We started our Summer Area Teacher's Institute (SATI) 2005 at the top of Canyon Mountain to look down on the 2300-acre Alder-Jordan Creek watershed and imagine the educational opportunities of involving students in field study, management, and restoration.
In this picture are some of our participants, including (L to R): John Punches, Associate Professor, OSU and Extension Forester, Douglas County/OSU Extension; Cindy Barkhurst, Winston Middle School; Scott Hampton, Days Creek High School; Al Springer, Director, Riddle Education Center; Jim Long, educational consultant; and Dave Swenson, Lincoln Middle School, Oakland.
We then headed to PMF (Proctor Memorial Forest), the ACCF home site, to learn about field ecology by means of transects. Here John Punches is introducing the concept of transects to participants.
…and off we go to do our first transect, running from near Alder Creek to the field.
We measured off plots along a line and counted the numbers of all plant species.
Sometimes we weren't sure what plant species we found! One common tall shrub we found required a bit of research, but we decided it was mock orange.
Some more possible mock orange.
Our mascot, Beagle Bailey, was happy to sit in the shade and keep us company.
Here we are comparing notes. We learned that species richness changes along the transect, decreasing as one leaves the more open, species-abundant riparian area and increasing again as one reaches the forest-field boundary.
Now we're running a transect to illustrate the effect of aspect (i.e., which direction a slope is facing). Here we're at the top of a ridge separating a drier southeast slope from a cooler northwest slope.
Our mascot needs water! Good thing Jim Long is there to share his water.
Now we're comparing answers. Lots of differences in species composition and richness/evenness between the two aspects.
Notice how John talks with his hands?? That's why he's such a good teacher!