Virtual Field Trip: Tree Planting in Ohio
Summary
Join EarthEcho as we kick off a National Tree Planting campaign to mitigate carbon emissions and lessen the impacts of ocean acidification and climate change. Trees not onlysequester carbon but also provide habitat, reinforce stream banks, and beautify our communities.
On the virtual field trip we will visit Coventry, OH where Jim Trogdon and his sixth grade students, along with the Ohio EPA and Ken Christensen of Davey Tree Experts, are restoring a local stream bank and will plant over 500 trees in late April. Hear about the project they've undertaken, the benefits to their community, and how you too can plant trees (from one to one thousand!) in your community.
Below you will find some photographs for the space before and after day-lighting the stream. The next step to bringing back a healthy ecosystem is bringing back local trees and plants. Join us as we take that step.
Before Daylighting - Stream is completely buried underground.
After Daylighting - Stream is visible and ready for new vegetation!
Panelists
Jim Trogdon & Coventry Middle School Students
After 25 years of teaching middle school science, Jim has found experiential learning to be the most successful educational environment. His students at Coventry Middle School in Akron, Ohio, work collaboratively with Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio State University’s Stone Lab Aquatic Research Center, and The Wilds in Cumberland, OH. Part of their work in the field involves their own unique aquatic community as Coventry Middle School is surrounded by a group of glacial kettle lakes that provide water for industry, recreation, and a rich history as feeder lakes for the Ohio and Erie Canal. Jim and his students work year round with Ohio’s Division of Wildlife to build an appreciation for and to preserve this incredible natural resource.
Ken Christensen, The Davey Tree Expert Company
Ken is a senior biologist with more than 30 years of experience in the natural resource field. Ken is involved in all aspects of wetlands and stream restoration projects, including design, planting, and implementation. He is also involved with monitoring of mitigation and restoration projects to ensure that such endeavors reach a successful conclusion. Ken assists in plant surveys and wetlands delineations and in the field identification of vertebrate populations, especially amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. As an International Society of ArboricultureCertified Arborist (OH-0690A), he performs tree appraisals and inventories and also develops tree preservation plans. He completed training through Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for conducting the following: Headwater Habitat Evaluation Index (HHEI); Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI); Ohio Rapid Assessment Method (ORAM) v.5; and Vegetation Index of Biotic Integrity (VIBI). He is a member of the International Society of Arboriculture,Ecological Landscaping Association, and Northern Ohio Association of Herpetologists. Ken holds a Bachelor of Science degree in conservation from Kent State University.
Classroom Resources
EarthEcho Expeidtion: Shell Shocked: Saving Shellfish
EarthEcho Expedition: Shell Shocked, Youth In Action: Plant for the Planet
How To Guide: Host a Tree Planting In Your Community.
Classrooms and community groups can make a powerful impact on the health of our water planet. Our Educator How-To Guides are a step-by-step look at how to implement an action project in your classroom. Background research, mini-labs, and steps for action are all included in this tree planting guide. Download Now!
Science Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
ESS3.C Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things.
MS ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.