage to give youngpeople a broad understandingof corServation management ofresources and environmentalissues.

For advice in preparing theteachers for outdoor classroomprojects, staff members calledon veteran educator Leslie rClark- of the SociOy for theProtection of New Hampsilird

A trace of flying squirre(s'clove on SCS biologist Dave Allen'sgroup just as he was talking about creatures of tfie.dark .

Forests.

,5peakIng from experiencewith the,Kellogg ConSvvationFoundation and many years ofprogramming learning a5tivitid6at the Society's annual encamp-ments, Clark said. "Above all,don't pigeonhole tip programinto Nth, science, and what-have-you._ Help .teachers see,that re'sources run the wholegamut of subject-matter inter-ests-4--froA physics to plivs-ed,from langtrage arts to librarian-ship. And to immerse them,head over heels, in the out-of:doors you want them to under-.stand.

"Make your program 'a linkwith the community," Clarkiiidded. "Teachers, after all, are,ill the business 'of trying toform complete, alert humanbeings who will some day makebetter the places where they

tion Service? and Forest Service.Study areas included aban-

doned pastures, logged-offwoodlots, alder thickets besidetrout streams, and crumblingdikes of forgotten mill ponds.On actual sites of generations-old resource use and abuse,teachers and technicians ex-changed professional informa-tion and ideas.

Equipment .used ducing eachfield investigation representedthe common tools of the tradeof working conservationists.maps, tape measures, levels,

.soil augers, Increment borers,sand testing kits. Study materialsand worksheets included thosefrom the Forest Service "Inves-tigating Your Environment"series. -

Format for the workshopsremained flexible according totie nuMber of teachers en-rolled and time available, butthe basic objective was alwaysthe sameto demonstrate thetie-ins between the world out-doors andevery subject studiedin classrooms.

The workshops started with abrref Wh ses-

hers were thenur task, forces

o specialtynsentatiop-

il, water,plants, or wildlif , movingfrom one to another in rotation.,

Reassembling after the fieldinvestigations, the group ex-changed Informatibn, askedquestions, and ,developed simu-lated situations fof.discussions

tkacz,1/4,

;raking their cue from Clark,the North Country conserva-tionists launched a series ofteacher-and-technician work-shops. Their mission was toidentify environmental lessonsfrom centuries of man's intru-sion within this natural wonder-landand how to open thepages of a "living textbook"visible to communities squarelydependent on their scenicheritage.

Leslie Clark himself servedas one of the workshop staffers.

. Working with him were re-source specialists from the Ex-tension Service, Soil Conserva-.

sion. Thegrouped intowithout regardand assigned to aist specializing in

on actual community problemsand their relationship to 're-sources just studied.

At the new multimillion -dolrlar Misldle High School in Gil-ford, on the shores of LakeWinnepesaukee, Principal Rob-ert Morrison led his staff of40 teachers in gathering ideasfor environmental programs

'planned for the school's 200 -acre outdoor learning site.

Throughout the 2-day ses-sion, as the group discoveredhow to ,measure streamflow,calculate degree of slope, studyfood chains, analyze soils, andtrace the community's pastthrough signs of land-usechanges, Morrison encouragedthe teTchers to relate all aspectsof the study-.to all subjects atall levels of the 5th through12th grade student community.

After every Workshop, par-ticipants commented thatMother Nature always cooper-ates to the fullest. The elementsalways put on some kind ofsideshow. Rain often ,stam-peded the streamflow measu've-ments; a thundering ruffedgrouse scared everyone out ofa year's growth; there fre-quently was a hatch of mosqui-toes or black flies! A brace offlying squirrels dove on SCSbiologist Dave Allen's groupjust he was talking aboutcreatures of the darkthoseteachers still believe' that Davesomehow managed to springthe squirrels out of, the tree bypulling a secret lever.

Recently more towns have

SOIL CONSERVATION

4

sdught the unique environ-mental educational servicesoffered in this area stretchingfrom Lake Winnepesaukee to.the Canadian border: In theakes region, ,jn the Connec-

ticut -Valley, and irtihe heartgi the White Mountains,%imi-Jar. workshops have *ugh(

. teachers from :=Ashlar, Jeffer-son, Gilmanton, Lincoln, Wocid-stock, Thornton, . Wentworth,Wolfeboro,- and Plermont. I

With9more than 200 teacheralready given resource work-shop training, there's a brightprospect that -their tifousandsof students will also learn toheed the necessity for intelli-gent resource use planning. Inthat case, a citizenry arousedto the call for envircinmenttally developed communitiesthroughout northern Nev4'Hampshire it steadily Maturingin, local schools.

AUGUST 1975

6

A

SCS biologist Dave Allen leadsteachers through a rain-soakedforest to study wildlife habitat.The trip was part of a teacher

4 workshop sponsored by the NorthCountry RC&D Project andassisted by resource specialistsfrom several agencies. .

p

"I

O

4

SCS WorkshwSparks

University'Course on

OutdoorClassrooms

by Jerry D. Schwien"Information specialist

SCS, Denver, Colorado

Nine outdoor class-rooms are now underway ina Colorado school district, thedirect result of a special courseat chlorado State University(CSU) in Fort . Collins lastFebruary.

The course, Horticulture\ #495, was designed specifically

to give teachers from thePoudre R-1 School District inFort, Collins tr .ning to developtheir school si s as outdoorclassrooms. It as an Aout-'growth of e Soil onservationService ,workshop on outdoorclassrooms held at Longmont,Colorado, according to, OwenSmith, science coordinator forthe R-1 school district. -

"Smith was among the teach-ers attending the 1day work-

.shop in August 1974. FredMcCullough, district conserva-tionist, and Al Yoxall, soil cot-

. servationist, from the FortCollins SCS office were among

. the SCS peisonnel attending.

Jt

"After that workshop," saidSmith, "Frecli_Al, Len Hadachek(also an SCS soil conservationistat Fort Collint, and I discussed-what we might do to promoteOutdoor classrooms in Fort 1Collins. The CSU course wasthe result.

"We needed to' give ourteachers training as well aS anincentive to get involyed withoutdoor classrooms:"

The CSU class consisted ofeight ,evening sessions of 3hours each and several field

23-

z 'S ^'

C444.4../

4

Judy Gabler watches students g,Beattie Elementary Stool inFort Collins plant and water ,

Russian-olive seedlings in an out-door classroom.

trips. Tile principal instructorswere Smith and William 'G.Macksam who helped Smithdevelop the course outline. Dr.Macksam is a landscape archi-tect arld associate professor ofhorticulture at CSU. SCS per-sonnel taught classes on native

SOIL CONSERVATION

range grasses, soils, and wild-life.

In addition to 29 teachersfrom eight schools in R-1 dis-

ct, two teachers from Greeleynd 12 teachers from Lovelanc-

both nearby communities, alsoattended.

Each teacher was required todevelop an outdoor classroomplan for his or her school site,With teachers from the sameschool coordinating their ideas.A critique and review of eachplan were presented at the lastforrhal-class session.

In the spring, teachers beganimplementing their plans, Mostof which are designed to becarried out over a 5-yearperiod. SACS is providing onsiteassistance at each 4chool, andin R-1 district, Owen Smithhelps coordinate development.

Students at Beattie Elemen-tary School : in _Fort Collinsbegan their outdoor classroomMay 1, when 300 Russian-oliveplants arrived from the tol-orado State forest Service.Students plahted these as ascreen against traffic and noisealong the west and northeastside of their 1/2 -acre outdoclassroom.

All students at Beet pre-sented their ideas on whatshould be included ,in the out-door classroom sd they feelit is flair classroom, accordingto teaTher, Judy Gabler, whocompleted the CSU course.

SEPTEMBER 1975

3.

The final plan was drawn byBarbara Haynie, a landscapedesigner in Fort Collins.

Mrs. Gabler is planning anorientation for other teachersat Beattie School to give themccinfidence in using the' area.

'Art teacher Garry Johnson isalready confident. "Normally,it takes a year'to teach a younstudent to draw a pine tree,"he said. "We can do it muchfaster in.the outdoor classroomwhere students can seel and feela real tree." I,

Johnson is equally' enthusi-astic about an irrigation systemsuggested by Len Hadachek ofSCS who proposed divertingstorm runoff from vilearbystreet drain and letting thewater spread over the class-room trea.Rtinoff about tlzsetimes each' summer will pit-vide, supplemental water forplants in the semiarid class-,room. _/

The irrigation system will bea learning opportunity for citystuddnts who live along thefront range of the Rockieswhere irriga ion is a must:-

The Beatti outdoor class-room also has community andparent involvement. One .par-ent who owns property adjoin-ing the school grounds. hasbeen using a portion of theopen space for a garden. Inexchange for continued use ofthe plot, he has agreed to takecare of the plants in the out-

324

,75

door clasocim during, thesummer. Students will.stud'y hisgarden plants in the spring andfall. . -

Parents have donated equip-ment and labor and are plan-ning fundraising events. Aschool carnival has alreadynetted $1,100 which will beUsed for the outdoor classroomand playground equipment.Garden clubs in Fort Collinsand the owner of a local treefarm donated several large.trees.

At Riffenburgh ElementarySchool, teacher Russ Fulton,another of the CSU enrollees,plans to develop an outdoorclassroom- along a section ofa creek which flows througha _city park adjoining theschool. The school obtainedwritten permission from thecity to use the small, crescent-siaped area as an outdoorclasslOork

Development will includeplacing fallen logs across thettPlatrr and lower ends of theoutd r, classroom both tobloc motor bike trafficthro gh the area and to createan4rea for studying tree-rings,moving large rocks into thearea for esthetics and identifi-cation; making a mud an areawith railroad ties to observeanimal treks; and ansplant-ing adapted grasses, forbs, and',woody species for identifica-tion and study.. Russian-Olive,

,

O

'

1111110,,,

ANT'A.-

41111v.;:%;..

chok4heri-y, and native plumwill be planted along the upper...ciges of the crewel bank forscreening .1-11:1 wITC1.1i'le habitat,and one or 0,v6 flicker nestswill be move from dead treesand placed in ottonwood treeson the site. An old, 'pluggedtile drain will be avgered outand loose rock placed overthe end of the tile to simulatea freshwater spring for aquaticplants.

To encwrage continuedwork on the outdoor' class-,rooms in the eight R-1 schoolsas well as schools in the Love-land area, Fort Collins and BigThompson Soil ConservationDistricts are sponsoring out-

. door classroom contests withan annual award to the schoolin etch district that has done

the most in implempnting itsplan during the school year.

Science Coordinator OwenSmith gives SCS most of thecredit for the I creased interest

-in outdoor clas /300MS and thespecial CSU c,purse, which isto be continued on an as-needed basis. The real stimulusfor both, he feels, was the SCS-sponsored workshop held lastfall in Longmont.

25

see.

Charlie Cecil, a sixth grader atRiffenburgh Elementary School inFort Collins, checks water samplefrom the stream in the city parknext to the school. Students are woodeveloping a section along the

stream as an outdoor classroom.

SOIL CONSERVATION