Project
CANOE
Cross-
Age
Nature
Outdoor
Education
Program info
Project CANOE allows 12th grade high school students who are interested in pursuing careers as teachers the opportunity to interact with and educate younger students within the district in an outdoor setting.
Subject Areas Taught
Biological Indicators of Aquatic Ecosystems - Using Marcroinvertebrates to Determine Water Quality
Student Instructors take students on a brief hike down to a stretch of river, where the students use waders, kick-nets, and invertebrate nets to see what little creatures are lurking in the streams banks, under rocks, and in the water column of the shallow creek. They identify the critters using keys and any creatures that utilized the dissolved oxygen from the water are recorded on a biotic index tally sheet. A calculation is made, weighing in the types of macroinvertebrates found. Some are tolerant, others are sensitive, and there are species in between as well. A calculation is made and a range of results on a key indicates what the water quality is based on these biotic indicators.
Using Water Chemistry Tests to Validate Differences in Wetland Classifications
High school kids take the middle school students on a journey across Lulu Lake by canoe and teach about the differences in water chemistry between a lake and a bog. Dissolved Oxygen and pH are the two tests that help identify the major differences in the two types of water bodies. Students put on rubber boots and venture out onto the peaty surface of the bog, where they bounce around on the layer of organic material floating atop the water. The young teachers also show the students what they might look like in 2,000 years if they fell through the bog by using the famous Tollund Man and pictures of his preserved corpse. Explanations of how pH and a lack of dissolved oxygen in a bog played a role in his preservation are discussed.
Location:
Lulu Lake Nature Conservancy Property
When:
Project CANOE will be offered when there is interest generated and we are able to coordinate this huge undertaking. It doesn't happen every year, but it sure is worthwhile when it does!
Thanks to:
The Nature Conservancy
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Lynn Burke
Steve Benton
Kathy Abraham
ECO Volunteers:
~Guides
~Videographers
~Photographers
~Canoe Safety Crew
~Lead Instructors
2010 - present
2010 - present
Wisconsin's Forests - Tree Species Identification Techniques and the History of Logging in Wisconsin
2 more of our aspiring educators teach students about something that they see everyday and don't really pay much attention to - TREES! The students learn how to use a key to identify common species of trees by using characteristics explained by our instructors. After racing around the dirt roads, classifying ten types of trees, the 8th graders are off to the cabin for a presentation about the history of logging in Wisconsin. The various jobs in the logging industry are explained, as students assumed their roles within the "logging camp." To reward the students for their hard work, teachers let the kids try their skills out with some lumberjack games to end the session, which include a 2-person sawlog competition and a chance to light a wood match with a hatchet!
Mapping and Navigation - Using Global Positioning Systems and Map and Compass to Travel Outdoors
For this lesson, student-instructors show the students how to find their way around by using handheld GPS units to initiate a scavenger hunt, where students put a "go-to" command into the units and are guided to their intended targets with the help of their devices. The fun is backed up with some demonstrations on how satellites communicate with the GPS units and determine precise location on Earth through a process called triangulation. So, what if your GPS malfunctions or runs out of batteries? Yikes!! The teachers make sure that the middle school students get a lesson on how to use map and compass to find their way around. Figuring out pace is also a useful activity that students take part in.
FRANKLIN
CLUB
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION & OUTDOOR
