We Will Miss You Liz!

As many of you already know, the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology and Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network communities mourn the tragic loss of Liz Duff, our Education Coordinator and long time colleague who died May 15.

Photo by Mike McCarthy

So many of us have been touched by the work and life of Liz Duff ...We have gathered a few remembrances of Liz from the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology community as well as from the broader  (LTER) community to try to show a broader view of how Liz specifically touched those of us who worked with her in this area of her life.

Liz was a passionate educator and environmentalist.  There was nothing she loved better than being in the field with her students, teaching them about the marsh and how to protect it.  She has been the education coordinator of the PIE LTER since our very beginning and made a tremendous contribution to our program.  She always made sure we did not forget that education was a critical part of our mission.  All of us will miss her greatly. 

Plum Island Ecologist, Anne Giblin

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Teachers had this to share:

I found these photos of Liz as I was going through some older pictures and wanted to send them to you .... I took them while I was taking the MITS training at the Great Marsh LTER in Summer 2015. They capture her doing what she loved to do best, teaching teachers about conservation biology in the field.

Mike McCarthy,Thurston Middle School, Westwood, MA

An afternoon in the summer of 2018, preparing a lichen lesson with Liz to share with teachers for a Wade Institute class.  Liz was an amazing educator, who shared her passion for making the world a better place with so many teachers and students. I learned so much from her.  

Emilie Cushing, Glen Urquhart School, Beverly, M

Liz and students from O'Maley Innovation Middle School collecting data of transects from the marsh at Eastern Point in Gloucester to understand impacts of sea level rise.

Amy Donnelly and Dan Thomases, O'Maley Innovation Middle School, Gloucester, MA

 Photo by Amy Donnelly

Memories of working with Liz many years back and through HF Schoolyard generate fondness in my heart for her chuckling, easy going, collaborative disposition.

Mit Wanzer, F. W. Parker Charter Essential School

As a Boston Park Ranger, I participated in a Watershed Education workshop that Liz led at Endicott Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary in the 1990s.  I worked most closely with Liz in my current work in LTER Education.  Below is a slide I included in a presentation for educators in 2006, which is just a small indication of the value of Liz's collaboration with Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology outreach and education work. 

Liz mentoring new Buds, Leaves and Global Warming project Teachers

Pamela Snow, Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology

More comments from LTER Educators:

 I was regularly inspired by the thoughtful and thought-provoking questions she raised in EOC (Education and Outreach Committee)  calls. It was always clear that she loved what she did, inspired and influenced those around her, and was generous in sharing her knowledge. She will be greatly missed.

Caitlin Potter, Cedar Creek, LTER, Minnesota

That breaks my heart! She was such a lovely person and a wonderful educator. We will all miss her, as I know the kids of her program will too.  

 Jill F. Haukos, Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas

Blogger Pamela Photo by Liz

I was able to participate in many professional development opportunities both as a leader and participant; teacher conferences; environmental education conferences; Secretaries Advisory Group on Env. Ed. (SAGEE); Wade Institute (formerly MITS)  and LTER Education and All Scientist Meetings alongside Liz through the years.  Liz took the photo of me at left during the All Scientists Meeting in Pacific Grove California...I had taken photos of her on her camera..and so, do not have one to share here ...we were taking some time between meetings here to bask in the magnificent glory of the rainbow by the ocean and whale watching from shore with binoculars at that moment together. This image helps me remember the inspiration we shared through these learning and teaching moments through the years.

Earlier this week, I walked the beach at Plum Island and thought about Liz's love  of the ocean, and sent her warm wishes on her journey, imagining that she is still able to tune into that beauty that she dedicated herself to sharing with others, alongside my late sister, Susan, who worked with Liz through the Gulf of Maine institute and Mass. Coastal Zone Management outreach.

Friends and colleagues are encouraged to post remembrances of Liz on her Facebook page (@Liz Duff) and make donations to environmental education organizations.

 Her obituary, and ways to honor her memory can be found at  https://obituaries.gloucestertimes.com/obituary/elizabeth-duff-
1079218499

Rest in Peace Liz!  Your memory and work lives on in all of us you touched.

Spring Workshop April 9, 2020 Preview

What to Expect for Spring Workshop 2020

Bud burst Preview with Dr. John O'Keefe

Teachers practice identifying trees and the stages of Bud burst using help of experienced teachers, staff and field guides.

 Field Walks with Project Ecologists

T

Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Group explored the stages of

 Bud burst outdoors as well. 

   

DRAFT AGENDA 2020:  

Reminder : This workshop is Free of Charge to all active Schoolyard Ecology Teachers

Whole Group Discussions

 Student Work "Poster Session"

 Teacher Presentations

 5 and 10 Year Teacher Achievement Awards

Lightning Rounds Slides from All Teacher Participants

What Teachers Said Last Year:  

Teacher comments about Project Breakout Sessions and Field Walks:

• 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.

• 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. 

 

Comments on Last Year's  Teacher Presentations:  

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

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

• 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.

How are Teachers Looking at Schoolyard Data?

Schoolyard Ecology Teachers from New York, Connecticut. and Massachusetts returned to Harvard Forest this January to deepen their understanding of project data.  Here is a snapshot of what they worked on...

Brooklyn Technical High School Teacher, Elisa Margarita, chose to adapt the new online graphing tool exercises for use by her students.  Above are some excerpts from what she was able to draft during the data workshop, using her school's Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming project data and the northern most site as found on the field site map and data base. Elisa will also incorporate some of the content from Dr. Betsy Colburn's workshop slides to help students better understand visualizations of project data. 

Greater Lowell Technical School Teacher, Tara Alcorn, worked with Project Ecologist, Dr. David Orwig to create this representation of data collected at Harvard Forest using the Schoolyard Ecology Woolly Bully and the Hemlock Tree protocol.  Using a trend line, Tara is able to show a relationship between the number of egg sacs and the amount of new growth of  Hemlock trees.  Not surprisingly, the more egg sacs, the lower the amount of new growth is found.

Groton-Dunstable High School Teacher, Melanie McCracken, was mentored by Choate-Rosemary Hall Teacher, Joseph Scanio in working with a data visualization software, called  Tableau.  The three figures above were among the data representations they created.  While Melanie was impressed with the potential using this tool, she was disappointed to learn that it is very challenging to access it on Chromebooks, which is the hardware her students use at school.  Another teacher had hoped to participate in the Tableau session but when he found out about the issue with Chromebooks, he moved in to another break out session to work on graphing with Google Sheets.  We are finding most teachers especially in the public schools, relying solely on Google hardware and software.  This, brings up issues of who controls what students have access to in the classroom, that are beyond our control in providing professional development to teachers.  Given that limitation, there is still the possibility that these teachers could: A. Find a workaround to using Tableau on Chromebooks and B.  Develop visualizations like this on their own PCs, etc. in order to use as teaching tools that ask the students to interpret the representations rather than create graphs themselves.

Massachusetts Audubon Educator, Sally Farrow, made progress in graphing her impressive vernal pool data sets from Drumlin Farm and Concord Middle School using Excel, with the help of Dr. Betsy Colburn.  These data representations will serve as teaching tools for the hundreds of students that come to Drumlin Farm each year to participate in data collection there.  Concord Middle School students will have a new tool to better understand patterns of water level changes over time even given years of missing data using the bar graph above.

Connecticut Audubon Educator, Marge Porter, with the help of  Schoolyard Ecology Project Coach, Fiona Jevon, was able to create pie charts showing species composition of both study plots and a a bar graph  of tree diameter by individual trees over 2 years.  Marge is learning how to add data representation to the ways she coaches teachers at nearby schools in Connecticut, in participating in the Our Changing Forests project.

Williston School Teacher, Jane Lucia, was mentored by HF Research Assistant, Joshua Plisinski, and Project Ecologist, John O'Keefe, in developing this series of graphs showing how the timing of leaf drop differs by species at her site over time, using Buds, Leaves and Global Warming data.

Harvard Forest staff and Mentor Teachers supported participants in reaching their data management and representation goals as needed.

 

Ecologist, Dr. Betsy Colburn provided an Introduction for all participating teachers and then teachers broke into self designated breakout groups by experience and focus.

 HF Information Manager, Emery Boose, introduced first year teachers to the process of data input and management, using the online database he designed for HF Schoolyard Ecology.

Links to Explore More:

New This Year:

Boose, E. 2020. HF Schoolyard Carbon Biomass Reference Graph.

Snow, P., Boose, E. 2020. Buds-Leaves Online Graphing Exercises.(Draft)

Snow, P., Boose, E. 2020. Hemlock Woolly Bully Online Graphing Exercises.(Draft)

Snow, P., Boose, E. 2020. Changing Forests Online Graphing Exercises. (Draft)

Snow, P. 2020. Teacher Created Graphs 2020.pdf

Updated this Year:

Boose, E. 2020. Intro to HF Schoolyard Data Management. Presentation

Colburn, B. 2020. Intro to Data Visualization Workshop. Presentation.

Colburn, B. 2020. Show Me a Picture, Tell Me a Story; Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program: Level II & III Data Analysis Workshop. Presentation.

Existing Resources Used at This Year's Workshop:

Colburn, B. 2019. Data Workshop Graphing Exercises.

Snow, P. et al. 2019. Teacher Developed Graphs and More; Harvard Forest Looking at Data Workshop.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Harvard Forest Spring Symposium; March 17, 2020  including Education panels and discussion
Phenocam Workshop for Teachers:  Northern Arizona University, March 12-14, 2020
Spring Workshop For Teachers:  April 9, 2020
Summer Institute for Teachers :  Tentatively scheduled for Aug.18 and 19, 2020.  

Introducing NEW HF DATA NUGGET: Into A Tree's World

We are SUPER EXCITED to announce the publication of Harvard Forest's second Data Nugget!!

Thanks to Quabbin Regional High School Teacher,  Elicia Andrews,  and Harvard Forest Ecologist, Neil Pederson, co-authors of this structured learning activity connecting tree ring data with climate change.  

 Window-into-a-trees-world DATA NUGGET

This is a Free lesson plan with a bunch of related teacher resources that has been vetted and formatted by the super talented Data Nuggets staff.

You will find 3 levels of a graphing activity for students, that was piloted by Elicia Andrews at the 9th grade level, along with a PowerPoint Presentation, Grading Rubric, and some related videos. This content is related to the research of Harvard Forest Ecologist, Neil Pederson and Jessie K. Pearl of the Univ. of Arizona, along with Laboratory Technician, Tessa Mandra. Elicia worked along side of Undergraduate students (REUs) from Neil's Tree Ring lab at Harvard Forest.

Clarisse Hart, Director of Education and Outreach, and Pamela Snow, Schoolyard Ecology Coordinator, supported Elicia with honing in on a focus, and providing feedback on educational goals and content along the way.

Elicia's work was supported by a Research Experience for Teachers (RET)  grant supplement provided by the National Science Foundation.  

Check  out this Data Nugget at:  

http://datanuggets.org/2019/12/window-into-a-trees-world/

Request the Teacher Guide at:

http://datanuggets.org/requesting-teacher-guides/

More about Neil Pederson's Research at Harvard Forest: 

Pederson Research Profile

 

Meet the Scientists Behind the Data Nugget...as highlighted on  Data Nuggets Website.

What Other Teachers Say about this Data Nugget:  

The Data Nuggets Team has added this "Teacher Feature" to their website based on Teacher, Karen Murphy's feedback on this Data Nugget. 

Check out this Teacher Feature on the Data Nugget website at: 

Data Nuggets.org.teacher-feature-Karen-Murphy