Structure
The title of the Canopy Connections 2018 curriculum is “Amongst the Ancients”. This curriculum was developed while studying effective pedagogical approaches and strategies for environmental education. The team evaluated and revised the lesson plans to meet the needs of students while conducting nine field trips at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. The curriculum is broken up into a pre-trip lesson that is presented in school classrooms prior to the field trip and four field trip stations. Each element of the curriculum has a lesson plan, focusing on different elements of natural cycles within old growth forests and the unique relationships that humans have to them. Additionally, the Canopy Connections team decided to place an emphasis on students’ awareness of the indigenous peoples that have for time immemorial inhabited the Willamette Valley and the Cascades. Information about the lifeways of the Kalapuya and Molalla peoples were incorporated throughout the curriculum.
Pre-Trip Lesson: Stoking the Flame
The pre-trip lesson helps to prepare students for the upcoming field trip and share our excitement. The goal of this lesson is to introduce the team to the class and help them understand how amazing this opportunity is. The lesson begins this process with an ice-breaker introduction game that has the added benefit of gauging the existing outdoor experience and knowledge level of the class. The 2018 Canopy Connections team emphasize the importance of developing a sense of place by having students review a picture of the forest we will be traveling to, and discussing what exactly makes old growth so special. During this first interaction, the team asks students to practice observational skills utilizing a photograph of HJ Andrews and introduces potentially new topics such as traditional ecological knowledge. Station Two: Nature’s Calendar
This activity is designed to help students engage with the natural cycles in an old growth forest and their interdependence on these processes. After a brief introduction to some of the key plant species found in Pacific Northwest old-growth forests, students work with data from real experiments at H. J. Andrews. We use data about the date of first bud burst of three separate plant species, and ask the students to explore the correlation of this phenomena to changes in average temperature between years. This station provides students with a fundamental understanding of what makes an effective hypothesis, as well as giving them experience reading and creating graphs. Students should come away from this station with an appreciation for how our lives have historically been governed by natural cycles, and in many ways still are, while also gaining invaluable skills in data collection, graphing, and scientific inquiry. Telling the Story of the Forest: Humanities in the Environment
While other stations focus on the ways students can interpret the forest through data collection and scientific inquiry, this station focuses on a more emotional connection to the forest through artistic expression and storytelling. The Canopy Connections team considers interdisciplinary curriculums to be the most effective means of education, and as such have designed their curriculum to be accessible to students of all different types of intelligences. This station begins with a discussion about the indigenous peoples that occupied this land before Europeans, and the importance of their knowledge of seasonal changes is to their lifestyle. It then engages students in an art activity with both individual and group elements. The station finishes with a sit spot, providing a chance for the students to use their skills of observation to learn the lessons of the forest. Through these activities the Canopy Connections team hopes to cultivate an emotional connection between students and the forest around them. |
Introduction and Station One: Exploring New Heights
This station is designed to introduce scientific concepts in a personally engaging way by having students formulate hypotheses that compare multiple variables as they climb 100 feet into an old-growth Douglas-fir tree. This station uses the personal, emotional connections created by the awe and reverence of being in an old-growth tree to provide students with a greater awareness of natural cycles. The team also use this station to emphasize the importance of scientific inquiry, the scientific method, and effective data collection. Once students have collected temperature data from different levels of the tree, they collectively graph the results and compare them to their hypothesis, giving them the opportunity to put the scientific method into practice. Station Three: Cool, Calm Conifers
This station focuses on the complex relationships found within an old growth ecosystem and the services provided by this type of forest for plants, animals, and humans. Through observation, discussion, and hands-on activities, students learn about energy flows and share their own experience as part of the web of life. This station allows students to explore H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest through a silent hike and games that encourage students to use the forest as a place to expand their knowledge. Many students find that the time spent in this station quietly experiencing the forest alone can be one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Further Information:
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