Educator Resources > Pre-Meeting Field Trip for High School Educators and Students
Bio-Blitz: Explore Nature at the Future Site of the Milwaukee Central Park
Mini-BioBlitz August 3, 2008
8:45 am – 3:30 pm
The educational field trip will be held along a portion of the proposed Milwaukee Central Park riparian corridor. Participants will convene at 8:45 am at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. The corridor currently consists of ~ 800 acres of public, riparian land surrounding the Milwaukee River that is being protected from urban development. With the guidance of the Milwaukee River Workgroup and the Urban Ecology Center, we will provide survey skills to conduct a ‘mini-bioblitz’ of key areas of significance within the corridor. Support for this fieldtrip comes from Green Works! - the service-learning, community action program of Project Learning Tree (www.plt.org)
This fieldtrip is open to six high school educators who can bring two students each. Participants will work in groups of ~ 8 individuals comprised of high school teachers and their students, ESA members, and local environmental professionals. Each group will learn how to collect biological data in the form of a ‘mini-bioblitz’. Traditionally, a bioblitz is characterized as a 24-hour inventory of all living organisms in a given area; this blitz, however, will run for 2-3 hours. The trip will conclude with a data synthesis and reflection period following lunch. We will also have presentations from representatives from the Urban Ecology Center and Milwaukee River Workgroup. Data collected from mini-bioblitzes will go towards the development of an environmental management plan for the proposed Milwaukee Central Park.
Participating high schools will have the opportunity to create a High School Ecology Chapter and apply for one of the seed grants to kick off the chapter in the new academic year. An orientation will be held on August 2, 2008 at the Milwaukee Convention Center for about 1 hour at approximately 2:15 pm. The orientation will provide teachers and students with a general overview of fieldtrip goals and expectations and give an introduction to urban ecology concepts. In addition, information about the SEEDS high school chapter network and ESA’s Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability (SEEDS) program will be shared.
Student leaders from ESA’s SEEDS program (now graduate students) are the organizers of this fieldtrip. For information, please visit our website http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/ or contact ESA Diversity Programs Coordinator Erin Vinson, erin@esa.org
2007-08 SEEDS Student Education Outreach Team:
Lauren McGee The Ohio State University
Becky Begay, Haskell Indian Nations University
Annette Cardona, Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi
Amber Finley, University of San Francisco
Charissa Jones, New College of Florida
