I’ve been focused on revamping the website lately- including our new live data section- and missed a few weeks of writing about our adventures in the woods. Deep into data collection for several forest science projects, we’ve found ourselves limited by the number of working research phones we have. Because of this, I noticed I don’t have many photos of the science part of our day. (It’s hard to take photos when your phone is hooked up to a Verneir sensor.)
This week Ruani collected week 6 of herpetofauna data from his 40 artificial cover objects across five pots. Terran finished his final piece of soil data (soil respiration from plot 7), and Simon collected lichen from plot 1.
We also collected data from another exploration we started last year. The question was: Does hazel grow back longer and straighter if a brush is cut back and burned, compared to just being cut back? I wrote about part one of the experiment over a year ago; you can read about it in the Hazel & Fatwood post. This spring we returned to the same bushes and collected all the new suckers from each one.
Then we measured them, being careful to keep track of which came from which plant. The results were more interesting than we expected! I hope to have them up soon on the Student Projects page.
I recently purchased a densiometer so we can measure canopy cover in each forest plot. Everyone took a turn using the tool. It’s not easy to do, but it gives us useful data and is elegantly simple in design.
In the final weeks of this school year, the BCEs have been spending their afternoons focused (or less than focused) on achieving mastery of various skills. Some are working towards level two!
Both Terran and Ruani are carving staffs. Terran made the wonderful discovery that red alder has inner bark that’s deep red. I hadn’t worked with alder much until Ruani gathered this long branch for us all, but now I’m fascinated with what we might create with this beautiful wood.
Bella has been taking basketry with materials gathered at the Bear Creek Wilderness to a new level. Her basket is coming together with hazel, juncus, wild cucumber and trailing blackberry.
Rheah took an interest in the basketry and started her own project as well.
This week we had a small crew, and decided to add a little spice to our skill time. The Doug-fir tips are lush and green, and someone suggested we make tea.
I love how many skills we got to practice to make this happen. First, gathering.
We needed a tripod to hang the pot from, so Simon built us one. This required lashing and knots.
Building a fire requires a few skills- starting with hatchet skills to split wood, feathersticks, and (if you’re up for the challenge) sparking it up with a ferrorod.
The first batch of tea was a little weak, so we gathered and added more needles. After that, and a bit more boiling, everyone agreed that the tea was good. I loved it! It was strong and tasted sour with a kick. Likely a good source of vitamin C.
We played around with the microscope, looking at everything from juncus to bark to people’s hair. This little Dcorn is fun in the field because it’s battery powered and you can carry it around to look at things like bark still attached to a tree.
Does tree climbing count as a skill? Humm…. good question!
As we headed for home, Simon found the first tiny wild strawberry in the meadow. I heard it was sweet and delicious.
Next week we’re off to the coast for a Marine Debris Survey at mile 179!