Table of Contents
ClassPage
Confidence Course
Notes…..…..4
Reflection…5-6
ACTION!
Notes…..….25
Reflection…..…24
YOUR PART OF THE WORLD …..….23
Wetlands
Notes…..…..7
Reflection…...8
Habitat
Notes…...9
Reflection….10
History
Notes….….11
Reflection….…12
Stream Ecology
Notes…..….13
Reflection…..…14
Resources…15-17
Watershed
Notes…..…..18
Reflection…19-20
SLIC and SLOP….…..21-22
Resources for at Home…26-33
Service Learning…...…34
Animal Challenge
P
1. _ 2. _ 3. _
4. _ 5. _ 6. _
7. _ 8. _ 9. _
10. _ 11. _ 12. _
13. _
ictured below are the skeletons of 13 modern day animals for you to identify. Use clues such as eye location, head size, characteristic standing position, jaw shape, and so on.Confidence Course – Notes
Confidence Course - Reflection
How to Solve an Environmental Issue
The Issue -The principal of your school has announced that your school's electrical bill is the highest in Carroll County.
In your own words, describe the environmental issue from above.Brainstorm and list ideas for solving the environmental issue.
Develop an action plan and list the steps below.
If your action plan is unsuccessful, describe in detail what next steps you will take to correct the environmental issue at hand. Use what you have learned at the Confidence Course today to add to your plan and ensure its success.
~WORD BANK~
Brainstorm Trial and Error Communicate Understand
Sequencing Team-work Clarify Visualize
Analyze Compromise Support Patience
Wetlands – Notes
Wetland Reflection
Habitat Notes
Habitat – Reflection
List actions that can be taken to help improve habitat. Next to each action, list whether it provides food, water, or shelter. Then, decide which animals this action would help.
Action Provides… Animals 1. Example: Planting berry bushes Food, Shelter Songbirds, Chipmunks, Insects 2.3.4.Choose one animal that you think you could help in your own yard or at school. Write a paragraph describing action projects that you could do to provide this species with food, water, shelter, or space.
_
~WORD BANK~
Food Native species Environment Space
Non-native species Shelter Biodiversity Water
Limiting Factor Habitat Population Oxygen
_History – Notes
History – ReflectionDiscuss in writing at least two environmental changes that have occurred since the 1800's. Be sure to include one positive and one negative change and the impact they have had on the ecosystem here in Carroll County.
~WORD BANK~
Native species Water use
Non-native (alien) species Agricultural practices
Natural resources Land use
Species introduction Waste
Stream Ecology – Notes
Stream Ecology- Reflection
1. Use the charts on the following pages to identify the macroinvertebrates and fish that were found in the stream that you have been given. You may tally them directly on the charts.
2. Identify the stream as: Good, Fair, or Poor and explain why in the space below.
Based on your answer above, select the stream picture that best matches the health of your stream. Use your Physical Assessment Chart on the following page to help you do this.
Draw a healthy stream and land around it in the area below.
STREAM PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT
The following chart will help you identify if a stream is healthy or not. Use the observations to rank the stream as good, fair or poor.
Observation
Description
Good
Fair
Poor
Turbidity
Clarity (how clear the water is)
Clear
Cloudy
Very Cloudy
Stream Bank Erosion
Bare soil on bank (looks steep and cut)
Gradual slope
Some
Steep bank,
soil exposed
Substrate
Stream Bottom (sediment or rocks)
Cobbles
(2-10in.)
Mixed
Sand/Silt/Clay
Riffles
Water moving over rocks
(will see bubbles)
Many
(every 10 ft.)
Few
None
Flow
Speed
Fast/Slow
Same speed
Shape
Curved
Straight
Water Appearance
Do you see foam, oily, milky, green or brown liquids?
None
Some
Lots
Visible Litter
Trash
None
Some
Lots
Unusual Odors
Sewage, rotten eggs, chlorine, dead fishy
No smell
Natural odor
(like leaves)
Mild odor
Strong odor
Sound
Listen to the stream
Loud
Some noise
Silent
Shade
How shaded is the stream by trees?
Lots
Some
None
Tree Debris
Logs, branches, leaves and sticks in the stream
Lots
Some
None
Riparian Buffer Zone
Land beside the stream
Many trees
Mixed
Bare soil/Grass
Watershed – Notes
Watershed – Reflection
Using the knowledge you gained in class today about our watershed, complete the chart below. Think about actions that you could do to help make the Chesapeake Bay healthier. Think of things both INSIDE of a building and OUTSIDE!
Action
Why will it help the watershed?
Example: Turning off the lights when you don't need them.
By reducing energy, there is less air pollution from the power plant that produces the energy. With less air pollution, there is less acid rain to affect the bay.
Choose one human activity that negatively affects water. Explain what we do, the effect of it, and then identify how we can fix this issue. Use the resources in the journal to help you out. Also think about your own house and yard.
~WORD BANK~
Fertilizer Erosion Infiltration Run-off Rain garden
Litter Sediment/dirt Asphalt Mowed Grass
Impervious surface Construction/Development Agriculture
A ccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American uses 100 gallons of water every day. How is it even possible that we use THAT much?
Water is a limited resource—we have what we are going to have for
the rest of time… so how much you use and dirty up, affects everyone!
How many gallons would you save if you shortened your shower to 5 minutes?
Hashawha Shower
2 ½ gallons per minute
HOW ARE YOU USING WATER? List as many ways as you can think that you RELY on water everyday.
2. HOW ARE YOU WASTING WATER?
How I can fix that…
Taken from: Cousteau, P. & Kaye, C. Going Blue: a teen guide to saving our oceans, lakes, rivers and wetlands. 2010
Our topic is SLOP (STUFF LEFT ON PLATE). What can you ask?
Listen to an expert, look at pictures, use what you already know, research MORE, look at DATA you have.
Find what your DATA means and then….ANSWER the QUESTION!
What can YOU do to SOLVE the problem? How will you DO your ANSWER?
A Family of Four's Weekly Garbage
Paper
Y ard Garbage
Metal
Glass
Each represents 2 pounds of trash
Each represents 1 pound of trash
Food
Plastics
Other
YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD
In the space below, draw a bird's eye view of where you live. Use the key to help you and add to it if you need. Don't forget things like driveways and sidewalks!
KEY
=Trees
=Downspouts/gutters
=Gardens
=Storm drains
Where
I
Live
ACTION! – Reflection
Look at the picture that you drew of Your Part of the World. Do you see issues? Are there any problems for the Chesapeake Bay or habitat that YOU are a part of?
What is the issue or issues? Describe it or them here.
What DATA did you gather and learn this week that helps you understand your issue? What do you need to know in order to fix your issue?
What do you need to fix your issue?
What are you going to do to fix YOUR issue? Make a list of steps here:
ACTION! – Notes
Reference Section
The following pages are fantastic references for you to complete a project that will help keep YOUR environment healthy.
Outdoor School also has a website, /ods/ that is loaded with even more great ideas for you! Check it out and who knows, you might just see your picture there too!
Important! Please remember that you may need help from friends or adults, maybe even permission to do something! It is EXTREMELY important to know what project will improve YOUR environment. You may want a rain garden in your yard or at your school, but to complete a BIG job, you have to be extra prepared.
HINT HINT WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE
Environmental Issue Investigation (E.I.I.) is your tool to help get through the planning and make your project a success.
Ask a Question
Gather Data
Answer the Question
TAKE ACTION – Have fun and know that what you do makes everyone's life a little better!
If everyone does a little, then no one has to do a lot, yet a lot gets done.
WATER CONSERVATION
Why is saving water so important? There is a limited supply of clean water. Any water that is used in your home must be cleaned at a water treatment facility.
To reduce the amount of water that you and your family use you can:
Install a low flow showerhead.
Turn the water off when you brush your teeth or while washing your face or hands
Turn off the water while you wash dishes. Leave only a light stream on for rinsing
Fix leaking faucets and toilets
If it is an old toilet, place a brick or a small jug of water in the tank of your toilet to displace water, which then uses less to fill the tank
Take quick showers – try for 5 minutes or even better, a BAY SHOWER!
Do not water your lawn – if you absolutely have to, do so in the morning or at night: native plants won't require this as much! Hint, hint.
Use a watering can to water gardens
Collect rainwater in a barrel for use in the garden
Wash your car with a bucket of soapy water. DO NOT LEAVE THE WATER RUNNING
11. Only flush the toilet when you absolutely need to
12. Use water from boiling or steaming vegetables or even water from doing dishes to water plants after the water is cooled
13. Use a broom, rather than a hose, to clean off walkways and patios
14. Ask your family and friends to use less water
You must put into practice a household water conservation plan to earn your service hours. Submit the written plan with your service hour form.
Energy Conservation
Put into practice an energy conservation plan for your household that reduces your electric bill and help the environment too!
Some ideas to get you started:
Turn off the lights when you leave the room
Turn off and unplug appliances (TV's, videogames, computers) when they are not being used
Use less hot water
Turn the thermostat down to 650 F in the winter
Turn the A/C to above 720 F in the summer
Use energy efficient light bulbs
Draft-proof your home by checking for air leaks around doors and windows.
Place insulating blankets on hot water heaters and pipes
Only leave the refrigerator open long enough to get what you need
Try to create other energy saving ideas. Write up your household plan and submit it with your student Service Learning form.
THE THREE Rs!
Put into practice a household program for reducing the amount of trash you send to the landfill! Reduce is the most important way to limit trash production, but if you can't reduce, then at least try to reuse it in a different way. And recycling is better than throwing anything away. Why? Even recycling requires energy, so if we can do something else with the "trash" before it even leaves your house that is best. Submit your household plans with your Service Learning form.
REDUCE
Reduce the amount of food that your family throws away by composting and limiting waste. NO SLIC and SLOP!
REUSE
Reuse items whenever possible (i.e. plastic bags) and buy recycled products when available.
RECYCLE
Set up a recycling center in your home:
a.) Contact the local sanitation company to determine
recyclable materials.
b.) Set up containers for the materials you plan to
recycle
c.) Remember to put the recycling containers out when
pick-up is scheduled OR transport the materials to
the proper recycling center.
T ry to create new ways to keep waste out of the landfill.
STREAM CLEAN-UP
Get your parents' permission before you work near a stream.
Plastic and animals is a deadly combination. For a project you and a group of friends could do a clean-up project. Areas to consider are ponds, lakes, streams, creeks, or other bodies of water.
Why near water? Because water attracts animals.
Be very careful when cleaning up trash. There are many sharp objects that could hurt you. Watch out for glass, metal, needles, etc. DO NOT HURT YOURSELF DOING THIS PROJECT!
Get a group of friends together and find a stream that needs some cleaning
Get permission from the land owner to improve his/her stream
Walk the area that you have chosen looking for trash
Place the trash in a trash bag
Separate trash and recyclables
Wash your hands when you are done
Dispose of trash and recyclables properly
REMEMBER: Wear gloves for protection
You and your friends should make this a monthly project. For your service hours you should do two or three clean-ups.
How to Plant a Native Tree
To find a list of native trees, check out our website at /ods/
and go to the "links for resources" and click on "native plant guide".
1 . Dig a hole twice as wide and the same depth as the tree's container.
2 . Center the tree in the hole. Test to see that the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding ground. Orient and straighten the tree.
3. Backfill loose soil around root ball and tamp with foot.
4. Build a circle of mulch that goes around the base of the tree trunk like a donut, but does not touch the tree.
5. Fill a bucket several times with water and water the tree thoroughly
Build a Shelter for a Cavity Nester
When we put up nesting boxes for cavity-nesting birds, we are providing these species with important shelter.
Eastern Bluebird Box
Composting
Composting is a way to recycle certain foods and create fertilizer for your lawn and gardens.
Pick a location for your compost pile
Start adding stuff to your pile.
Stuff that you can add to your pile
a.) Vegetable and fruit scraps
Coffee grounds
Egg shells
Breads
Grass, leaves, and other yard waste
Ashes and saw dust
Do not add meat scraps, bones, dairy products, oils, or fat. This may attract animals and cause an odor.
Turn the compost pile with a shovel or pitch fork once a week for quick compost.
Dark, rich soil will be the result. Use this on flowers, vegetables, or potted plants.
Y ou may choose to enclose the pile with a wire fence, pallets, or other materials. You can also have several piles to allow one to finish decomposing.
A healthy compost pile full of bugs and earthworms is an all you can eat buffet for backyard birds. In the spring, birds also raid compost piles looking for twigs and grasses to build nests
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