March 26

We really had a lot going on for this Friday's get together. We planted our 3 River Birch and 1 Cypress, watered all the trees, mulched, and flagged. It took a little bit longer this time for our original group to join our planting adventures. The other students are really starting to notice what our project is doing and wanting to be involved. This is great, because maybe there will be a better chance of the trees making it through their first year. Everyone also seemed to be more excited this week, which made it very hard to get all of their attention towards the end of our meet. But other than that, 'Imagination Envirostation' is a hit.

Mar 26

Another great session (they seem to be getting better and better)! Even the students who cannot stay for our club are coming to help out during their recess. On Friday we saw those girls coming in droves!!! They all had questions and were interested in what we were saying.

While distributing the pine straw, we had discussions with the students about why muching is important and the reasons we chose to use pine straw. They all listened eagerly. Afterwards, we found some pieces of pine that had fallen from the trees. We showed the students that the straw we used came from these very trees (the importance of nature). Some students mentioned that they can use dried pieces of pine found on the ground to help cover the bottom of their trees. They were all eager to help water the plants and label them with flags. These flags help distinguish where all the trees are planted and make our work look more substantial.

The students love picture time at the end of the sessions. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for our activity. Hopefully we can incorporate it into our next session- rain barrels! One student even mentioned the rain barrels, which shows that they pay attention to us (ha) and care about what we are doing. When time was up, we made sure to let them know that we'll be back and that we'll miss seeing them.

Friday, March 26

Once students saw that we were on the play ground we attracted the attention of several students that were not in our group; students were eager to help plant their new trees. 'Imagination Envirostation' has been very receptive to all new students wanting to participate in our service learning project. As a result, several students have consistently participated during their recess time and look forward to our arrival on Friday's.

To further develop an environmental identity, students were given flags to mark the trees they planted. Students were instructed to write their name and the name of the tree planted on flag (s) and then place flags beside all the trees they helped plant. Students also located a water source and took turns filling buckets to waterier their trees. Students placed pine straw by all their trees to reduce run off of rain water, maintain the moisture of the soil, and to reduce damage from lawn movers. A janitor at the school noted that it was a strong possibility that our trees would be destroyed by individuals moving the lawn. However, this particular janitor insisted that he would inform other workers to be cautions of the trees that the students had planted.

Our next session will be held on April 16, due to spring break closures.

Benefits of Trees!

Here are a few consolidated bullet points about the benefits of trees to stress this friday, especially for chris and jessica who will be doing the business model demonstration.

• well placed trees can lower home air conditioning and heating bills
• trees absorb stormwater and help reduce flooding
• trees clean the air of many pollutants
• the roots of trees hold soil in place and help prevent erosion
• trees lower the temperatures in the summer in cities where there is a lot of concrete and steel (urban heat island effect)
• trees increase the property value of homes and businesses
• trees help create relaxation
• trees provide habitat for lots of good wildlife from tiny insects to big birds like eagles
• using organic fertilizer and pesticides are best. chemical ones leak into out water supply and cause illnesses, just like the ones that are on our food that lead to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc.
  

March 19 - Planting trees

Students involved played an active role in planting about 24 trees on their campus. Trees planted included native 'Oak' and 'Riverbrich' and non native 'Chinese elm'. Several students were able to plant their own tree(s) and other students collaborated with peers to plant trees. For this project, students were able to select the location for their tree(s), dig holes deep enough to support the roots of the tree(s), and stabilize tree(s) in the ground. In addition, students learned that:


1.Trees come with instructions to ensure healthy growth- For example, some trees should be planted in dry areas, others in wet areas to help with flooding, trees should be spaced so many feet apart, and tree(s) should be so many feet from the concrete.
- I noticed that even thou students were given the option to decide where they won't to plant their tree(s). Some were concerned about what type of tree it was and in what area would it grow best. This shows that some students were forming an awareness regarding tree instructions and the survival of tree(s).

2.The the correct way to dig and place trees in the ground. Facilitators taught students the importance of making sure that the hole(s) were dug twice the size of the roots, ensure that roots were below the ground, and to chop up soil before placing back in the hole, to allow more oxygen to flow to the roots.
-I noticed that students placed their tree(s) in the ground several times measuring to make sure that their hole was deep enough to hold each plant.


3. How to Care for their trees- Students learned the importance of watering and looking after their trees. Facilitators will continue to educate students regarding the importance of caring for their trees.


Overall, students seemed to enjoy planting trees on their campus and are looking forward to designing rain barrels next Friday.

March 19

So our project is coming along!! Being able to give each of the kids their own individual trees was awesome. They were able to develop a partnership with their other classmates and have ownership at the same time. This provides that sense of community that we have been learning about that changes a city/school. The kids excitement when we get to the school on Fridays will hopefully develop into their ability to take care of the trees even after we leave.
For this weeks project of the rainbarrels... we need to remember to provide the kids with buckets so that they can walk the water to their trees... so add that to the budget?

Friday, Mar 19

I can't believe the number of trees we were able to plant on Friday. Since we had so many student participants, it was nice that we had extra trees and shovels for everyone to be able to help. Every student there was able to plant at least one tree- this is great because they all feel as though they contributed.

This Friday, I will bring the flags and some Sharpie markers. The students will be able to write their name on the flags and place them by the trees they planted. We should also get their pictures taken with the trees they planted. Maybe we could give them copies of those pics to keep?

My main concern for these trees is watering. It is very important, especially once the weather starts getting hotter, that these trees are watered on a regular basis. Ms. Beech mentioned to me that she has never seen any maintanence crew watering anything outside (she has never even seen any water hoses). Once we have our rain barrels, this won't be such a big issue. We'll just have to make sure the students think to water them regularly. Hopefully Saturday's rain was enough to keep them going for a while! The summer will pose a new concern once the students are no longer at the school every day...

I think every week we are there, the more interested the students are in what we're doing. They are starting to trust the fact that we are there every week and are starting to enjoy learning from us and participating in our projects. They are going to remember this for a long time!!!