In “Watershed Ecology” the lesson began with a hook about fun facts about water and asking the students why water is so important to see how much they already knew. This hook led into a lecture reviewing the hydrologic cycle, which involved a visual (picture) of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection. This transitioned into identifying previous knowledge about watersheds and an introduced the concept through a short video that led into a discussion about what watersheds look like, basic definitions, and the importance of watersheds in an ecosystem. Next, the students were split into groups and each given a large poster of a picture of a watershed that had blank spaces that corresponded to different parts such as ridge, subbasin, wetland, and tributaries. The students were asked to match a definition and description to each blank space. After, the group was brought back together for a lecture on the elements of a healthy and unhealthy watershed and the effect of pollution on various ecosystems within a watershed. This discussion led into the final main interactive activity, which was building a watershed. In this experiment, the students were given materials (such as clay, rocks, pom poms, felt) and asked to create a watershed model in a foil tin. Once it had been created, each team leader facilitated a “rain” demonstration where the students sprayed water to produce “precipitation” and observed where the water flowed in their model. The students then demonstrated pollution by doing the same rain stimulation but were introduced to hypothetical human activities and “pollutants” (sprinkles) were added to their models. Lastly, the lesson ended with the students reflecting on what happened within their watersheds, how the water cycle related to a watershed, and what actions they could take to contribute to a healthy watershed in their community.
EASB has given me such a special teaching opportunity, as we are literally given the chance to create our own curriculum and be the science teachers for a week. Throughout the quarter planning for this week, it all comes down to the interactions that develop within the classroom and seeing the many hours you put into your curriculum come to life, which is honestly the best experience ever. Even though you are facilitating the same lesson plan multiple times, the same material can received and acted on so differently depending on each new group of students. One of my favorite parts of my lesson was seeing the watersheds be made, as I hadn’t actually seen what they would like like, but all of the students got really creative with the materials when creating their models and just really got into the activity. From watersheds to food webs to endangered species to shared resources, all of the lessons ignited such genuine curiosity in all of the 6th graders. In fact, during the middle of the week, Ms. Goulet commented that she was told that she had never seen the 6th graders as attentive as they were with us. In fact, Ms. Goulet even emailed us immediately after saying that she was already thinking about ideas for next year because she was so excited. The most memorable part of my experience last year in Brewster during EASB 2014 was how I was able to build such a strong connection to the community in only a week through not only teaching, but engaging with high school students and families, attending community events, and building relationships with local members of the community. Returning to Brewster this year, I definitely felt like I got to reconnect with all members of the community. For example, it was great to see Jerry for our homestay again, as he truly make his place seem like a home away from home. Moreover, last year my team met the owner - Shannon - of a local gift shop called Sweet T, and when I walked in the door she immediately recognized me and asked how I've been doing. It's so insightful to hear her perspective on how Brewster has changed throughout the years. For instance, we talked about the significant impact that the fires had on the community since the last time I had been there. She also talked about how she was starting a new (and the first) Boys and Girls Club in the community, which led to us getting the unique opportunity to visit the club on our last day and engage with the younger elementary school students. Furthermore, another one of my favorite parts of the trip was reconnecting with the students that I worked with last year, as we coordinated some college talks at the high school and a couple of them were in 7th grade class, which means a lot of them were in the classes I taught last year. Overall, I had such a wonderful experience teaching in Brewster again. I am amazed with the close relationships you can build with a group of students and a community in a week, and more importantly, I am amazed with how you can sustain and deepen those relationships beyond that week to create lasting connections. -Meili Powell In "Fishing for the Future" Students learned about fish (both exotic species of fish like the Pusher Fish, the Remora, and the Bichir; and those local to the Brewster area like trout and salmon). Learning was facilitated through a colorful powerpoint as well as artifacts brought directly from the University of Washington’s Burke Museum, including a fish life cycle display, a perch skeleton, and many species of preserved fish specimens. The students also simulated a “tragedy of commons” fishing experience through an interactive game. Students became “Brewster Fishers” who had to catch at least two “fish” (swedish fish) from their self-created watersheds made on Monday to stay alive each 20-second round. An additional fish would be added to the watershed for each fish leftover. However, the tendency of the students was to catch as many fish as possible, quickly depleting the fish stock and recreating the real-life problem of overfishing. After the game, students brainstormed ways to make fishing more sustainable and learned about local fishing regulations, licenses, and catch limits.
Getting the opportunity to teach was amazing. The kids, the teachers, and the community of Brewster, WA was absolutely amazing. The energy and engagement of the students was astounding. At first, I was unsure of what to expect. Would the students like our lessons? Would they find the material interesting? After the first day, any worries I might’ve had were washed away. The kids were eager to learn, to absorb the facts we spewed out, and to ask questions. Not only were they eager to listen and to reflect but they were also readily willing to share and collaborate with each other - one of the most important aspects of learning in my opinion. Although shy at times, the kids were very supportive of each other and when prompted with direct questions and gentle guiding they quickly arrived at a correct answer. On the teaching side, standing up at the front of a classroom felt awesome. It was my first time ever teaching to a class for over an hour and it was extremely empowering. The other volunteers - Dana, Mikayla, and Meili - were also brilliant. I could not have had such an amazing experience without their support and their helpful suggestions. The community was so welcoming and friendly. Everywhere we went people smiled, waved, and talked to us like we were old friends. Upon arriving at the house where we were staying for the week, the whole group was quickly pulled into a bear hug from the owner. “My house is your house,” he said adamantly, making sure that we had everything we needed and more. From quad rides to nightly swing-dancing lessons and bonfires, our home stay was full of country adventure! Traveling into town, we walked up and down the quaint streets, venturing into the cutest gift store, Sweet T’s. Here we bought a gift for Ms. Goulet, the wonderful teacher whose classes we got to work with all week. The gift included a Cherry-Blossom Crystal glowing kit and “Husky Poop,” both gifts that brought a little Husky spirit to her Brewster classroom. We went on hikes - echo ridge, dry falls, and the Grand Coulee Dam- and enjoyed the fresh air. The views were incredible. The bonding was unreal. On our first hike, forgetting the temperature decrease in the mountains, none of us wore enough clothing. Freezing after a couple of hours of hiking, we ran down the hill like madmen, waving wildly and shouting into the wind. A group that had been only acquaintances a few days before was now connecting over chilly adventures in the deserted forest. - Tali Haller In "Forest Ecosystems", the lesson began by asking the students to brainstorm forest animals and plants in WA and I wrote them on the whiteboard. Then, with a Powerpoint, we talked about the concepts of ecosystems and habitats. The students had learned about ecosystems previously, so my lesson was a review and a new application of these concepts to forests. We also discussed the trophic levels of producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and decomposer. The next activity was a game outside that simulated how population fluctuations of the different trophic levels would affect one another. The students were split up into owls, mice, and seeds, and simulated eating one another and how the sizes of each of these groups would change over time in response to each other. Then we went back in the classroom and graphed the data for the owls, mice, and seeds population sizes over time. We discussed the graph, and then we discussed the Northern Spotted Owl as a specific example of a forest animal and part of an important ecosystem in WA. Then we talked about how to connect the owls, mice, and seeds food chain to other biotic and abiotic factors and make it a food web. They made food webs on posters in four groups, and then we drew one on the board as well.
This week was an incredible teaching experience, and I learned a lot about teaching and lesson planning. I learned even more about the local community of Brewster. This community was amazing - the kids, teachers, and other people that we met were all so welcoming and friendly. I loved how the students were genuinely interested in our lessons and eager to learn. When I saw this on the very first day, it made me even more excited to be there and much less worried about my day of lead teaching. There was so much to prepare beforehand that I was a bit worried about how well the lessons would go, and how much the 6th graders would actually learn from and enjoy the lessons. They seemed to have learned a lot about different local ecosystems and organisms by the end of the week, so hopefully they will continue to be interested in these concepts in the future. I have taught about environmental science before, but this was a more formal setting. It is an important time for learning, as the kids are getting ready to transition from elementary to more intense classes, so I hope that they were able to see science as something fun that can enable them to spend time outside and learn more about the environment around them. I also really hope the kids stay interested in learning in general, and they are so kind and respectful that I am sure they will do well in the future. We were able to interact with the local community in many different ways, and these interactions made the experience so much more than I expected. We visited local sights like the Grand Coulee Dam and Dry Falls, and got to know each other better while hiking at Echo Ridge in Chelan and running along the Columbia River. This was a great way to explore the area, and these were some of my favorite moments. In Brewster, we also had amazing experiences every day. We walked around the town and met local business owners, went to the high school soccer game, and gave college talks to 7th grade classes, a Junior class, and the high school soccer team. We also had a great dinner at a locally-owned Mexican restaurant, and we went to the newly opened Boys and Girls Club and helped kids of all ages plant seeds in recycled milk cartons and cups. The community members of Brewster were so sweet and welcoming that it was very sad to leave after only a week. -Mikayla Richardson The learning objectives of my lesson for the kids was to be able to identify and learn about the different adaptations that wolves and other predators have that make them successful in their environment, learn about the importance of wolves to an ecosystem and why they are a keystone species, the conflicts between people and predators, and to finally learn about animal reintroduction and endangered species in the United States. I taught the kids these topics through the use of stations, PowerPoints, and group activities. In the stations, the kids learned about 4 adaptations(had pictures) for each chosen predator: Grizzly Bear, Canada Lynx, Red-Tailed Hawk, and Western Rattlesnake. They liked the rattlesnake the most since it has such cool adaptations like pits and venom and most of the kids have seen them before. After adaptations, the kids learned about wolf reintroduction and conflict through the use of a PowerPoint with a video and a map that I had made. With the map, it was decorated to look like Washington with various labels and props that the kids could use to illustrate conflict with wolves between the government, environmentalists, and hunters/ranchers. If we had enough time, we talked about the endangered species act and animals that are under threat later placing them in the correct areas on a poster.
The learning objectives of my lesson for the kids was to be able to identify and learn about the different adaptations that wolves and other predators have that make them successful in their environment, learn about the importance of wolves to an ecosystem and why they are a keystone species, the conflicts between people and predators, and to finally learn about animal reintroduction and endangered species in the United States. I taught the kids these topics through the use of stations, PowerPoints, and group activities. In the stations, the kids learned about 4 adaptations(had pictures) for each chosen predator: Grizzly Bear, Canada Lynx, Red-Tailed Hawk, and Western Rattlesnake. They liked the rattlesnake the most since it has such cool adaptations like pits and venom and most of the kids have seen them before. After adaptations, the kids learned about wolf reintroduction and conflict through the use of a PowerPoint with a video and a map that I had made. With the map, it was decorated to look like Washington with various labels and props that the kids could use to illustrate conflict with wolves between the government, environmentalists, and hunters/ranchers.(kids were gathered around it) If we had enough time, we talked about the endangered species act and animals that are under threat later placing them in the correct areas on a poster. I would have never gone to this part of WA without EASB, so it was an amazing experience seeing a different part of WA both geologically and people-wise. I enjoyed all the activities we did as a team like hiking and going to Dry Falls and the Grand Coulee Dam, but I especially enjoyed how we participated directly in the local community by attending sports event, giving college talks, meeting the local people, and volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club planting with kids of different age groups. The people of Eastern Washington give off a more relaxed and friendly vibe which is rather nice after the hustle and bustle of the city life. (I still love you Seattle!!!) You can just have a short conversation with someone and they are already offering to invite you over to their cattle ranch for example. Finally, it was a joy becoming friends with three other amazing girls through preparing lessons to our hilarious posed pictures at Dry Falls to having s'mores by the fire. I would like to thank the Brewster community for taking us in and treating us like family and friends. -Dana Chapman Friday was our summary day and more fun day! We planted seeds in recycled milk and juice cartons, which the kids really enjoyed because we went outside and they were able to choose what they wanted to grow. We also summarized what they had learned throughout the week with trivia questions from the different lessons. There was a slideshow of photos from the week, and we brought in cookies for all the students. We also spent any extra time taking more class photos and dancing! All four of our group members taught on Friday; there was no one lead teacher because it was more of a review day. We each came up with the trivia questions from our own lesson, and we were all happy with the amount of material that they were able to retain from our lessons by Friday!
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