Hanover High School Teacher, Maryann Postans who has contributed
9 years of Buds, Leaves and Global Warming data.
Grade Level: 10
Course Name: Biology
How did you decide to engage your students in a Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology project?
I was looking for a way to engage my students in authentic science and a few
weeks after I started searching for a project an email came across my
screen about the Harvard Forest Project.
It was June 2012. I emailed
Pamela Snow and that summer I went to Cambridge to do a workshop on “Buds, Leaves, & Global Warming”.
How did you choose the project (s)
that you chose to lead at your school?
This citizen science project was
my stepping stone into developing a climate change curriculum. The
following year I took a course on climate change online at the American
Museum of Natural History. The
common threads were beginning to appear and I used UBD (Understanding By
Design) principles to design the course using the Harvard Forest Project
as the main focal point.
Did you have any experience with Ecology before joining the Schoolyard Eco. Program? If so, please explain what previous exposure you had in working with/understanding Ecology?
I
have a degree from Wesleyan University in
Environmental Science so ecology was not new to me. My first year out of college I was a
field biologist for the Lloyd Center for Environmental Science studying
endangered species, specifically piping plovers and Plymouth Gentian. I loved working in the field, but I
especially liked talking to school groups when they came to visit the
marsh in South Dartmouth, MA
Did you have experience participating in Citizen Science before? If so, please explain what experiences you have had in citizen science and whether your students participated in this also, or was it in a different context?
When I
worked at Santa Fe Prep School in Santa Fe, NM, I did citizen science with
students with stream ecology. We
would go up to the streams above Santa Fe in the National Forest and
collect macroinvertebrates as well as do water testing using Hach
kits. I think the program was
called Project del Rio, but I can’t remember where we sent the data.
How long have you led a Harvard Forest Schoolyard Project at your school?
I have been participating in the Harvard Forest
Schoolyard project since the Fall of 2012.
What keeps you engaged in Schoolyard Ecology over time?
It’s really helpful to go to the workshops every
year. The team of scientists have
inspired me to learn more every year.
Emery Boose is great about making the calculations easier and
easier and using the database with students is a great way. John O'Keefe has been great about
answering questions as they come up and Pamela is the glue that holds it
all together.
What excites your students about Schoolyard Ecology?
This project comes
up every year as one of the students' favorite things to do because they
get to watch “their” tree change throughout the season and they like going
outside in groups to collect the data.
What are some challenges that you have faced in leading Schoolyard Ecology at your site, and how you are overcoming those challenges or not?
Lots of challenges! All the trees from the first few years were
either cut down, killed by snow dumps, or increasingly isolated. There is only
one tree that has been in the study for all 8 years. When you go out with a group of teenagers
you need to have the trees all in the same area so we kept shifting trees to
accommodate biology classes and the project. There was also the year that the
chosen trees had poison ivy patches underneath and we had to establish new
areas. Choosing trees with long
term goals in mind is the best course of action so that you can see how
the growing season has changed over time.
One year we split the trees up by classes and this became an issue
because we would collect data for the morning class and then weather would
keep us from collecting data in the afternoon and suddenly when you are
figuring out % budburst you have 1 branch for tree X one day and the 2nd
branch for tree X the second day and this affects the data in the long run. When you go out to collect data,
complete all the branches of the tree to avoid this issue.
Describe some challenges that your students face in doing field ecology and/or classroom work associated with Schoolyard project(s) and how you are supporting them in overcoming or working with those challenges.
Inclement weather is sometimes seen as a problem by students, but I bring umbrellas and put plastic over the clipboards and tell them that, although they think I am a witch, I will not shrivel with water and neither will they. On those weather days we took different routes to the trees so we didn’t have to walk down hill to avoid the possibility of slipping.
Some examples of ways that you have you have integrated project themes in teaching:
Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14VEgm8UWC7uCHM3GDCP_mUFelfsPkxg5neJXxpqCJj0/edit?usp=sharing
Ecology KUDos: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vP7ogCDVWfOMUFwY9_H2F1UxYDoeeQ24IjPXlRRE-ek/edit?usp=sharing
Observation Lab:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S0FuwuE0cswMxClrJj0InJ-3LcpPNF1nFVhnyHbm0hk/edit?usp=sharing
Exploration and Graphing of Data:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qog5Cyf-l19DZG_bugCVcfb3aPspFMszo4tFniINqkw/edit?usp=sharing
Do you see/hear any evidence that your students are having positive learning outcomes from participating in Schoolyard Ecology projects?
How are you managing to adapt your project leadership techniques during COVID? Tell us what you have tried doing and how it has been working, and whether you plan to continue what you are currently doing or adapting further?
When
school was shut down last spring I had a lab technician who was willing to
continue taking data with me weekly which was really helpful. We have been in
school since the beginning of this year so going outside with masks and social
distancing was not a problem.
Do you have suggestions
for other teachers leading Schoolyard Eco. Projects during COVID?
If you
can’t get help from students, then ask your friends to help, but ask students (
if your administration allows it) as this gets them out of the house. It was great to go outside with my friends on
beautiful days and chat while taking data when students couldn’t help. Make it a social time!