Students Communicate Through Scientific Posters

 High School Students Communicating Results of Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Study

How do you like Hollis High School students'  final projects?   

Teacher, Maryanne Rotelli kindly shared these photos of her students' work with us so we can spread the inspiration.   If you want to consider adopting and/or adapting her idea:  This is the assignment she gave her students:

Leaves and Buds – LTER with Harvard Forest Lab Report and Poster Presentation

Introduction:

·        Background on Phenology both leaf drop and leaf budding (include factors that impact both)

·        Why is this study being completed and how does it relate to climate change?

·        Indicate what factors that you will study using the data collected

·        Hypothesis

Methods and Materials:

·        Describe the procedure for collecting data during the fall and spring sessions

Results:

·        Data and Graphs – remember you will need to have captions that clarify the conclusions that can be drawn from the graph

Discussion:

·        Describe the results as shown in your graphs. What does it tell the reader?

·        Explain how the results support or refute any of the hypotheses you established in your introduction.

·        Draw your conclusions and explain. Tie in with any of the research/reading that you have done.

Poster Portion:

Slide 1: Title and Authors

Slide 2:

·        Common and scientific names

·        Plant identification – leaf, bud patterns, bark

·        History, use of, interesting facts about your species

Slides 3-4:  Key highlights from your introduction

Slide 5: Methods and Materials

Slides 6-9: Key Results – Graphs with captions

Slides 10-11: Conclusion

Slide 12: References

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Please send us any student samples, photos, graphs, assignments, learning tools you are willing to share with the Schoolyard Ecology learning community, a.k.a. teachers like you :)

End of School-year Forest Ecology Videos Anybody?

Did you  know that they have great educational resources related to Forest Ecology at the Museum of Natural History in Cambridge? 

View short informational videos about New England’s forest history, ecology, and wildlife, and learn about the research of Harvard scientists in our regional forests. Visit the museum to experience the exhibition, New England Forests in the Zofnass Family Gallery.

A History of New England's Forests

This video provides an overview of the landscape history of New England, from European settlement to the present, and explains how it has shaped our modern forest.
 
 

Fungi in the Forest

The fungi–including various mushrooms, molds, and yeasts–are critical players in the forest ecosystem. These videos explore the various roles of fungi as parasites, decomposers, and cooperative partners with trees, and feature the research of Harvard scientist Anne Pringle.
 

How do Forests Work?

Trees are essential components of forests, but a forest is more than a collection of trees. These videos animate the flow of water and nutrients through a tree and describe how forests work, including the processes whereby forest ecosystems help recycle carbon and shelter and purify water.

 

Life on a Rock, the Lichens

Lichens grow abundantly on the surface of rocks, trees, and even man-made objects. These videos explain the unusual biology of lichens, show their astounding diversity, and profile the field research of a Harvard biologist who studies them.

 

 

Our Changing Forests

New England’s forests are living laboratories studied by scientists. These videos feature Harvard botanists, ecologists, and atmospheric scientists measuring how forests circulate carbon through the biosphere, interact with climate, and respond to invasive species.
Photo by Bridget Tivnan.

 

Old Growth Forest

Virgin old growth forests once blanketed the New England landscape, however today old growth forest is a tiny, but important, component of our regional forests. This video describes the characteristics of old growth and the rich community of plants, animals, and fungi found here.
 

Wetlands in the Forest

From forest ponds, to bogs and temporary spring pools, New England's forest wetlands are an important link between land and water. This video describes why wetlands are important as habitat for wildlife and to filter and protect our water supply.

These videos came from the Harvard Museum of Natural History webpages at:
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures-classes-events/new-england-forests-videos.html

Views of Declining Hemlocks from On High

Photos by David Foster

The views from the Eddy Flux towers in a hemlock stand at Harvard Forest may be providing a good last look at the hemlock forest while it is reasonably intact. According to Harvard Forest director, David Foster, " the foliage is beginning to take on that gray cast of moribundity, light levels are increasing in the understory, and trees are beginning to die as their crowns thin.  But, the forest is still striking as is the view from the top of the tower, though the leaders of tallest trees are showing decline."

For more information on  Eddy Flux tower research, go to: 
http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/research/towers

For more information on the Woolly Bully Schoolyard Study tracking the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid go to: 
http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/woolly-bully-invasive-pest-hemlock-woolly-adelgid

Graphs of Spring 2014 Budding

By Schoolyard Teacher, Maryanne Rotelli, Hollis High School, New Hampshire

How do your budding times compare?  

Students Search for Tiny but Deadly, Woolly Bully; The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

Holyoke Catholic H.S. students examining the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid closeup 

Students looking for Woolly Adelgid egg sacs

Measuring the section of the Hemlock branch that contains Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Egg sacs

Photos by Lise Letellier

The tiny insect these students seek is not harmful to humans but it is responsible for wiping out large numbers of one of our most common forest trees. Hemlock trees make up almost one quarter of all of Massachusetts' forests, and as such are considered a foundation species of our native forest. Students are tracking this little bug that is sucking the life out of many of our hemlocks, and sharing their findings with Harvard Forest Ecologist,  David Orwig.   

Holyoke Catholic H.S. Teacher Lise Letellier, and her students, along with hundreds of students throughout New England are contributing information about the presence of this invasive Pest, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid as part of the  Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology project: Woolly Bully.  

These images show students searching for the egg sacs covered in white wool -like covering that indicate the presence of tiny insects called hemlock woolly adelgids. Right now, hundreds of students are out investigating their schoolyards and woods as part of the data collection they will contribute to this regional Schoolyard study, led by Harvard Forest Ecologist, David Orwig.  

See which schools are participating and link to their data at: 

Schoolyard Woolly Bully field site map.

See more about Dr. Orwig's Hemlock research at:  http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/other-tags/hemlock-woolly-adelgid-hwa

See more about the Woolly Bully Schoolyard Ecology project at:  http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/woolly-bully-invasive-pest-hemlock-woolly-adelgid

TEACHERS, to join this Schoolyard study, complete the registration form at: Schoolyard Eco Summer Registration Form

Name These Trees.....

Photos submitted by Maryanne Rotelli, Hollis, N.H.

More Buds Bursting

We're starting in Belchertown.Aspen has already burst.  Red Maple is close on its heels, birch is promising, even the oaks are puffy.Crazy week ... 165 2nd graders, 40 high-schoolers and a whole mess of chaperones = one successful field trip across the street and a whole lot of happy people (except for that one case of poison ivy!)

Louise Levy

Belchertown, Ma.

Yes spring is coming to Drumlin Farm and Lowell slowly. At Drumlin Farm the Black birch has just burst and the sugar maple is very puffy in some buds and not as much in others. I have noticed at great difference among sugar maples, even those side by side!  Our box alder leafed out last week as did the silver maples in Boyce Field. In Lowell, the sugar maple at the Robinson School all buds puffy and at Freshman Academy in Down town Lowell the red maple is puffy too.

Sally Farrow

Lincoln and Lowell