The next Generation of Citizen Scientists are Ready to Monitor A Forest Giant on the Edge

Harvard Forest Ecologist,David Orwig, and Mentor Teacher, Kate Bennett, prepared a new group of teachers to get students out tracking the tiny Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, an insect that is causing a major shift in New England's forest right now.  

Teachers practiced labelling study trees and measuring new growth of hemlock trees at their branch tips to record on the Harvard Forest field data sheets that their students will use at their schoolyards this fall. 

 

The white "woolly" egg sacs of the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid were barely visible this time of year.  These egg sacs will be easier to spot from November through early Spring, when students will go back outside to record presence of woolly Adelgid to report to the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology study.

Dr. Orwig showed teachers the thinning of the Hemlock trees at Harvard Forest that has occurred since the Woolly Adelgid arrived several years ago.  

Teachers were able to see the new growth of  black birch saplings beginning to replace the dying hemlocks. We hope they will bring back the message to their students that "the forest never doesn't change".  As one species declines, another fills its place in the forest. Change is the one constant.

 

What Woolly Bully Teachers valued about the Summer Institute:

• Being able to go out and actually look at the trees and experience what we will do with the students was key for me. It's so helpful for me to actually do what I will be doing with the students instead of just reading a protocol .

•   Many things. 1.Observation crosses many areas of study. 2.So much specific, scientific knowledge that I find fascinating.

• I learned so much in a short time during today's workshop. The most valuable thing I learned is the importance of the hemlock to our environment.

• How easy it can be to implement a field study. How important the preteaching, set-up, and demonstrations will be before heading out into the field.

• I gained the knowledge I need to implement this study in my school. I especially valued the time we spent walking in the forest and talking about the woolly adelgids and hemlocks.

To learn more about Woolly Bully Schoolyard Ecology, go to: 

 Woolly Bully Schoolyard Ecology Webpages

Senior Ecologist, Dr. David Orwig's Webpages

Hemlock; A Forest Giant on the Edge  

Graph of Survey Results from teacher survey at the Summer Institute for Teachers at Harvard Forest

Thanks to all who contributed to guiding teachers to prepare for getting students doing real science based on real issues with help from real scientists....

Looking at Data Workshop Preview

What to expect in this year’s Working with Data Workshop at Harvard Forest:

How will the day be structured? One workshop will support Schoolyard Ecology teachers with beginning through advanced data management, graphing, and/or analysis skills.  We will convene as one group, spend much of the day in break out groups by skill level (self-determined by teachers) and reconvene at the end of the session  to see advanced teachers share graphs and other products they developed in the session. 

Outcomes: Educators will have materials and knowledge necessary to manage and graph project data.   Educators will have materials to support students in better understanding what the data are revealing about study themes.  Specific outcomes will vary depending on the experience level  and goals of each participant.

When is it?  Thursday, December 3, 2015

Times:   9:00a.m. -3:00p.m.

Who is Invited?     This workshop is intended for teachers who are currently participating in a Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology project.  We often accept requests from collaborating non-profit or governmental agencies to attend.

What Level are you?  Teachers will self-assess what levels they would like to work at.  Some guidelines are:

•    Level 1:   First year Schoolyard teachers who would like to learn how to manage the project data their students began collecting this fall. Information  Manager Emery Boose will provide an overview of Schoolyard Ecology data management and introduce teachers to the online data base.  Teachers will have time to practice inputting this fall’s data on the database, and try graphing data using online graphing tools. Most level 1 teachers will have successfully entered some or all fall project data onto the Harvard Forest database, and go home with a graph created using the online database. 
•    Level 2:   Teachers will work on structured schoolyard datasets to practice specific graphing skills using Excel. It is possible for teachers to choose to execute the same style graph by hand instead of on Excel if preferred.  While most level 2 teachers will have 1 or more years of schoolyard experience behind them, It is possible for first year schoolyard teachers to begin with level 2 this year as long as they input some fall data prior to confirmation of registration for this workshop. Most level 2 teachers will go home with some graphs of data from other field sites, and the understanding of how to create the same types of graphs using their own data.  Some teachers will have time to begin graphs of their own data.

• Level 3:   Teachers will work on individual graphing goals with Harvard Forest mentors. Most Level 3 folks will have attended a data level 2 workshop previously. We ask that all level 3 teachers complete the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology graphing exercises prior to this workshop on your own if you haven't participated at level 2 previously.  Graphing in level 3 can be done using Excel or by hand.  Most level 3 teachers will go home with a graph and/or organized data table to work with in the classroom.

PDPs:  Earn 6 PDPs for a 6 hour workshop

Lead Presenter:

BETSY COLBURN,  ECOLOGIST

Support Staff:

EMERY BOOSE, INFORMATION MANAGER

DAVID ORWIG, ECOLOGIST

JOHN O'KEEFE, ECOLOGIST

CLARISSE HART, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

PAMELA SNOW, SCHOOLYARD COORDINATOR

What does this look like?  

See below for a sense of the graphs Level 2 teachers will learn to create.

Go to our Data Workshop Slide Show about Looking at Data Workshop to see sample tables and graphs and photos from past level 3 sessions.

Also see: Teacher created graphs and tables-Feb. 2015 Data Wrksp

100% of teacher participants  rated the value of  the time spent working directly on graphing at  this workshop towards their teaching goals as "very useful". 

Teachers said:

• I was able to produce items that I need to use in the near future and that set the stage for the upcoming season

• A good use of time that allowed me to get together with other teachers and professionals who are doing the same thing. It's a great time to practice some rusty skills and to bounce ideas off of each other as far as practice and procedures.
• Learning more and more about excel and the types of data to use and how to use it and even questions to ask the data to answer
• (Gained) proficiency (in graphing schoolyard data), to the point of being confident that I can translate my skills into clear instructions for my students

More teacher responses on our blog post from last year’s advanced data workshop complete with quotes and graphs of teacher survey responses at: Data Workshop Blog 2014

I hope this helps clarify what the Working with Data Workshop will be like this year. Feel free to respond with any specific questions you may have.

If you want to join us, please  email Pamela at psnow@fas.harvard.edu with the following info:

1.       Your name

2.       Your school

3.       Your Schoolyard project name

4.       What level you would like to participate at (1,2,or 3)

5.       Your individual goal for the workshop

WHAT DO TEACHERS LIKE ABOUT SCHOOLYARD ECOLOGY?

Some views and comments from teachers who participated in last year's HF-LTER Schoolyard Ecology Summer Institute for Teachers 

Hoping you will spread the word to some new folks to join us this summer on Aug. 20th at Harvard Forest. Share the link to this blog with any teachers who might be interested in getting their kids involved this coming year.

Please share this HF schooleco blog link with teachers who might consider joining a Schoolyard project this summer.  

Register by downloading the flyer and registration form from our website at: teacher registration form and flyer

Snow and Sleet Did Not Stop Schoolyard "Spring" Workshop  

 April 9, 2015

To see the PDFs of Teacher Presentations, visit our website at: 

Levy. 2015. Micro-directions for Buds and Leaves Related Activities.pdf

Bennett. 2015.  9 Years of "Woolly Bully" Integration In Brief

McDonald. 2015. Forest Ecology Unit- Woolly Bully.pdf

Gibson. 2015. Starting The Our Changing Forests Project-Year 1.pdf

Kostich. 2015. Changing Forests Challenges and Successes-Year 2.pdf

Gibson. 2015. Life in a Wicked Big Puddle-VP.pdf

HF Schoolyard is Partnering with the Museum Institute of Teaching Science (MITS) again this Summer

More info and Registration: 

http://mits.org/2015-summer-professional-development-institutes-regions-page/

Teachers Making the Leap into Graphing and Data Analysis integration with Field Science Projects

Six Teachers created graphed data that their students, from grades 5 through 12, collected for 3  HF-LTER Schoolyard field projects.  Teachers were mentored by Harvard Forest staff at the Looking at Data workshop this winter.  Graphs and data tables they developed are available on our latest online publication, Teacher Developed Graphs and Data Documents; Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology. 

Teachers said: 

100% of teacher participants  rated the value of  the time spent working directly on graphing at  this workshop towards their teaching goals as "very useful". 

• I was able to produce items that I need to use in the near future and that set the stage for the upcoming season

• A good use of time that allowed me to get together with other teachers and professionals who are doing the same thing. It's a great time to practice some rusty skills and to bounce ideas off of each other as far as practice and procedures.
• having teachers present gives everyone else the confidence to tackle their own goals and opens options we'd not considered before
• totally immersive and felt like a real indulgence
• Learning more and more about excel and the types of data to use and how to use it and even questions to ask the data to answer
• (Gained) proficiency (in graphing schoolyard data), to the point of being confident that I can translate my skills into clear instructions for my students

Student Outcomes? 

Teachers reported that students will participate in the following activities this year related to Schoolyard data: 

• I'd like (students) to start with hand graphing for a small data set, work our way into a larger data set for the excel and then I would have some more complex graphs ready for the kids to analyze.
• I Will challenge students to generate their own researchable questions which they can then use their data and the database to collect data to analyze.
• I think the groups that are collecting the data will not only do their own graphing, they are also excited that the data they have helped collect will be posted on the blog

We understand that teachers are extremely busy and that including authentic data analysis of schoolyard data can be challenging. Is engaging students in graphing or other forms of data analysis is worth the limited time you have or not? 

• The groups we work with at Drumlin Farm are very interested in using graphing to help the students understand the importance of their data collection and learn new skills
• This is a skill that can be used across many disciplines and in future careers whether or not they choose to pursue a science degree or not
• I feel that graphing will give a visual value to information that is gathered each week. I also think the exposure to graphing skills will generate much discussion on other ways graphs are helpful.

See the graphs and tables teachers produced 

Perhaps use them as models for your own graphing lessons or have your students interpret the graphs: Teacher Developed Graphs and Data Documents; Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology