Wood doing good

This is a guest post written by Nate Ivy, Coordinator of the Service-Learning Waste Reduction Project (SLWRP) -- a joint venture between StopWaste.org and the Alameda County Office of Education. Students at Wood Middle School recently organized their 2nd Annual Beach Clean-Up as part of their participation in the program. These same kids have also participated in Save The Bay field trips to learn more about their watershed and the ways in which their actions impact the health of the Bay.

Enjoy the post!

Wood Middle School 2nd Annual Beach Clean-Up

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

At first glance, Crown Memorial Beach in Alameda appears to be a clean, pleasant retreat highlighted by sweeping views of San Francisco. Unlike many other public shorelines along the San Francisco Bay, Crown Beach does not appear on a list of Trash Hot Spots. However, students from Wood Middle School in Alameda discovered that looks can be deceiving as they participated in their 2nd annual microscopic beach clean-up.

Designed by science teacher Jeannette Frechou, the microscopic clean-up focuses on small bits of plastic that birds and other animals often confuse for bite sized bits of food. A close examination of the high tide line reveals a smorgasbord of multicolored plastics that easily float on the surface of the water.

"People are jerks! Who would do something like this?" one student declares.

In fact, students found many bits of debris from products they themselves use. Data tracking sheets reported the collection of plastic forks, bottle caps, salsa packets, and even a small plastic army man.

"We all do it," replies another. "It's not like people come and throw this on the beach... every piece of litter that falls on the ground or out of our car door gets washed down to the beach. We all have to be more careful." As if to emphasize the source of litter, a storm drain outlet peeks out of the receeding tide- connected to a storm drain one block from school labeled, "No Dumping! Drains to Bay."

This year, students have been working to do more than just be more careful with litter they produce, they have been studying choices that help to eliminate waste before it is produced. Staff and students from Wood Middle School have engaged in a partnership with the Alameda County Office of Education and Save The Bay to address marine debris through a grant provided by NOAA.

Earlier this year, students wrote letters to the editor addressing the challenge of candy wrappers entering the ecosystem at Halloween. In a study of healthy eating, students observed that healthier food choices usually use less packaging and benefit both human and environmental health. In just 60 seconds, one participant picked up 13 soda bottle caps along the tideline highlighting the challenges to our health and our environment.

Frechou helped students make further connections at the beach as she pointed out a tar ball, likely a legacy of the Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007. "Plastic is made from oil. We use a huge amount of oil to transport so many of the things we buy from all around the world. To help avoid spills in the future, we need to use less oil and less plastic."

Ms. VerDuin, another participating teacher from Wood, plans to use the beach clean up activity as a starting point for a discussion on marine debris, oceanic currents, the Pacific Garbage patch and the impact of plastic on wildlife. "There is a disturbing series of photos from Chris Jordan taken at Midway Atoll that shows birds killed by bits of plastic just like the ones we are cleaning up today. The clean-up activity will really help students connect to this global problem."

Click here to see the original post, complete with photos!

Sowing the Seeds of Change

By Trisha Allen, Education Coordinator and Natalie LaVan, Restoration Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator

When I say service, you say learning: service-learning, service-learning! Three cheers for the 21st Annual National Service Learning Conference.

A few short weeks ago, thousands of youth, teachers, and service-learning practitioners from around the globe gathered at the San Jose Convention Center to get inspired, share ideas, and gain tools for engaging young people in community-service projects across disciplines. The diverse representation of exhibits, workshops, thought sessions, and projects showcased during the three-day conference underscored just what a powerful teaching method service-learning can be.

And just what is service learning, you ask? To put it simply, service-learning is education in action! And the secret to successful service-learning projects lies in a few critical and common ingredients, namely: meaningful reflection, diversity, youth voice, and partnerships. Service-learning builds community and spans cultural and national boundaries and develops young people.

On the second day of the conference, Save The Bay got the chance to show participants how it’s done! About 35 individuals from all corners of the U.S. descended upon the Palo Alto Baylands for a Community-based Restoration Program. With representatives of all backgrounds – from places like Texas, New York, Tennessee and Illinois (just to name a few) – we were able to plant almost 100 native seedlings along the Bay. What's more, the group was able to learn about the key elements of a successful service-learning program and our precious Bay.

Click here for more information and resources about service-learning and the National Youth Leadership Council.

Or better yet, make Save The Bay’s Community-based Restoration Program your next service-learning project. This program engages young people in reinvigorating their communities, learning about wetland ecology and issues affecting the health of the Bay, and literally sowing those seeds of change.

Are you an educator? If so, find out how to this program aligns with curriculum standards and connects to many areas of study.

A slew in the slough

By Trisha Allen, Education Coordinator

Have you ever wondered what 1,137 middle and high school students navigating the San Francisco Bay sloughs in canoes look like? It looks like gaggles of excited and nervous kids clad in Save The Bay’s finest PFDs, outfitted with paddles, and all geared up for a sensory exploration of the estuary in their own backyard.

This year nearly 70 Bay Area middle and high school classes participated in Save The Bay's Canoes In Sloughs program for a perfect blend of ecology, fun, and teamwork. For most students these canoe trips involve many firsts: first time out on the Bay, first time working together with classmates to steer a canoe, first time nibbling on the popular marsh plant pickleweed, first time handling slimy Bay creatures. And if we’ve done our job right, the canoe trip will make clear to the students the need to celebrate, protect and restore the Bay; thus transforming this handful of firsts into life-long stewardship of our great natural resource.

So why canoes? Well, travel by canoe has its advantages. This slow and sleek vessel allows students to intimately explore the Bay. They are able to venture into the narrow sloughs and cozy up next to egrets poised to spear lunch and black-crowned night herons resting quietly in the vegetation. These wetlands support an abundance of wildlife, and through observation and hands-on investigation, students discover this unique ecosystem and the billions of organisms living within it.

Using San Francisco Bay as a classroom and laboratory, Save The Bay’s field trips teach and inspire environmental stewardship and community leadership in today’s youth, who often spend most of their time inside and disconnected from the natural world. Through the Canoes In Sloughs program, students are allowed to experience the beauty and wonder of the outdoors, increasing their environmental science knowledge and inspiring a sincere appreciation for the Bay.

But don't take our word for it. See what teachers are saying:

"If you are looking for team-building, connecting with the Bay, and fun…this is the trip to go on."
Fadwa Musleh, Granada Islamic School, Palo Alto

"It’s a great way to experience local ecology through active learning, collaboration and the Save The Bay staff is excellent."
Julian August, Alameda Community Learning Center, Alameda

"It was an awesome way to get into the sloughs by touching, tasting, hearing, seeing and smelling the Bay.”
Vandy Shrader, Explore! Camp, East Palo Alto

"Save the Bay is an excellent organization that makes a significant impact on our Bay, enhancing young people’s understanding of the important Bay issues."
Patricia Williamson, Alameda Community Learning Center, Alameda

Learn more at www.saveSFbay.org/education.

Local youth take on trash

By Sigrid Mueller, Education Director

As you may know, Save The Bay works hard to curb the steady onslaught of plastic bags and trash on our local waterways and the Bay. And now the Education Department is joining the fight with a new partnership with StopWaste.org, integrating watershed with waste reduction education for students and teachers in Alameda County.

Save The Bay and StopWaste share a common goal: to reduce the harmful impact of trash, waste and pollutants on the Bay and our community. And we share a common approach: using hands-on, experiential environmental education and service-learning to support young people with developing the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to adopt a sustainable life-style.

During almost all of our Canoes In Sloughs field trips, students find trash floating around the wetlands and they often wonder where it comes from. It is then that a proverbial light bulb goes off. An 11th grader from Berkeley High School had this to say:

“To tell you the truth, I littered even after our teacher has done all that recycling work with us. But when you took us out to the sloughs I saw for myself how the litter from my community washes down to the Bay and I was appalled by it. Since then,I have stopped littering.”

Analogous to “a picture is worth a thousand words” students leave our field trips deeply touched and motivated to change their attitudes and behaviors.

And this is where StopWaste comes in. They provide students with the perfect opportunity to turn their motivation into action through a year-round, on-campus program called Service-Learning Waste Reduction Project (better known as SLWRP). SLWRP trains and supports teachers to educate students about waste and to engage them in waste reduction projects in their schools and communities. This school year, Save The Bay is partnering with five SLWRP schools closing the loop for many students by helping them understand how the Bay is connected to their campus and why it matters that they’re doing their part to keep trash off the ground.

One of our partner schools has already kicked into gear! A teacher at Wood Middle School started to notice the rapid increase of candy wrappers in her own neighborhood and at school weeks before Halloween. She brought this issue to the attention of her 8th graders, who quickly recognized those candy wrappers are not just an eye sore but are potentially harmful pieces of trash. The students decided to take action by writing letters to the editor of their local newspaper, demanding more public awareness around the threats of litter to wildlife, the Bay and the ocean. Here’s how one 8th grader put it:

“Every year I realize that happy, candy-loving children throw plastic candy wrappers on the ground. Well, for one thing piles of non-degradable plastic go into the drains and right into the ocean. The fish in the sea think the plastic is food. And the seagulls -- who eat ANYTHING -- eat the wrappers and the fish. The plastic blocks the throat and the stomach and kill the animal! We throw the trash on the ground and don’t bother to pick it up because a) no one is watching; b) it’s now stepped on; and c) you’re just not going to bother. If we could just remind parents and children to not litter, there is less work for the environment and less work for the trash collectors. Please help us save Alameda and the world. The world lies in our hands.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Ecology in Education -- Makin' it Work

by Sigrid Mueller, Education Director and Alicia Moore, School Programs Manager

Connecting students to the San Francisco Bay and supporting teachers who share this commitment have always been at the core of Save The Bay’s educational vision. We believe that outdoor environmental education – such as our Watershed Education Programs – works best with appropriate preparation and follow-up. And, recent research supports the idea that students learn and retain more when field-trip activities are bookended by classroom lessons.

Since 1999 Save The Bay has hosted a professional development workshop for teachers interested in our Watershed Education Programs. Our regular evaluation has found that teachers desire, and benefit from, methods and strategies to integrate the field trip experience into the classroom lesson plan. Our workshop teaches classroom techniques to prepare for and get the most from our field trips.

This summer our workshop added an additional day to help teachers incorporate the field trip into the classroom. Participants worked with Save The Bay staff and colleagues to design lesson plans derived from our Canoes In Sloughs and Community-based Restoration field trips – to strengthen the impact on students and improve learning outcomes.

From June 30 to July 2, sixteen middle and high school teachers and five environmental educators gathered to explore in canoes and restore wetlands, and learn how to bring it all back to the classroom. Highlights from the two field-based days included seeing California Clapper Rails in their native habitat, identifying invertebrates and native wetland plants, and discussing the importance of service learning. Participants were also excited to have a third day to work on classroom lesson plans with Save The Bay staff and their colleagues. As one teacher remarked: "It was incredibly beneficial to actually conduct some lessons and discuss them with our peers. It makes it much easier to actually integrate field experiences into my teaching if I have done it before."

To learn more about Save The Bay's Watershed Education programs, visit: www.saveSFbay.org/education.

Here are a few photos taken during the three-day workshop: