IDNR Place-Based Mini-Grants Inspire Change


“It’s a little flippy thing, look, it looks like that, it’s a crawdad, see it tries to pinch.”
“I think you’re right, yes, you got a crawdad!”
“Alright!”

Excitement pours through a junior high school boy as he and his teacher, Merle Unkrich, examine a crawdad they caught from a Mississippi inlet tube. For this junior high school boy from a poverty level school district, where apathy and drugs have a strong hold, this is huge.

Merle Unkrich, the seventh and eighth science teacher for the Wapello Community School District has received three IDNR Aquatic Education Program Place-Based Mini-Grants. The mini-grants help pay for the transportation costs to the Mississippi inlet tubes and the purchase of thermometers, stereo microscopes, field guides, and critter nets. The students participate in a variety of activities planned and taught by the Louisa County Conservation Board - water testing, catching critters in the marshland with dip nets, fishing, hiking, and observing local wildlife.

Before the field experience Merle teaches her seventh and eighth grades classes a unit on Iowa and the Mississippi River. Students study biodiversity, ecosystems, animal species, interdependence, genetic diversity, ground water, the water cycle, groundwater quality, water quality, changing environmental conditions, and implications of environmental issues. Merle also talks about Iowa’s changing landscape and the land use. The Mississippi inlet field trip is the culmination to the unit.

Merle sees a huge transformation in these students when they get out of the classroom and engaged in real science.

“This is good for them because, to me, what it does, if they didn’t have any experience and they didn’t have anybody down here showing them, they would sit here and not entertain themselves at all. What it does is, if they ever get outside they will be able to entertain themselves. And a lot of these kids, not ever being outside, they would just sit and say ‘I don’t have anything to do’ but now they can get in and at least be curious.”

“To me this all (the field experience), it just brings everything I’ve taught all together. Otherwise it’s just this disjointed lesson plan out of a book and it’s a book that they didn’t want to read because it’s boring.”

Merle believes that teaching children to care for their local resources and allowing them to explore locally is the first step to caring about our environment for the rest of their lives. The IDNR Aquatic Education Program Place-based Mini-grants have allowed Merle to take her students out locally and foster caring about the environment.

However, there is more at work here than a science class exploring. Merle is also fostering interest, excitement, and learning from students that may have discipline issues, be exposed to drugs, and are growing up in a world dominated by computer games and television screens.

“I actually have kids come up at the beginning of the day and instead of messing around in the halls they are playing Fish Iowa (IDNR card game)!”

Listen to Merle talk about the place based approach at:

IDNR YouTube: Merle Unkrich from Wapellp Middle School
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXVwQY61fFk&list=UU7mUVEonnSIp8RB31_DxXzA&index=4

For more information about IDNR Education Place-Based Mini-Grants and other IDNR Education Grants visit:
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/ForTeachers/EducationalGrants.aspx

Volunteer Wildlife Surveys

Volunteer wildlife surveys are an example of citizen science projects that students can be involved in. Citizen science projects combine useful observation or data collection with an opportunity for students to learn more about scientific principles, problems, and processes as well as helping them better understand our environment and how to protect it.

Wildlife survey projects involve students in data collection, presentation, and involvement on a local, state, national, and even global level. There are many wildlife surveys that classrooms, and schools can choose to become involved in. One such opportunity is the frog and toad call surveys.

Frog & Toad Call Surveys
Every year during the early spring (as the air and water temperatures start to rise) frogs and toads, roused from their winter slumber, start a harmonious call that echoes through the valleys and fields of Iowa. Western chorus frogs are usually the first of the pint-sized amphibians to start their spring time refrain but they are soon followed by spring peepers, leopard frogs and many more!

Male frogs and toads call during the spring to attract mates. By listening and recording the species heard and the location biologists can gain important information about the health of a population and about the water quality. Amphibians have thin permeable skin and so are sensitive to pollutants in the water. There is concern for amphibian species worldwide as they have declined globally due to pollution.

To find out more about volunteer wildlife monitoring or to sign up for a frog and toad route contact the state coordinator, Stephanie Shepherd at 515-432-2823 x 102, vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.

IDNR Frog & Toad Call Surveys
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WildlifeStewardship/NonGameWildlife/VolunteerWildlifeSurveys/FrogToadCallSurvey.aspx

Iowa HerpNet
http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/

ISU Extension Publications: Iowa Reptiles and Amphibians
https://store.extension.iastate.edu/ItemDetail.aspx?ProductID=2142

Books
Beltz, E. 2009. Frogs: Inside Their Remarkable World. Firefly Books, Limited.
Elliot, L. 2002. The Calls of Frogs and Toads: Breeding Calls and Sounds of 42 Different Species. Stackpole Books.
Elliot, S.M. 1975. Our Dirty Water. Julian Messner.
Errington, P.L. 1996. Of Men and Marshes. Iowa State Press.
Marent, T., and T. Jackson. 2010. Frog: A Photographic Portrait. DK Publishing, Inc.

Wild Weather

Thundersnow in December? Snow in May? Do strange weather phenomena ever leave you wondering about the weather? We do too! Let’s explore weather this week!

Start by having students share what they know about weather. Make a list or chart to track what students already know. Lead into a discussion about what students want to know about weather. Make another list or chart. The previous discussions can be as a class or in small groups with the small groups reporting back to the big group.

Guide students as they design an experiment(s) (either in small groups or as a large class group) to learn more about weather, observe weather, record weather data (depending on what direction students want to go). Relate the study of weather back to the effects of weather on wildlife habitat, water quality, human impacts, and other natural resources impacts. Have small groups report back to large group by creating a multimedia presentation.

Book List
Berger, M., R. Sullivan, and G. Berger. 1999. Can It Rain Cats and Dogs?: Questions & Answers about Weather. Scholastic, Inc.
Carson, M.K. 2011. Inside Weather. Sterling Children’s Books.
Cosgrove, B. 2004. Weather (DK Eyewitness Book Series). DK Publishing, Inc.
Dussling, J., and H. Petach. 1998. Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather. Penguin Books, Limited.
Furgang, K. 2012. National Geographic Kids: Everything Weather – Facts, Photos, and Fun that Will Blow You Away. National Geographic Society.
Ganeri, A. 2012. Wild Weather. Heinemann-Raintree.
Koehler, S. 2009. Let’s Explore Science: Weather. Rourke Publishing, LLC.
Miller, D., Rivera, J. 2008. Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of a Landscape. Lexington Books
Parker, S., and D. West. 2011. Violent Weather. Crabtree Publishing Company.
Regan, L. 2012. Weather Lab. Silver Dolphin Books.

Links
How common is snow in May?
http://www.kcci.com/weather/how-common-is-snow-in-may/-/9358602/19968560/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/qbtsk0z/-/index.html

“Thundersnow” Facts: Mysterious Storms Explained
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090303-thunder-snow-storm.html

The Weather Channel for Kids
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/

Weather Web for Kids
http://www.eo.ucar.edu/webweather/

Next Generation Science Standards or NGSS were recently released. The new K-12 science standards are rich in content and practice. They approach science education in a manner that challenges students to truly grasp subject matter and apply what they are learning. The NGSS focus on preparing K-12 students to go to college or to enter the workforce. The standards were released in April and are now available for states to adopt voluntarily. Iowa educators, school administrators, science consultants, and higher education faculty, among others, recently met for a NGSS awareness session.


For more information on the NGSS visit the following websites:

Next Generation Science Standards
http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Next Generation Science Standards – Iowa
http://www.nextgenscience.org/Iowa

Iowa will convene task force to review science standards
http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2860%3Aiowa-will-convene-task-force-to-review-science-standards&catid=242%3Anews-releases

School Gardens

Why a school garden?
School gardens provide hands-on learning in a wide variety of disciplines including science, math, language arts, and visual arts. Being involved in school gardens get students active, engaged, and teaches them important life skills such as responsibility. School gardening of fruits and vegetables also positively influences students health and nutrition attitudes and actions. School gardens also:

• Increase science achievement scores.
• Improve social skills and behavior.
• Improve environmental attitudes and stewardship.
• Instill a love and appreciation of nature.
• Improve life skills such as responsibility and teamwork.
• Instill healthy eating habits and attitudes.
• Improve health and nutrition knowledge.
• Provide wonderful opportunities for hands-on learning.
• Increase physical activity.

Do you want to get started? Read below for how you can get your school garden started today!

Support
The first step in starting a school garden is to get support from the school district, administrators, and community. The web site School Garden Wizard “Make the Case” http://schoolgardenwizard.org/wizard/make/ has a wonderful proposal template to help you get started. Some things to include in your proposal are: case studies of other school gardens, benefits, and funding sources/ideas.

Funding
Get your community involved. Community involvement fosters ownership of the school garden and will lead to better and continued support.
• Contact local businesses for donations of money or supplies.
• Host a bake sale or other fundraiser.
• Ask your local greenhouse for plant or seed donations.
• Look for and apply for grants

2013 Midwest Garden Grant (Closes April 26 - apply NOW!)
http://grants.kidsgardening.org/2013-midwest-garden-grant

2013 A Garden is the Way to Grow (Deadline for 2013 has passed but keep it in mind for next year!)
http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/AgDiversification/AgardenIsTheWaytoGrow.asp

Garden Plan
Create a garden design and plan for your school garden. Ask a local master gardeners club, parents, or other knowledgeable community members for help with the design and plan. Involve faculty, and students in the planning process. Vote on themes, plants, colors, etc…The more the faculty and students are involved the more it will truly feel like their garden!

School gardens can be very simple, from a few containers of vegetables in a school courtyard, to elaborate raised beds that stretch around a schoolyard. When designing keep in mind what your school can handle, the money available or raised, and the ability of the school and volunteers to maintain it.

Create
After you have support, funding, and a plan it is time to start creating your garden!! Organize work days for faculty, students, and volunteers to work on the school garden. Work days can be during school hours, after hours, and even on a weekend day. Assign classes or grades age appropriate jobs. All ages can help and will enjoy being involved in the process!

Learn
Congratulations you now have a school garden! There are many wonderful cross-curricular learning opportunities that your new school garden can provide you. School gardens are wonderful places to study insects, plant growth, rainfall, and much more. They can be a beautiful setting for drawing, painting, and writing. The sky really is the limit!

Maintenance
Remember to have a plan for maintenance of your school garden. Assign daily, weekly, monthly, and/or yearly maintenance activities to grades, faculty, or community and parent volunteers. Or plan school garden work days for maintenance. Make a plan for the maintenance of your school garden that works best for your school and community. Remember to arrange a plan for the summer months as well.

Websites
Iowa Healthiest State Initiative: School & Community Gardening Resources
http://www.iowahealthieststate.com/gardening-resources

School Garden Wizard
http://schoolgardenwizard.org/wizard/

Kids Gardening (The National Gardening Association)
http://www.kidsgardening.org/

Books
Ancona, G. 2013. It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden. Candlewick Press.
Lovejoy, S. 1999. Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children. Workman Publishing Company.
Lovejoy, S. 2001. Sunflower Houses: Inspiration From the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-ups. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
Scott, E., and C. Duffy. 1998. Dinner from Dirt: Ten Meals Kids Can Grow and Cook. Gibbs-Smith.
Waters, M, et al. 1994. The Victory Garden Kid’s Book. Globe Pequot Press.
Winckler, S. 2002. Planting the Seed: A Guide to Gardening. Lerner Publishing Group.

April

Wildlife Management

Activities related to Wildlife Management

Below are examples of activities that can be used while studying wildlife management.

Project WILD

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Students use photographs to examine the changes in public attitude toward wildlife and wildlife management.
Bird Song Survey – Students will identify and describe the importance of bird counting as one means of inventorying wildlife population.
Checks and Balances – Students evaluate hypothetical wildlife management decisions.
Deer Crossing – Students identify various factors involved in wildlife management issues.
Deer Dilemma – Students take on the role of a board of commissioners who must deal with an ever increasing deer population.
Dropping in on Deer ­– Students count deer pellet groups to estimate the population density of a given area.

Project Learning Tree

400-Acre Wood – Students play the role of managers of a 400-acre piece of public forest.
The Forest of S.T. Shrew – Students take a “shrew’s eye view” of the forest and gain an appreciation of the animals that make forests their home.

Book List

Ballard, C. 2008. Watching Wildlife: Animal Habitats. Heinemann.
Dinsmore, J.J. 1994. A Country So Full of Game: The Story of Wildlife in Iowa. University of Iowa Press.
Dinsmore, S. 1995. Iowa Wildlife Viewing Guide. Falcon.
Hyett, B.H. 1996. The Tracks We Leave: Poems on Endangered Wildlife of North America. University of Illinois Press.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 2000. Iowa: Portrait of the Land. Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Kurtz, C. 1996. Iowa’s Wild Places. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Laubach, C & Laubach,R. 2002. Raptors: A Kid’s Guide to Birds of Prey. Storey Kids.
Leopold, A. 1989. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press.
Love, D., and J.M. Turley. 2005.  Awesome Osprey: Fishing Birds of the World. Mountain Press Publishing Company.
Savage, C. 1993. Peregrine Falcons. Sierra Club Books for Children.
Tait, M. 2006. Animal Tragic: Popular Misconceptions of Wildlife through the Centuries. Think Books.
Walker, B., Salt,D., and Reid, W. 2006. Resilience Thinking : Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World. New York: Island P.

Iowa Wildlife Cameras:

Dickinson County Conservation Board: Okoboji Osprey Camera
http://dickinsoncountyconservationboard.com/osprey-camera/

Decorah Eagles

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

IDNR Falcon Cams

http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/SocialMediaPressRoom/IowaDNRVideos/IowaDNRLiveFalconCam.aspx

Scott County Owl Camera

http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/webcams/webcam_120.php

Alcoa Eagle Cam

http://www.alcoa.com/locations/usa_davenport/en/info_page/eaglecam.asp

Scott County Bird Feeder Camera

http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/webcams/webcam_121.php

IDNR Trout Cam

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iowadnr

 

 

April

Wildlife Management:

Iowa’s Wildlife Management

 Wildlife management is the application of scientific knowledge

and technical skills to protect, preserve, conserve, limit, enhance, or

extend the value of wildlife and its habitat.

When European settlers first arrived in Iowa they found a land teeming with wildlife of all shapes and sizes. There seemed to be no end to the abundance. However, within fifty years many animals had been hunted and exploited completely out of Iowa. In the 1930’s several Iowans, concerned by the declining wildlife populations, developed conservation and wildlife management plans and practices. The first wildlife management organization in Iowa was the Iowa Conservation Commission (which would later become the Iowa Department of Natural Resources).  The ICC worked to establish game law, enhance wildlife habitat, and stock the state with wildlife.

Today Iowa’s wildlife is managed by several agencies including the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The IDNR sets hunting and fishing regulations to regulate the harvest and protection of Iowa’s wildlife. They also conduct research, monitor wildlife populations, and manage land for wildlife habitat.

Wildlife are owned by no one but are held in trust by the government for the benefit of the present and future generations. This is known as the Public Trust Doctrine. Iowa’s wildlife are managed for everyone.  However, only two percent of Iowa’s land is in public ownership. This land is in preserves, refuges, public hunting land, state parks, county parks and other state, and federal land programs. These lands are protected and managed. A large art of Iowa’s wildlife management plan is dependent on private land management. Cooperation between land owners and wildlife managers is essential for Iowa’s wildlife. Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), among others, are vital for managing Iowa’s lands for wildlife diversity.

Iowa State University Extension: Iowa Wildlife Management

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN401.pdf

Iowa Department of Natural Resources:

Iowa’s Wildlife
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/IowasWildlife.aspx

Wildlife Stewardship

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WildlifeStewardship.aspx

Wildlife Landowner Assistance

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/LandStewardship/WildlifeLandownerAssistance.aspx

Hunting

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting.aspx

Fishing

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing.aspx

Come back next week for classroom activities and book lists on wildlife management!!

 

 

Educator Workshops

Implementing the Iowa Core Through Site-based Projects
July 1 & 2, 2013   (100% attendance is required for credit.) 
9:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (July 1); 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.(July 2)
Springbrook Conservation Education Center (2473 160th Road, Guthrie Center)

Educators will be introduced to a variety of nationally-developed resources that support authentic learning as well the Projects WILD, WILD Aquatic and Learning Tree (secondary modules). Training will include using a project-based learning model and field investigations to create relevant learning opportunities for students that support the Iowa Core. Trainers will work with educators to incorporate activities from the Projects into inquiry-based learning cycles and to develop real field investigations with their students. Educators will be encouraged to develop site based projects to study and/or improve their local natural resources. This can include service learning opportunities like Trees for Kids, IOWATER, NatureMapping, Wildlife Diversity monitoring efforts, development of outdoor learning areas or habitats, and more.

Participants are encouraged to bring information about their school site or a nearby natural area for use with workshop activities. Teaching partners/groups are encouraged to facilitate planning/implementation of projects.

You must register online:

Elementary Registration

https://prodev.aeapdonline.org/4DCGI/SC008899991401INV&*

Secondary Registration

https://prodev.aeapdonline.org/4DCGI/SC008999991401INV&*

Registration deadline is June 24, 2013. Registration fees include materials and 1 license renewal credit for $110 or 1 graduate credit from Drake University for $210. Meals are included in the registration fee. Lodging for participants is available free of charge at the Springbrook Conservation Education Center on Monday, July 1.

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The Practical and Fun Side of Science
June 17 & 18, 2013
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. (June 17); 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.(June 18)
Springbrook Conservation Education Center (2473 160th Road, Guthrie Center)

This class was designed to show elementary teachers that science can be fun and practical. You will be introduced to simple hands on science lessons that will make learning more enjoyable for your students. These lessons will not only be practical and fun to use, but will also help you and your students better understand basic science concepts.

You must register on-line:

https://prodev.aeapdonline.org/4DCGI/SC007399991401INV&*

Registration deadline is May 31, 2013. Registration fees are: $60.00 (1 licensure credit); $135.00 (1 Drake graduate credit); $37.00 (no credit).

For more information, contact A. Jay Winter; 641/747-8383 ext.11 or Kathy Hodges; 712-792-9082.

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Exploring Iowa’s Natural Resources On-line Course
September 2 - December 15, 2013

The goal of this course is to help you utilize local natural resources as unifying themes to implement Iowa Core concepts in your curriculum. You will work in small groups and individually to create a network of contacts and resources to teach natural resource concepts. Group and individual assignments will build on each other throughout the course. 

The course is arranged on a weekly basis. Each week a new Module (with required readings, resources and references, assignments, and occasional guest speaker discussions) will become available. Each module is designed to introduce you to a specific environmental education topic, strategy or skill. You will only have access to the current Module to complete assignments. Modules that have been completed will be visible the remainder of the class so you can go access previous assignment postings and resources.

You are required to spend 4-5 hours per week on-line completing assignments and participating in group discussions. You should be comfortable navigating web pages, have access to internet and a computer on a daily basis, and possess basic computer skills. A majority of the course materials will be provided on a CD with linked pdf files.

You must register on-line:
https://prodev.aeapdonline.org/4DCGI/22007499991401INV&*

Registration deadline is August 26, 2013. Registration fee includes materials and 3 license renewal credit for $75. This course is being offered by AEA PD Online, a joint initiative by all of Iowa's Area Education Agencies. This course therefore uses AEA PD Online's alternative fee schedule for license renewal credit. Transcripts and credit will be issued by AEA PD Online instead of Heartland AEA.