Project Ideas

Service Project ideas

• finding and eradicating invasive species and planting native species (collab w/ Tribe and maybe CNPS)

• Planting or scattering native seeds

• Area clean-up

• Pond clean-up

PBL Ideas

• Mapping

• Biodiversity Survey

• Field Guide

We could do different projects each year that use and build on the previous year's work - maybe select 6th grade students could help teach the 5th graders about what they did! They could do a presentation to the 5th graders for their public product! - OR, 5th-graders could present to 4th-graders to show what their goals are!

We could do mapping in sections, and add a little more each year, and more detail.

We could do biodiversity comparisons of the log circle and stone circle, or some other area.

A field guide might be a good place to start with a few species?

From McKenzie: At this point I am still really loving the idea of a program that kicks off with Science Camp at the beginning of the year, then continues to build on itself throughout the whole year through some kind of on-going project. I love the idea of a field-guide, or some sort of finished product that they get to keep at the end of the year! A field-guide also could be a great way to integrate nature journal observations and information about Native plant uses and names.

For our 2021 pilot program, we did a service project pulling invasive Pepperweed in the COSA, in an area where the endangered endemic Owens Valley Checkerbloom grows. Here is the rough outline of the program, and McKenzie's report of how the first lesson went:

Structure / Plan for Final Lesson:

Rough Schedule:

1. Intro - Docent Instructors: Walk and talk/sensory activity ~15 minutes

2. Guest Speaker activity - Tara (from Tribe Cultural Center) ~30 minutes

3. Service project ~30 minutes - McKenzie (Tribe Environmental Management Office Americorps Member): Students will work on a stewardship project removing invasive plants from an area near Endangered Owens Valley Checkerbloom sites (we provide gloves)

4. Magic Spot/gratitude circle - Docent Instructors ~15 minutes

Docents will meet the students at the gate and do a walk-and-talk to the Stone Circle, followed by a sensory grounding activity of your choice (or your students' choice). (Or more discussion if it needs to continue)

Suggestions/Ideas for the Walk-and-Talk:

Use discussion to review what they have learned so far (observation skills, ecosystem connections, plants' role within the ecosystem, our place within the ecosystem) Ideas to have them share with a partner:

• Ask students to share with a partner something they did in one of our first 3 lessons that they enjoyed.

• What was something interesting they observed?

• What ecosystem connections did they find evidence of?

• What is something important that plants do in the ecosystem?

Get them to consider the idea of reciprocity, thinking about what they've observed in the ecosystem and how interconnected everything is, and to consider their own connections - to the COSA, thinking back to 3rd grade, to this Valley, to nature, and what they bring to the table.

A short series of Walk-and-Talk questions along those lines to "prime the pump" for Tara and McKenzie and the service project.

Any sensory activity you like to ground them is great.

• Recall we did 360 degree view (the one where we ended by looking upside down), https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IBmztkztzQzqaeAzZ0w9hX0H2Sdmf6AO/view

• Here's the smorgasbord of different sensory activities from their first lesson - you could choose one or more of these: https://sites.google.com/inyocoe.org/branchingout/lessons/science-practices?authuser=0#h.dneio82ln7pz

• Here are others from the Wilderness Awareness School:https://www.wildernessawareness.org/articles/come-to-your-senses/

Instead of doing a pure sensory activity, you could consider doing a fun and quick "Thank a Plant" activity, which ties in with the last lesson and today's discussion and service project - think about all the things we get from plants - Oxygen, Food, Shade, Building Materials, Medicine, etc. Go find a plant to "thank" and "give something back" (a little carbon dioxide) by breathing on the leaf you thank - Elvis-style, "Thank youuuu, Thank you very much!"

Transition - we're going to do something for a very special native plant that involves a little more than just saying thank you while breathing on them! Are you ready?

Tara will do a lesson with students, then McKenzie will take them to the service project site.

Wrap-Up (Docent Instructors): For magic spots, if they didn't do this already in the last lesson, you could have them do a self-portrait showing how they fit into the ecosystem. Here is the list of ideas from the last lesson:

1. They can draw themselves at the center of a page in their journals and show all of the connections they have with the ecosystem (including other humans and our community)

2. Use INIWIRMO(ITM) as a framework for a poem about a plant or plants or anything they want

3. SciFi story – "a day without plants"

Final Reflection / Gratitude Circle:

Be sure to leave time for this!

Discussion prompts - what surprised you? what was your favorite experience? did you change your ideas about anything? etc. Check the Discussion resource page on our Branching Out site for inspiration:

https://sites.google.com/inyocoe.org/branchingout/teaching-and-learning/discussion?authuser=0

Questions - check Questions and the Learning Cycle in the Reflection phase:

https://sites.google.com/inyocoe.org/branchingout/teaching-and-learning/questions?authuser=0

Wrap up for the whole series, thank them, who/what would they like to thank.

Report on First Lesson (from McKenzie):

WOW, what a wonderful and fun lesson that was!! I am feeling pretty elated by how great I feel that went!

Elaine started everything off by doing a sensory tour during the walk over to the rock circle, stopping at certain places to listen, look at wildflowers, smell certain plants, and touch others. Then I briefly asked students to remind me what we have been talking about thus far in Branching Out (observation, ecosystem connections, plants).

Tara was waiting for us at the rock circle, where she taught a marvelous lesson about the way that Paiute people have always cared for the land in order to make sure that the plants with important uses are able to thrive. She had examples of rope made from 5 different kinds of plants, which she passed around for students to touch, and the students we SO engaged! Then, she taught students how to make rope out of dogbane and we all got to make bracelets! Some of the Native kids in the class were really excited to help other kids make their rope since they had done this before.

After that, I connected Tara's lesson about important plants, to talking about how EMO (the Tribe's Environmental Management Office) cares for the COSA by making sure the important plants can thrive, which sometimes means pulling out the invasives. I asked students to share what the COSA has given them during our Branching Out lessons and got answers ranging from "inner peace" to "a sun tan" hahaha! Then I framed the weed pulling as our opportunity to give something back to the COSA.

The glove management was a little chaotic, but I think I could do it better next time by splitting up the different sizes amongst the docents rather than me just getting stampeded by a rush to grab gloves. We ended up pulling pepperweed for just under 10 minutes and I have never in my life witnessed so much enthusiasm for pulling weeds hahaha!

Elaine framed magic spot really beautifully by encouraging students to think about how they had just given something back to the COSA on a small scale, and to perhaps imagine, draw, or write about what it could look like for them to give back to the ecosystem on a larger scale (California, USA, world, etc).

It was seriously just so rewarding to see the students so engaged during the lesson! Also, Tara said she had enjoyed the lesson a lot and that she is looking forward to future lessons, so that leaves me really optimistic that the Branching Out/Cultural Center relationship has started off on a great note!