Expedition Fieldwork

Greetings Families!

Expedition fieldwork

For our Fire Ecology expedition we have been mastering local conifer identification, studying forest fuels, fire behavior, and succession.  As part of our fuels study we spent the past week learning about the different moisture classes of forest fuels, how they are layered on the forest floor, and how they impact fire behavior.  We also spent a few sessions examining and evaluating photos of both primary and secondary succession.  Not that it is explicitly a part of this expedition, but in the discussion around primary succession, Mount St. Helens came up on numerous occasions.  I suspect each student in class can speak to the events and biological impacts of the 1980 eruption.  With that said, because this expedition is woven together with the common thread of fire, we will mostly be discussing secondary succession.  Next week we will really tackle succession!   

Beza and Karina collecting 'noticings and wonderings' prior to the full explanation of fuel classes.

Ivy taking a measurement of a 10 hour fuel.

Avery collecting data on 1 hour fuels.

Dan and John examining 1,000 hour fuels.

Brekken, Owen, and Avery, collecting 'big picture' data on Thuja plicata.

john, Avery, and Emily collecting data on Pinus monticola.

Karina and Lee collecting data on Abies lasiocarpa var. bifolia (one of Mr. MP's favorites)