Fieldwork at the Experimental Forest

Greetings Families!
As I am sure most of you have heard by now, our fieldwork today was really exciting!  Before I say anymore, I want to give a HUGE thanks to Kate Jaeckel, Lahde Forbes, Megan Landers, and Amy Ball for helping to drive and keep an eye on our CREW.  Each group was given three plots to sample, and each plot was approximately 5% of an acre.  The idea is that each group samples a plot within a burn site, an intermediate or sub-climax site, and a climax site.  We will be conducting similar fieldwork next week, but instead of the experimental forest we will be in St. Joe National Forest.  This CREW worked very hard today and each member should be proud of themselves!

Avery, Frances, and Kayley on the drive up.

To get to the site we had to hike about a 1/2 mile up to the ridge line.

This photo was taken from the top of the ridge looking West across the burn site.

Lee and Avery establishing a plot within the burn site.

Frances standing by an old growth ponderosa.  Notice the burn scars on the trunk.  Ponderosa is known as an individual persister.  Its thick bark and elevated crown allow fully matured ponderosas to resist fire damage.

Ivy, Beza, and Karina working in a sub-climax ponderosa-douglas-fir stand.

Katie and Kayley taking fuel measurements

Owen, Avery, and Lee (behind the tree), collecting DBH on an old growth pondersa.

Solomon and Chris establishing a plot within the burn site.

Emily and Avery working on fuels and duff measurements.

John Schwandt and John Kole working in a sub-climax grande fir stand.

I would say finishing three plots is worth a smile!

Just one of many trees indicating high woodpecker frequency.

Avery, Owen, and Lee triumphed over the dreaded 'Plot 13,' mightiest of plots!

Final Product Field Work

Hello Families!

Things have been moving right along with our spring expedition, MOSS is coming up, and our final product work has already begun!  Since the last update we have gone deep into the concept of secondary succession and analyzed how wildland fires impact animal species.  In addition, we have spent a lot of time looking at the relationship between fire and various species of bark beetles and wood borers.  This led us into the world of plant-insect interactions as well as predator prey dynamics between bark beetles and woodpeckers.  I don't know about you, but I absolutely love a good discussion around predator prey dynamics!  We have also been honing the skills necessary for our final product work.  We spent the first half of this week taking measurements in class and developing the basic skills.  Today we went to the arboretum to practice a full scale mock sample location.  Next week we go into the field to do the real thing!  As you can see from the pictures our CREW has really taken to forestry research methodology!

CREW learning how to set up .05 acre research plot, with 1x1 meter sub plot for fuel sampling.

Dan, John Kole, and John Schwandt establishing their plot.

Once the plot is established, students collect multiple measurements.  Avery J is collecting total basal area data by first gathering the circumference of each living tree within her plot.  This data will then be converted to area/tree and finally total living woody area/plot.

Beza, Karina, and Ivy are collecting duff measurements by randomly sampling 20 locations within their plot.

Dan and John K. are working on total basal area data (we have dubbed this the 'tree hugging measurement' as your arms must 'hug' the tree to collect the data).

Emma (not to be confused with the illusive Idaho Pink Panda) collecting data on the density of different fuel classes.

Chris collecting data on duff thickness within the white pine stand.

Accipiter striatus (Sharp-shinned Hawk), photo and species identification by Avery Caudill.

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)

Spring Expedition

Hello Families!
I am excited to say that we have started our spring expedition!  We had a great kickoff and bbk (building background knowledge).  The topic of this expedition is fire ecology and land management, and we are calling the expedition 'Burning Change.'  For our bbk we explored the ideas and eccentricities of Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Gifford Pinchot, and how their individual philosophies (along with the big blow up of 1910), shaped the National Forest Service and the National Park Service.

student examination of the Pulaski Tunnel after the big blow up of 1910.

Examination of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir.

 For our first case study we are examining Federal Wildland Fire Policy and how it guides specific Fire Management Policies of National Forests and National Parks.  Our second case study is all about coniferous tree identification.  Right now we are down to the genus level, but when we get back from spring break we will tackle identification down to the species level.  Both case study 1 and 2 are challenging, but I have been impressed with this CREW's ability to work through difficult tasks and accomplish the learning targets.  Case study three hasn't begun yet, but will cover Fire Ecology in Ponderosa Pine / Douglas-Fir Ecosystems. 

Expedition Board with guiding questions and long term learning targets

Students diligently working on Federal Wildland Fire Policy posters.

This picture is a reenactment (the actual examination of the tree just moments before).

Upon closer examination one student pointed out that the cones on this tree were upright, thus making it a fir (Abies).

Frances testing out the ol' 'ouch vs OUCH!' test on Spruce.

Karina, Beza, Owen, and Avery, collecting observations on Larix.

6th Grade Update

Hello Famlies!
     Well we have been quite busy since the last posting!  For literacy instruction we have started tackling argumentative writing.  As part of this each student has developed his/her own opinions on a wide range of important issues (Roe V. Wade, domestic vs foreign oil, animal rights, etc).  What is really neat to see, is that each student's writing skills have really started to improve.  If you have a moment at home, ask your child what they believe about some of these issues.  I have been amazed at how mature and responsible each student has been.  I am continually impressed by their ability to research an issue, civilly discuss/debate the issue, and develop their own beliefs while being respectful of opposing beliefs.
      In science we finished up physical sciences with a culminating lab dealing with temperature, density, and an element of mystery.  Students were given a prompt in which they were told the location of five water samples, some in the ocean, some in estuarine water, and some in fresh water.  Using their laboratory skills and prior knowledge they had to test the properties of each sample, and determine the unmarked sample's original location.

Students using hydrometers to find density.

Following this lab, we started biology. Right now we are working on the function of each organelle, as well as a little biochemistry.  As you can see from the class photos we are using microscopes to help with the real-world connection.  Today's lab was so cool!  I watched each student, at different moments have this 'ah ha!' moment, where they discovered the microscopic world.  Next week we will be doing genetics, and following that we will start our spring expedition!

Owen and Avery examining a water sample collected from Berman Park.

Emma, Lee, and Beza, examining a moss sample from the Latah trail.

Microscope slide prepared by Chris, Avery, Frances, Dan, and Ivy (the cells are from a flower petal)

Sixth Grade Physics

Hello Families!

We have had an excellent week back from winter vacation!  Prior to winter vacation we started a unit in physics, and are now wrapping that unit up.  As part of our physics unit we have focused on different forces, and how an object's acceleration, mass, and friction coefficient affect its motion.  Currently we are working on a lab report from a friction lab we ran all last week. 

Calculating the mass of the object was a critical step, adding steel washers allowed for the mass to be an independent variable.

Students tested the static friction of a wood block by attaching a force meter and reading a force meter.

Each team tested various surface types

Students collecting data.

Following data collection, each student averaged the static force, and determined the coefficient of friction for each mass and each surface type.

In addition, we replicated the results of a Mythbusters experiment titled 'Phonebook Friction.'  For this demonstration we interleaved the pages of two phonebooks, attached bindings to the opposite spines of the books, and had a class tug-of-war to see if the strength of the entire class could pull the two books apart.  Well... we tried, but in the end the score of this event was Friction 1, Class 0.

The only thing holding the two phonebooks together is the friction between each interleaved page.

As can be seen, the force of static friction between the two books was greater than the net pulling force of the class!