Place Based Education - The Arbor Day Field Trip
BY JOSEPH GERBYSHAK, ALPENA FWCO
macroinvertebrates in a kick net sample for MiCorps monitoring of the Thunder Bay River.
Credit: Gretchen Rae
Biologists Joseph Gerbyshak and Adam Kowalski, of the Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, assisted with a field trip for Besser Elementary School students to Island Park & Wildlife Sanctuary (Island Park), on Arbor Day, April 26th.
The park is a 17-acre island on the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, Michigan. It has a trail system and fishing piers, which provide a great opportunity for the public, enjoy a variety of recreation activities and view wildlife in the surrounding 600-acre sanctuary.
With Earth Day and Arbor Day fresh in their minds, Mrs. Rae’s 4th grade Besser Elementary School class wanted to make a positive impact on the environment and put their water quality monitoring skills to use on the Thunder Bay River. Island Park provided a great location for these activities. Gerbyshak, Kowalski, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staff, and a few active community members provided educational, hands-on activities for the students while improving the park.
Kowalski lead an activity that consisted of viewing and identifying waterfowl using the surrounding sanctuary, while picking up litter to make the park a better place for wildlife and park users. The students learned common techniques used to identify waterfowl and eagerly competed to see who could collect the most litter. The students then moved on to a station where they planted 50 white pines trees throughout the island. They were excited by the possibility that one day the white pine trees they planted could be over 150ft tall and provide nesting habitat for bald eagles. At another station the students found a quiet spot in the woods and recorded all the wildlife they observed in a journal. They enjoy the quiet time and were amazed by the amount of nature that came to life around them.
students from Besser Elementary School to
identify macroinvertebrates found in the Thunder
Bay River for MiCorps monitoring.
Credit: Gretchen Rae
As part of Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) monitoring program, another station consisted of collecting and documenting water chemistry parameters of the Thunder Bay River. This data will be entered in a statewide database and will be used to track the water quality of the river over time. Gerbyshak led an educational activity about food webs in the river. The students started by learning about the producers in the river and then moved up the food web by learning about lower level consumers. The students searched for macro invertebrates in kick net samples and were surprised by the amount of organisms living in the leaf litter. Once the macro invertebrates were identified, the students recorded the organisms found for MiCorps water quality monitoring. While learning about the upper levels of the food web, the students were intrigued by the live fish that were used as visual aids, which sparked many questions. Arbor Day was enjoyed by the students as they learned about the environment, made Island Park a better place for wildlife and park users, monitored water quality parameters, and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.