Monitoring Buds Burst in the Time of Covid-19

Multiple approaches  to getting students observing the timing of leaf out in the time of school closures.

Hanover H.S. Student, Celeste Farrell monitoring Bud Burst at her schoolyard during school closure

From the Northern-most  Field Site, student volunteer based monitoring: 

I am taking data with Celeste's help with the 12 core trees so that we can continue determining the growing season.  She is standing at tree #13 (sugar maple) which is one of the trees that has been in the study the longest and we were practicing social distancing as we marked trees with flags and green twisty ties. I will be uploading data as I collect it.  Only the box elder had puffy buds.  The maples are next!  -Maryann Postans, Hanover High School, New Hampshire

From the Southern-most Field Site teacher led photo sharing approach:

 

Dr. Elisa Margarita, teacher at Brooklyn Technical School in New York,  has gone out for several visits to her class's field site at Fort Greene Park and taken photos of the buds to share remotely with students. She asks them to reply with the status of the buds based on the Harvard Forest protocol. 

Dr. Margarita is continuing to monitor, photograph and share remotely the bud/leaf out status of each of the study trees with students throughout the spring, until all study leaves have emerged. Stay tuned for her full documentation of bud burst on our website-coming soon.

Teacher, Jane Lucia from the Williston Northampton School, took a mixed approach.  

Remote Photos:   I was able to get over to school today and took some pictures. Though it is after the (HF Schoolyard Zoom Spring Workshop session 2 led by Dr. O'Keefe) workshop, These were taken April 17, 2020 on the Williston Northampton School Campus.

The white paper background was so helpful for focusing and seeing the buds. I also recorded the 6 buds for each tree on data sheets. I will make an effort to get out a few more times to capture leaf out as best as possible. I am also sharing this link with my students for observation, though I only took photos of one of the branches on each tree.

See more detailed teacher resources that Jane has shared for other teachers below!

Jane also incorporated a backyard monitoring assignment based on the recommendation of Dr. O'Keefe as seen in the data sheet below.

Special Backyard Protocol created by Harvard Forest Project Ecologist John O'Keefe for students monitoring trees in their neighborhoods:

See below for link to Remote Buds Data Sheet

Dr. John O'Keefe was the lead presenter at our 2nd Spring Workshop for Teachers Zoom Session.  

Here is what teachers shared about how they are adapting to doing Phenology outreach remotely:

Teacher Comments: 

I especially appreciate the updated/modified data sheets for our kids to explore the Phenology of the trees in their own yard or neighborhood! 

I realized today for the first time that the entire leaf must be showing to be considered leaf fully emerged.  I loved the mystery game and the ideas the teachers had Lucia - sketches and observations . I love the forcing the branch and the at home protocol with trees at students home. I might do versions of each over the next few weeks in addition to sending the kids the photos of their tree branches.

The workshop was very motivating and provided me with a wealth of ideas for my students. 

 I am more ready to take photos of branches using the white paper technique- with the tree names and dates on the papers! With this method, it seems more possible that I could share the photos with the students for observation and determination of the start of the growing season for their tree. 

I always learn from what the teachers are doing and sharing. They are so creative. I may not be able to use the information right away but it will be super helpful for the future 

It will take some time to figure out how to approach this with younger students. We certainly hope to give them a sense of what they would be doing if we were in school. 

I was not sure about how to go about this remotely but I think if I stay simple, it will be best as my students are young

 It clarified some ideas I had about students collecting data remotely. 

Clarification of the size and "puffiness" of buds was helpful; Thanks also for the online resources & guides 

Related Resources

• Session 2 (April 16): Spring Phenology Science by Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Project Ecologist, John O’Keefe

• Full recording of the session
• O'Keefe Slides
• Backyard Data Collection Worksheet: Word doc or PDF
• Resources for remote teaching about phenology, created by teacher Jane Lucia

PhenoCam Lesson Plans

The PhenoCam Network tracks seasonal change (Phenology) in biomes across North America using hundreds of web-cameras, with a gallery that can be explored and analyzed online.

• PhenoCam Educational Resources
• Lesson Plans by teacher Kate Bennett (5^th grade) combining Phenocam images with the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming study 
• Part I: Comparing Color Change in Individual Trees to Color Change in the Canopy
• Part II: Comparing Rural Green-Up and Brown-Down to the Boston Common: Is There Really an “Urban Heat Island” Effect?

Coming This Week: 

Spring Workshop Session 4 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6th 3-4 p.m.  

Three Schoolyard Teachers will share how they are teaching Ecology remotely, including learning activities related to Phenology, Bud Burst, Tree and Animal ID,  Backyard Biodiversity.... 

To join us for this free webinar, Email Pamela at psnow@fas.harvard.edu   

Welcome New Schoolyard Teachers!

Harvard Forest Summer Institute 2019

Our Changing Forests Project Coach, Fiona Jevon, led a new group of teachers in practicing field site setup and data collection

 

Teachers got a chance to try out measuring and marking out 10x10 meter study plots. 

Belchertown High School Teacher, Louise Levy, shared her experience leading the Our Changing Forests project with teachers trying out this project for the first time.

Harvard Forest Ecologist, David Orwig, provided background information indoors, and brought teachers out to see the impact the tiny Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is having on Hemlock trees, one of Massachusetts forests'  foundation  species. 

Woolly Bully and the Hemlock, Project Teachers explored a large forest stand of Hemlock trees that is in decline due to the Woolly Adelgid infestation that is impacting much of the eastern U.S. forests.

J.R. Briggs Elementary Teacher, Kate Bennett, shared her 15 years of Woolly Bully project experience with new Schoolyard Teachers.

Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Project Ecologist, John O'Keefe, showed long term trends of the timing of budburst and leaf drop, in order to help teachers understand how warming temperatures are impacting the length of the growing season.

 Dr. O'Keefe shared graphs of his 29 year study at Harvard Forest.

Teachers practiced labelling trees for field study that they will set up at their school sites.
Overlook Middle School Teacher, JoAnn Mossman, left and above, mentored teachers who will be starting this project in September.

  

Hanover High School (NH), Maryann Postans also helped mentor new teachers in the field above.

Harvard Forest Information Manager, Emery Boose, worked with a small group of experienced Schoolyard Eco. teachers to support management of Schoolyard Eco. data.

Survey Says....

Teachers said....

Not only do I feel that I thoroughly learned the protocol, but I also got some excellent suggestions for classroom implementation.

Ecological background knowledge for me is key. I learned a lot from Orwig and others.

This time I was focused on techniques and strategies to improve the process.

I did not know much about trees, I learned a lot!

My ecology background was rusty, and this workshop got me up to speed.

My educational focus has been earth science. I learned a lot about trees and the interaction between the atmosphere and biosphere. So much more to learn!

Outstanding job explaining the science and classroom application of the lessons.

Wonderfully flexible, finding time and space for me to upload my school's data. 

I'm confident that I can set up a plot. 

This has improved so much over the years! 

Today's itinerary seemed like it worked a lot better for getting in sharing between individuals/small groups 

This is the only time my students are outside during their school day.

The buds study relates to their noticing of everyday life

 doesn't last just one class period. I think the longevity of this study is eye-opening.

That the information is being reported to "real scientists" means that students more fully buy in

They (students)will actually be doing the practices (scientific practices as outlined in NGSS and Mass. Frameworks), rather than talking about them in class.

We will be able to set up study sites at Wildlands struts properties and engage students in environmental learning for years to come.

Emery helped me realize why some graphs have dots and why some have lines. John O'Keefe answered a lot of questions from red/black oak to why a graph of growing season might be varied. 

I  told teachers from other schools about this workshop but they were unable to attend because they had already started school. Maybe have the workshop a little earlier. 

I think the date of which the workshop is offered may be challenging for teachers to attend (more and more schools are starting earlier) but I understand why it needs to be where it is. 

I loved every minute of this training. I hope to work out the logistics to get it off the ground.

What did Teachers Value Most? 

How to identify a hemlock tree, how to implement the study in a more complete manner and practical suggestions from a teacher in the field for its implementation.

Learning about the big picture - interaction between the atmosphere and biosphere. Identifying trees and how they change over the course of the year. Adapting the program to support elementary students. (Thanks Joann!)

Having more confidence for downloading and graphing the data. It was helpful to have the lessons being done at Belchertown High School as a model for what I can do with my students at my site

Getting an opportunity to work with an ecologist and ask questions

Links to Ecologists' and Mentor Teacher presentations

Summer Institute Buds-Leaves Scientist Presentation-2019.O'Keefe.pdf

Summer Institute Woolly Bully Project Scientist Presentation.2019.Orwig.pdf

Summer Institute Changing Forests Scientist Presentation-2019. Jevon.pdf

Buds and Leaves Mentor Teacher Presentation. 2019.Mossman.pdf

Woolly Bully and the Hemlock Mentor Teacher Presentation. 2019. Bennett.pdf

Our Changing Forests Mentor Teacher Presentation-Summer 2019.Levy.pdf

• Review of Day 2 of the Our Changing Forests Summer Institute

Thanks to Clarisse Hart for her excellent photo documentation of this workshop! 

New Funding Opens Schoolyard Ecology Opportunities for New Groups

Students from Brockton High School and the African Community Education program from Worcester got a chance to participate in the Our Changing Forests Schoolyard Ecology project as part of a field trip activity at Harvard Forest. 

Highstead Foundation support allows lower income groups the chance to visit Harvard Forest and do some hands-on ecological science while they are here.  Applications for fall field trip scholarships are available at the link below.

Brockton High School students (right) collected baseline data for an Our Changing Forests demonstration plot at Harvard Forest.  Students measured and recorded diameter at breast height and tree identification.




African Community Education (ACE) High School students (below right) learned about Tree Identification from Harvard Forest volunteer, Bob Clark (Right).

ACE Middle School and High School students practiced tree identification, measurement and data collection in the Our Changing Forests Schoolyard Ecology project demonstration plots
(below).

See more about ACE*and its mission to support African refugees below.
.

 
      ACE photos provided by Tim O'Neil

Brockton High School students  collected data using field sheets and measurement equipment.

Harvard Forest Bullard Fellow, David
Buckley Borden shared his artistic
interpretations of HF ecological science
with Brockton H.S. students at his forest studio.

Brockton Environmental Science
students pose in front of the Fisher
Museum where they viewed the internationally acclaimed models (dioramas) portraying the history, of central New England forests.

What does the data look like?  

                           

Stand Density by Tree Species in Plot 1

Basal Area by Tree Species in Plot 1

Carbon Biomass by Tree Species in Plot 1

After the field trip, data that students had collected on paper field sheets were entered onto the online database. 

Once the data manager uploaded the data, these graphs were created using the HF Schoolyard online graphing tools for this project.  This is a quick and easy way to see what the data are showing.  Notice that even though the stand density is dominated by Red Maple based on the number of red maple stems in the plot,  Red Oak is highest in basal area and carbon biomass.  That is because the red oaks present in the plot were among the largest individual trees in that plot.  Interestingly, there is only 1 Large Toothed Aspen in the plot, but because of its huge size, it ranks high in basal area and biomass.

It would be interesting to engage students in a discussion of what they notice about the data based on what they see in these graphs.  Do they understand the difference between what basal area and density are showing?  Can they see the connection between basal area and carbon storage?  What surprises them about what they see?  What questions do the graphs bring up for them

We also completed the field site description sheet. in the field and submitted the  field survey data to the online database.  Notice that we looked at site characteristics and looked for signs of pests, pathogens, wildlife, invasive species , human activity, etc. This information gives us a more complete picture of what our forest looks like right now.  As visiting groups continue to monitor these plots for DBH growth, or decline as well as site characteristics,  we will get a better picture of how Harvard Forest is changing over time.  This kind of plot study is quite commonly done by professional Ecologists at Harvard Forest and elsewhere to monitor change over time.  Schools can contribute to the overall picture of "Our Changing Forests" throughout the Northeast by contributing their data over time.

Plot Data on Online database

Field Site Survey data continued below: 

Many schools are able to set up plots in walking distance to their schools.  This way we can gather data from a wide geographical area.   This year schools from Mass, Connecticut and New Hampshire have contributed data.   Below is a map of field sites who have participated in the project in recent years:

We are seeking new school groups throughout New England to contribute to this study.  See the links below for information on registration for our introductory session this August for teachers to join this project.

Links:

Harvard Forest Field Trip Scholarships Application

Our Changing Forests Schoolyard Project Webpages

Schoolyard Ecology Summer Institute Registration

Fisher Museum Dioramas

ACE Worcester Facebook Page. 

ACE Worcester Website.

*"The mission of ACE is to assist African refugee and immigrant youth and families in achieving educational and social stability through access to academic support, leadership development, cultural expression, and community outreach in Worcester, MA. ACE aims to achieve this mission by providing academic and nonacademic programming during after-school and out-of-school time to children and families who come to the United States as refugees and immigrants from African countries and live in the Worcester area. Founded in 2006, ACE empowers youth to succeed academically and supports families through wraparound services."

More Photos of Brockton HS Field Trip:

 

Photos by Sarah Watt