‘This was an amazing learning experience’: Spring field days show value of hands-on science research
It’s been a busy spring of field day programs at Headwaters Science Institute, and we couldn’t be more excited to share with you what our students have been working on.
From erosion research on the banks of the American River in Sacramento to examining the effects of fire on forests near Truckee, we’ve been thrilled to facilitate the ability of hundreds of students to get out of the classroom and into the natural world around them in beautiful Northern California and Lake Tahoe areas.
“I really appreciated being able to fully design our own research – we came up with our own question, method, and process, with guidance from Headwaters Institute teachers,” one student from San Francisco’s Urban High School said of their field day. “Then, we learned how to analyze our data and results with information about statistics from Headwaters Institute teachers. Throughout everything, we were able to choose our main path and learn a lot, with support and assistance from knowledgeable and helpful guides!”
Here’s a closer look at the school programs we’ve hosted over the past couple of months. For more information on our school programs, whether it be one-day field days or multiple-day programs that incorporate field and classroom work, hit the button below.
Truckee High School La Fuerza Latina program field day
Students from Truckee High School’s La Fuerza Latina program learned how to sample and identify invertebrates in this field day at Truckee Springs, which is part of Tahoe Donner Land Trust.
Most of the students had not been to this location and were excited to explore. They learned how to use quadrats to estimate the percent cover of vegetation and then came up with their own question to collect data around.
All first-generation students working hard in school and learning about potential career paths, they asked questions like “do certain birds prefer certain trees?” and “does the soil composition change with distance from the river?”
“This program made me realize I positively would love to major in science!” one student from the program said.
Thanks to Rotary Club for funding this program.
Sacramento Country Day School 8th grade erosion field day
In this field day, students investigated the effect of erosion on the American River at the Clay Banks access. They analyzed factors such as sediment size, vegetation density, bank height, and water speed. Three graduate students from UC Davis helped Headwaters team members Beth Fitzgerald and Mary Ellen Benier.
“This was an amazing learning experience for all of us and something I remember when I am an adult,” one program student said.
North Tahoe Middle School fire and human impacts field day
These students were challenged not only by their science research but also the weather, as a very snowy spring day greeted us in the field, as is often the case in science field work. Despite that fact, the students learned about scientific techniques used to measure forest characteristics that potentially relate to fire risk and human impacts in the forest adjacent to their school.
They learned how to transect, measure DBH (diameter at breast height), use quadrats, and assess tree health by quantifying insect damage.
The students were able to synthesize their findings and relate them back to fire and human impacts. Some of the students even presented their research to their classroom.
“I very much liked this program because you can learn very new interesting things that you wouldn’t learn anywhere else,” a program student said.
Thanks to Truckee Tahoe Airport for funding this program.
Urban High School ecology class, factors that impact riparian habitats field day
Juniors and seniors at San Francisco’s Urban High School spent two days in the field collecting data at Marin Headlands in Gerbode Valley. They were focused on questions about the impact of soil nutrients and soil moisture on plant biodiversity, the impact of salinity on plant biodiversity, and factors that influence the amount of native versus nonnative plants observed.
“I learned how to do work in a real-world environment which was something I had not gotten an opportunity to do before,” a program student said.
