Outdoor Education for Haines Borough School District

Our Outdoor Education program is intended to introduce children in the middle elementary grades to the tools and techniques of field biology while simultaneously acquainting them with the watershed in which they live. The power of the program is that it takes place in and around the town of Haines- we don’t remove them to some pristine and distant landscape, we show them the wonders occurring in very familiar places. For example, on our first ever field trip we trapped three species of juvenile salmonids in a roadside ditch one block from the elementary school. Most of our trips are carried on within a half mile of school. By the time kids leave fifth grade they will have gone on at least nine field trips which will cover a wide range of ecological concepts and field techniques.

Another important aspect of the program is that of continuity: before going to the field the students are familiarized with information collected in previous years by other classes. Results of each trip’s research are integrated into the body of data on that subject. As such students are made aware of quality control concepts, made aware that the data they generate will be used to educate those who come later and that their work captures a snapshot of a changing system.

Some of the activities we've offered so far:

Fish Trapping- Initial field trip in fall of 2002 of program involved use of minnow traps on Sawmill Creek restoration site and adjacent roadside ditches. Three species, coho salmon, Dolly Varden char and cutthroat trout were trapped and identified. Eight trap sites were checked and numbers of individuals of each species recorded. Distribution patterns of the three species were discussed in detail and the idea of long term monitoring and study was stressed. In addition, the restoration plan for the site was described.

Follow-up trapping was done by fifth graders in fall of 2003 just before water was diverted from Sawmill Creek’s former low quality ditch-like bed into a restored reach specifically designed to provide spawning and rearing habitat. Third and fourth graders participated in rescuing juvenile salmonids by hand as they were stranded by the diversion of the creek water. Discussion after this work emphasized the importance of long-term monitoring to document changes in the distribution of fish over time as a way of assessing the value of the project.

Revegetation- In the spring of 2004 denuded slopes on the Sawmill Creek restoration site were planted with willow and red osier dogwood wands. The relationship between vegetation and habitat quality for juvenile fish was discussed. Several students have remarked over the course of the summer on the growth of the plants. Future visits to the site, especially for plant related study, will include visits to these areas. Trash pick-up was included in the initial field trip as a way to acquaint students with the effects of human carelessness.

Watershed Model Construction- The multi-purpose room at the primary building was turned into a factory as four teams of specialists converted sheets of foam core into topographic layers which were then glued together to form an accurate scale model of the Sawmill Creek watershed. This unit took the students from a two dimensional to a three dimensional understanding of their town and its surroundings.

Predator-Prey Games- A variety of modified tag games introduced students to the ways predators seek prey and the ways prey evade or resist predation. The highlight was a camouflage game in which the prey hid in the woods in cryptic clothing to be hunted by a pack of “wolves”. This one is still talked about and requested.

A Walk Up Mt. Ripinsky- The final field trip of 2004 involved a walk up the back side of Mt. Ripinsky to about the 1000’ level. The first part was a visit to an overlook affording the students a view of the watershed from above- to relate their view of reality to the watershed model. Thereafter we walked up the trail and discussed vegetation distribution, water drainage, animal species seen and telling the age of trees using rings.

Orienteering- Using compasses and radios groups of “pathfinders” guided groups of followers to their locations using only directions, distances and landmarks with no reference to street or place names. This was a good exercise in giving and taking directions, in clarity of communication and in teamwork.