No child left indoors. This is the goal of the Ecologists, Educators and Schools (ECOS) program that has paired University of Montana scientists with local K-12 teachers and their students. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, ECOS teams have helped kids in western Montana explore their schoolyards and beyond as they studied environmental science. You can learn more about our local environment, find ecological investigations, and use the ECOS Guide to the Ecology of the Northern Rockies at www.BioEd.org/ecos. Today fifth- and sixth-graders share their schoolyard experiences.
Dave Oberbillig, Hellgate High School science teacher
Editor's note: Some of the writings have been edited.
Hellgate Elementary
Grade 5Colleen Cooper, teacher
The flower is purple with green
leaves and a green stem. It is not
big and not small. This flower is my
favorite flower in the garden.
CORBIN MOCK
B eautiful plant
I nteresting shape
T ight flower buds
T iny plant
E legant creation
R oots are bitter
R avishing site
O utside display
O riginal Montana plant
T ender roots
KATE ZIMMER
E nvironmental
C ollecting
O bserving
S ample
VICTORIA SOMERLOTT
Tufted Hairgrass
We watched it grow,
planted it, cared for it,
had fun, careful not to step
on it. Native plant to Montana.
Very pretty, joyful.
ALICIA BOWMAN
D elicate
A wonderful thing
I nteresting
S uch a beautiful environment
Y ou will love this flower too.
HANNAH JUDEN
N atural beauty all around
A lways interesting to be in
T otally amazing all the time
U npredictable makes it awesome
R eassuring sense of comfort
E ntire place abounds with pleasure.
AUSTIN ROSENBAUM
P lace full of plants
L ovely scents
A lot of daisies
N ever ending fields of flowers
T iny creatures all over
S uch a beautiful environment
IA ONG VANG
L iving
E nvironment
A rt of nature
F all
ANNIKA SOHLBERG
F ields of flowers
L ovely smell
O utside
W ater
E nvironment
R unning through meadows
KELSEY WEISHAAR
B eautiful flower
I n the deep rocks and cracks
T hrough the gravel with its roots
T ogether they grow
E nriched with the soil
R est in the mountains
R ain watering
O pen valley
O verhead birds fly
T rees grow close
NIKOLAY LEMEZA
Clinton School
Grade 5Mandy McGill, teacher
The most amazing thing in my schoolyard was ...
The bees because we found a bee that stuck out his tongue and started cleaning for a while and we found a lot of new kinds of birds and the sound they made. RON CHRISTIANSAll of the things that interact with the schoolyard like the insects, birds, and other animals. I learned that even the littlest change in the environment can make a big difference for all of the things that live in that environment. KALLIE ELLIOTT
The life and the many different animals. I saw many birds of many different colors and shapes. MATT DAVIS
The spiders crawled and leered and were different colors. SHANTIA LAURENCE, grade 5, Arlee Elementary
There are a lot of buds on the trees we have and you can have fun learning about nature. CURTIS MEIERS
That if you are very calm you can see different kinds of birds. BEKKA HUNTER
A hummingbird with a gray body, red chest and a green stripe going down its back. I also liked the other birds we saw and heard. MOSES JOHNSON
There are lots of bugs. I have never noticed that there are ants, bees and other things all around me. Then we went bird watching and learned bird names. CHANCE HAGEN
Some type of plant around a branch of a tree. It formed like a black ball and went over it. We did not know what it was for sure. CHRISTIAN HUNTER
Arlee Elementary
Grade 5Ronda Howlett, teacher
I was at the restoration site at the Jocko River. Then one of the scientists went in the water with special waterproof pants and a net. Then he swooshed it around in there and he picked it up and showed it to me. I saw something weird as we looked at it eye to eye. He said it was a crane fly. STONE HINTHER
Have you ever turned over a rock in a stream to see little bugs doing their thing. Well I have. Some aquatic insects march. They build little houses and they even swim away like a mini speed boat or a fish. They will float, float, float. RAYMOND COLLIER
Have you ever heard the world photosynthesis? If you have, do you know what it means? Well since I have been working with the ECOS scientists Matt and Flo, I have learned about this word. Photosynthesis is when any kind of plant such as a tree or flower is using sunlight and water to make food to grow strong, not dry out, and live! JOSH REED
I learned that hybrid trout cannot have babies. I think their population will go down ,and I think that is not good for the ecosystem. SHANTIA LAURENCE
The food chain to me: An eagle eats a skunk, then a skunk eats a turtle, then a turtle eats a fish, a fish eats frog's eggs, then a frog's egg turns into a frog which eats worms, then the worm eats dirt, and dirt isn't alive. There's the food chain for you. NICHOLE RANG
Microclimate: There are different temperatures in tall grasses, short grass and in the soil. What do you think your climate temperature is? You would think the ground would be the same but it is not. Try to test your backyard to see for yourself. LILLIAN REPNAK
I discovered in my schoolyard a spider with an egg sack. The egg sack is blue. The egg sack was on her back. The spider was going to an anthill and when she got there she ran away. CHRISTOPHER LOVE
The Lonely Tree: I see a tree. It is only 3 feet tall. It is in the schoolyard. There are three banana-colored leaves getting bossed around by the wind. When the leaves sing, a tear falls from my eye, and then I start to cry. SHANIA PARKER
My Flowers: I look at my flowers at school when we have science class. I love flowers so much, especially our state flower the bitterroot. My duty is to take care of the flowers. I make sure people don't step on the flowers. I water them and make sure they have enough sunlight. NATASHA McLEOD
Mr. Hesse's Memorial Garden: I thought it was amazing when we first got to the memorial garden and we made observations of what plants we liked. When we went back to our classroom, Flo Gardipee and Matt Corsi from the University of Montana helped us figure out our plants' names and their habitat. CHEYENNE CHRISTOPHER
ECOS: I learned about the gigantic bison! It's the huge, almost extinct animal that was a big part of the Native American culture. The thing I liked that I learned was how back then the white farmers mixed the big stinky cows with the gigantic bison and they became weird like beefalos. When I heard about beefalos, I laughed and thought it was funny. ISAIAH LaMERE
There are a lot of buds on the trees we have and you can have fun learning about nature. CURTIS MEIERS
Track Poem
When I see tracks I think animals
There are many different animals
That means that there are many different tracks
DOMINIC BURLAND
Target Range School
Grade 6Randee Stephens, teacher
The most interesting thing I discovered while exploring my schoolyard was ...
Deep red sap that would one day turn into amber. SKYLAR COUTINHO
An experiment on drainage in the cottonwood grove. BEAU DOERR
I went into the cottonwood grove and saw a woodpecker's home. ETHAN DONALDSON
How much was outside that I didn't know. KAINEN BUTLER
Finding all of the cool bugs and plants. I also liked just being outside. CHELSEA WIHERSKI
The bitterroot is the state flower. MICHAELA EDGAR, grade 5, Hellgate Elementary
How quickly the plants grow leaves and how fast the buds burst. LAUREN MURPHY
How beautiful the cottonwood grove was. COURTNEY LUEDTKE
We have a beautiful butte behind our school. BRIELLE ROLLE
The bugs. MAGGIE CRIPPEN
How plants grew, died and reseeded. LEXI CRAWFORD
Learning how fast pollen travels. JOEY DAMRON
We have a wonderful view of Mount Sentinel and the water lines from Lake Missoula. ASHLEY OSTLIE
The sap on the tree. MICHELLE CARTER
We have a beautiful butte behind our school. BRIELLE ROLLE, grade 6, Target Range School
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)