Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology: Inspirational Spring Workshop for Teachers 2019

Spring Workshop 2019

Project Ecologist, John O'Keefe teaches tree ID and how to record stages of Budburst using "forced" branches.

Teachers practice identifying trees and the stages of Budburst using help of experienced Mentor teachers, staff and tree field guides.

Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Group explored the stages of

Budburst outdoors as well.

Looking more closely at buds, above and below. Red Maples were one of the only
species they found that had begun flowering this year.

Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist and Site Manager, Audrey Barker-Plotkin, led both the
Our Changing Forest group and the Woolly Bully group on a field walk to Hemlock
Hollow and the Hemlock Eddy Flux Tower.

Teachers saw both high tech and low
tech ways that professional Ecologists
study the forest. The laundry basket
above was used to catch leaf litter
which was later analyzed in the lab.

Audrey taught teachers about what scientists at Harvard Forest have learned about changes in the forest up to 10,000 years ago using Paleo-Ecology to look at pollen grains in wetlands like the vernal pool pictured above.

Teacher comments about Project Breakout Sessions and Field Walks:

John was so informative and the veteran teachers had some great suggestions

I can teach about the Hemlock’s role in carbon storage.

Great to be able to see specimens and ask questions about the development of the buds

Helpful to see woolly bully to help with my identification. Helpful to walk with other teachers and discuss how they are using these projects to teach

Awesome part of the day! There is nothing better than getting out and seeing and hearing things directly--thank you!

As a newcomer, I felt like I was able to get some understanding of how to lead students in counting buds, and which buds. I also have the context of the work to share with students.

Seeing all the nuances on real trees allowed for lots of questions & clarification

It is wonderful to hear John talk about his project and how things have changed over the last year.

I really liked listening to the other teachers share their stories

I learn so much every time I listen to John present - I filled up 2 pages with notes and ideas to bring with me. It's always enlightening to look at branches that are being forced, challenging my ability to identify and notice details
John gives a renewed energy for the spring with his experience and expertise

The walk with Audrey was fabulous. It was so good to have a chance to listen to Audrey share her knowledge and have a chance to ask questions.

Lightning Round Slides

What Schoolyard Ecology looks like

1 Slide in 1 Minute per project at each site

Teacher Recognition

5 Year Award: Melanie McCracken

10 Year Awards:

JoAnn Mossman, Katherine Bennett, Louise Levy, Nora Murphy, Debra Kimball

Teacher Presentations

Teachers,Mary Reed and Joe Scanio, presented the ways in which

they integrate project themes into classroom curriculum.

Teacher Comments on Presentations:

I loved hearing what other teachers are doing--I can't wait to re work some curriculum for next year.

Mary's scaffolding set off "bing!" moments for ways I can make the study come alive for my students.

I enjoyed learning more about graphing possibilities with the data. Maybe we could make a location map for our trees with pop outs for each. Mary’s presentation was very helpful in how you can organize and implement the Buds program with Elementary students.

The GIS presentation makes me think about getting the coding teacher to help out with the data we collect and have students to create maps related to this project

Graphing literacy is becoming more and more important on the MCAS, good to have this information

great to hear about how Mr. Scanio is working with data visualization

Joe's work was something I might be able to scale down for middle school and Mary's was something I might try to scale up.

Mary did an amazing presentation! I really appreciate seeing how this project's data is being used to expand understanding at the elementary level. I loved the chance to see all the ways to use this project in student's learning.a of putting together a book for the students to see their work over the course of a school year.

New this Year: Student Work/ Poster Session

Teacher Emilie Cushing Shared an activity that students completed related to GIS Land
Cover Change Maps. These maps were provided by Harvard Forest as a tool for connecting
the Our Changing Forest project to larger trends in landscape change over time.

Teacher, JoAnn Mossman from Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham, shared student created graphs of Buds, Leaves and Global Warming data. Most students created hand graphs they decorated in ways that made the graphs visually appealing. One student created a computer generated graph showing all trees over 8 years of the study. The student used a graphing tool from the HF online database to create that graph.

St. Mary's Parish School Teacher, Mary Reed, above left and below, shared samples of tree booklets created by her 4th grade students. Mary was able to show how she approached a series of lessons that contributed to that project in a PowerPoint presentation followed by the informal student work session.

Belchertown, H.S. Teacher, Louise Levy shared binders that serve as organizational tools for students to store and keep track of all of their data sheets and information about each of the study trees at their school field site. Next year's students will add their data sheets to the same binder in order to keep track of the tree over time, in one place.

Teacher Comments on Student Work/Poster Session:

It is great to see what other teachers are doing with their students to bring ecology into the classroom.

chance to see all the ways to use this project in student's learning.

I loved this! This also gave a time for more information conversation that was very helpful.

Seeing samples of work and getting ideas to improve direction-giving and organization

I love the book project! Student samples showed a pride and ownership of work

Survey Says....

The walk and having the chance to meet and talk with the staff and the teachers always extends my knowledge and renews my passion.

The entire day was fantastic. I loved getting ideas from other teachers. I am so impressed with the good work everyone is doing and I got lots of good ideas.

I liked the lightning round to see all the varied work people are doing .

Having the chance to meet and hear from other teachers who are inspired to take on such interesting work with students is helpful.

I learned more about the woolly bully and OCF and what other teachers are doing. I love the opportunity to network with other teachers and learn what they are doing across the state.

Every time I attend a workshop I feel a little more educated and comfortable with the content and ability to relay information to my students.

Re-invigorating, re-dedicating myself to helping my students make meaning of the work.
It was wonderful to have people say that my work is valuable.
I look forward to sharing paleo-ecology techniques and findings with my students.

It was great to hear about the research projects and new learnings at Harvard Forest. I am interested in potentially adding another HF LTER study to my curriculum next year. I am deciding between buds or our changing forests.

Learning about ancient pollen! This workshop always helps me remember why I am doing this work--to get kids out and learn to love what is around them.