Jess

When we arrived this week, the rain gauge was frozen solid. The pond was ice-free but crystal clear. We saw three newts swimming in the muck below. The mosture from the wet medow makes beautiful ice formations on the vegetation, something I’m always trying to photograph. We started with a little poker. (Simon doesn’t love […]

We had a very mild fall, but this week, our first BCE of winter and the first week back after break, Mother Nature finally gave us an authentic Oregon winter experience. But before I dive into this week, it looks like the post I wrote (and thought I published) on Dec 13th about Balderdash never

On our first field trip of the year, and our second annual visit to that beautiful piece of land just west of Bear Creek known as Balderdash, we were greeted warmly with giant doggie hugs. Okay, in truth, most of the hugs were saved for Gavin, who was clearly Laggie’s favorite. After a quick snack,

Header photo credit Annabella Waterbury. It’s been a while since we had a rough-skinned newt encounter, but we spotted a little one this week on the way to Plot #3. We were down two explorers this week due to illness, but there was plenty to do to keep the forest science projects moving. Bella had

The rain gauge had a beautiful web bejeweled with water droplets this week, and a layer of ice for the first time this season. During our morning data collection routine, we added a protocol for collecting soil temperature with our new Vernier sensor. Interestingly, we found the soil to be warmer than the air this

Congratulations to Terran- the first Bear Creek Explorer to write a grant for his forest science project and get it approved! We submitted the grant a few weeks back, heard back quickly from the Diack Ecology Education Program that they wanted to support Terran’s project, and this week, the new equipment arrived. Terran is studying

During our fire feast last week, we also fired our earthenware pottery. This is clay we harvested and processed last fall, then sculpted with in the spring. It sat to dry for many months in the lodge, waiting for a big campfire day. We layered it carefully in between the wood, trying to cushion it

We experienced an atmospheric river last weekend, and for the first time this year, the rain gauge overflowed the inner cylinder. I guessed this might be the case (I have the same rain gauge in my backyard that I check every morning), and so I came prepared with some data. Near the beginning of each

We had a lot to talk about this week, but one new science concept was soil respiration. I have a gas monitor that can measure the amount of carbon dioxide coming out of a patch of earth. Why is this interesting? Because its a way to measure soil activity and soil health- all those little

This week, back at Plot #3, it was time to start tagging and measuring trees. We discussed why this is necessary, and then how we do it. We won’t be able to come back in 5, 10, or 15 years and check the growth of a tree if we don’t have a clear way to