Newsletter

Volume 12, Number 2
March - April 1995

Director’s Note

One hundred and fifty years ago, our
ancestors probably understood the natural
world better than most Americans do
today. This seems incredible in the
“information age”, with answers literally at
our fingertips. But in 1 850, most Ameri-
cans lived on farms or in small towns
where fields, streams and forests were close
at hand. The science of ecology was as yet
unborn, but its essence was for many a part
ofdailylife.

A major thrust of our strong Education
Program is to introduce students, teachers
and the public to the natural world and to
the science of ecology, which seeks to
understand how the natural world
functions. We do this through firsthand
experience in the classroom and outdoors.
An informed populace is essential to a
healthy society, and our goal is to share our
knowledge and the excitement of discovery
with everyone we can reach. The cover
story of this issue of the newsletter
describes some of our education programs.

The lES Newsletter is published by the
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, located at the
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum in Millbrook,
New York. All newsletter correspondence
should be addressed to the editor.

Gene E. Likens, Director
Joseph S. Warner, Administrator
Alan R. Berkowitz, Head of Education

Editor; Jill Cadwallader
Printing: Central Press

INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
Education Program
Box R (Route 44 A)

Millbrook, NY 12545-0178
(914) 677-5359

Ecology for Teachers and Children

by Alan R. Berkowitz, PhD., Head of Education

• Teachers in SYEFEST ask: Do decom-
posers have “taste ” preferences?

• Children in a class doing the Eco-Inquiry
curriculum wonder: Does compost ‘tea ’
help radish plants grow?

• High school students in a groundwater
program consider: In what direction is the
water beneath our feet moving?

• Second graders in an lES pond ecology
program find out: Which is warmer: pond
water or the air above it?

• Seventh graders along the Changing
Forests EdVenture Trail investigate: Where
will recovery from field to mature forest be
fastest?

Questions, questions, questions ... Such
questions lie at the heart of scientific
inquiry, no matter if they come from
elementary teachers, elementary or high
school students, or practicing ecologists.

We take in the world around us, notice
nature’s patterns, processes, or Just plain
intriguing events, and we try to make sense
of it all by asking ... Does? ... Which? ...
Where? ... What? ... How? ... and, ulti-
mately, Why?

For nearly a decade, lES educators have
been exploring ways to bolster people’s
inquiry abilities, in large part by testing
strategies for helping people ask and then
answer their own questions about the
natural world. This common theme runs
through lES initiatives in curriculum
development and teacher training as well as
in our work with local school-aged
children. Each approach has its
own unique strengths and presents
its own challenges.

Let’s take Eco-Inquiry, for
example. This is a curriculum that
was created, developed and piloted
by Kass Hogan, lES research and
development specialist, and
published in June 1994 by
Kendall/Hunt {Eco-Inquiry: A
Guide to Ecological Learning
Experiences for the Upper
Elementary/ Middle Grades). The
curriculum is perhaps most noted
for its integrated and sequential
nature, a seamless choreography of
experiences designed to help create
within the entire classroom a
community of inquiry. The depth
and carefully constructed nature of
each lesson are based on research
in how children learn that shows
just what it takes for the sorts of
profound growth in thinking
ability we are interested in
fostering. Current work with Eco-

Inquiry focuses especially on teachers and
teacher educators, and is seeking ways of
using the curriculum to model the kind of
teaching that fosters students’ abilities to
ask and answer questions.

Another Institute initiative is SYEFEST, or
Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary School
Teachers, which aims directly at teachers’
concerns about how to use the real world
for teaching ecology. They discover that
they don’t need to know all the answers, nor
know what everything in their schoolyard is
in order to facilitate their students’ inquiries
about nature. Since the National Science
Foundation-supported lES project began,
during the 1993-1994 schoolyear, approxi-
mately 4,000 students in 14 states have
made meaningful observations and exciting
discoveries in the places where they used to
have only recess. Comments from the 161
teachers who have participated include
“The students at one of my schools have
had little exposure to in-depth science and
it’s been a journey to get them to think and
wonder. It’s now happening and they’re
making wider connections now”, from
Boston, Mass., and “They loved going out
and ‘researching’. Every day I would hear
someone say, ‘Can we go out and do some
science research?”’, from Millbrook, N.Y.

lES Education Program staff remains
“grounded” in the realities of working with
children in part through our on-site
education programs. While we put primary

continued on following page

Groundwater Program: lES educator Ana Ruesink, 2nd from
left, and high school students find groundwater at “Well 1 ”
in the field behind the Gifford House.

Teachers and Children, continued

emphasis on encouraging teachers to use
readily available resources for teaching
ecology (e.g., the schoolyard and nearby
habitats), study in unique settings such as
the forests, fields, ponds and streams here at
the Institute is a useful supplement to
school-based efforts. For us, it provides a
chance to gain insights about what children
are interested in, what kinds of questions
they ask at different ages, and how to help
them become more skilled at thinking
through problems and designing experi-
ments.

Children learn best if they are having fun in
the process, and children have a great deal
of fun in the Institute’s pond ecology
program. At Cary Pond, on one of the
Arboretum’s Cannoo Hills, elementary
school students catch, observe and release
frogs and aquatic invertebrates, discover
where squishy pond sediment comes from
and how creatures use it, and measure the
pond’s physical characteristics. They also
add their findings to a long-term record of
pond temperature. Older students do
experiments in the Ecology Study Ponds at
the lES Outdoor Science Center and, in this
controlled setting, confront the pollution
problems facing many local aquatic
ecosystems. Even in these short programs,
students raise questions and consider ways
of getting answers.

In another on-site lES ecology education
program that takes place along the recently
completed “Changing Forests EdVenture
Trail”, small groups of students in grades 4
through 6 are challenged by trailside
activities to discover how human and other
disturbances (plowing, flood, windstorms,
fire) influence the land. Meanwhile, by
performing a series of tests at ‘Puzzling
Plots’ along the trail, small teams of 7th to
1 0th graders learn about plant succession
and how quickly forests recover after a
disturbance. We achieve this ideal small
group size by inviting several parents to
join the group as facilitators, overseen by an
lES educator. The idea of guiding students
to do a battery of short studies with only a
parent to supervise them is a challenging
one. The students still are encouraged to
learn research techniques and to draw their
own conclusions.

The newest lES program to draw students
from schools throughout the mid-Hudson
Valley area is “Groundwater Ecology”,
which delves into the mysteries of under-
ground water. During summer 1994, the
final touches were put on the Institute’s
groundwater wells and small watershed
demonstration area behind the Gifford
House. High school and college students (as
well as adult students in several lES

lES Changing Forests EdVenture Trail: At one of the Challenge Stations along the trail, parents and
students in a home school group receive their instructions from educator Elizabeth Hayes.

Continuing Education Programs classes)
have learned about the depth, movement,
vulnerability and importance of groundwa-
ter using this new interactive facility.

One thing we notice as we develop, expand
and study our programs — and that spurs
us to continue on in this direction — is the
lack of experience many children have with
the natural world. In fact, some tend to be
more familiar with global issues, e.g.,
ozone holes and tropical rainforest defores-

tation, than they are with real organisms
and environments that they see and subtly
experience every day. They need help in
focusing on what they actually observe and
in learning to describe, quantify and restrain
their conclusions to their concrete, real
world experience. These learning behaviors
build both a sense of closeness with nature
and the thinking skills and habits of mind
that make every day even more worth
living.

Daughter’s Day at lES

“Take Your Daughter To Work Day” was established in 1993 by The Ms. Foundation as
a way to introduce girls to the variety of opportunities in today’s workplace. On April 27,
lES participated this year for the first time, with 1 9 girls sharing the morning with
Institute staff Girls from 6-8
learned about office computers,
copiers and fax machines; took a
nature walk; toured and trans-
planted in the greenhouse; and
looked at ‘critters’ through a
microscope. The 10-13 year-olds
learned about the library computer
system, did some laboratory work
and explored the Weather Station,
and the 14- and 15-year olds —
already interested in careers in
science — did more advanced
laboratory and field observations.

Daughters, right, and their Institute
sponsors then shared their experi-
ences over lunch in the Perennial
Garden.

Volunteer Profile: Angelika Denk

From there, Ms. Denk traveled halfway
around the world to the Institute, where she
quickly became an important contributor to
Hudson River research. At first she
examined water samples from the river,
sorting white perch and striped bass larvae
for Dr. Limburg’s analyses. These larvae,
as well as other larval fish, prey on a type
of zooplankton called Bosmina, and Ms.
Denk’s project evolved into the study of
another type of zooplankton called
Leptodora, which also feed on Bosmina.
Ms. Denk has been counting and measur-
ing the Leptodora, as well as doing a
literature search on the microscopic
animals, and now Dr. Limburg is develop-
ing a computer model to show whether or
not they are indeed a significant predator
on Bosmina.

Ms. Denk’s volunteer work at the Institute
ended in mid-April, which gave Dr.
Limburg the opportunity to thank her
publicly at the April 6 Volunteer Recogni-
tion Ceremony (see below). Back in
Germany she will continue her studies to
earn a master’s degree, which, she says, is
the only way to get ajob in science there.
After that two-year program, she hopes to
apply again for volunteer programs around
the world, to gain more hands-on experi-
ence before beginning a career in ecology
or a related field.

extracts the otoliths (earstones) for
age and growth determination and
analyzes stomach contents to learn
what the fish had eaten. All this
requires long hours seated at a
microscope.

Enter Angelika Denk (left), who,
for two-and-a-half months as an
lES volunteer, helped Dr.

Limburg with her microscope
work and related projects. Ms.
Denk, from Munich, Germany,
graduated from the University of
Regensburg last summer. At the
university, emphasis was on
studying “very fast” — Ms. Denk
said that she was so busy learning
she had no time to do anything,
and what she wanted was to do
something in ecology. She wrote
to a number of research institu-
tions around the world, offering to
do volunteer work.

Featured in the last issue of the lES
NEWSLETTER was the research of Dr.
Karin Limburg, a postdoctoral associate
studying larval forms of white perch and
striped bass from the Hudson River. As
described, she first sorts the tiny fish, then

t She spent the first two months of
2 her ecological odyssey in New
Zealand, working with the
Department of Conservation in the country’s
temperate rainforest to protect the native
kokako. This pigeon-sized bird is a poor
flier, and introduced mammals that prey on
the birds and their eggs have brought it
close to extinction.

Volunteer Recognition Ceremony - 1995

The Institute of Ecosystem Studies is
pleased and proud to have close to 90
volunteers working shoulder to shoulder
with lES staff in the labs and library, in
display gardens, at the greenhouse and at
field sites, doing research, facilitating
education programs and assisting with
special projects in all areas. Each April —
National Volunteer Month — these
volunteers are honored at a dinner and
awards program held at the Institute.

This year’s Recognition Ceremony on
April 6 drew 43 volunteers, their guests and
their lES colleagues. It was the first to be
held in the new auditorium, where, after a
social hour and buffet dinner in the Plant
Science Building, Director Dr. Gene E.
Likens summarized the year’s activities at
the Institute and Dr. Steward Pickett, plant
ecologist, gave a slide talk illustrating the
ecological secrets of pollination. Awards
were presented by Ms. Su Marcy, coordina-
tor of the Institute’s Volunteer Program,
and the lES staff members with whom the
volunteers worked.

From left: standing, Dr. Alan Berkowitz, Head of Education; Ms. Su Marcy, Volunteer Program Coordinator;
and Mr. Charles Rivera (228 hours of volunteer work in the display gardens over the past year) . . . and seated,
Ms. Rose Marie Gillin (352 hours with the Education Program over the past year); and Ms. Ruth Melton,
recipient of this year ’s 1000+ Award for her accumulated hours of volunteer work in the Greenhouse.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Summer semester offerings have expanded
tremendously. Catalogues are available at the
Gifford House. Classes and trips include:

Landscape Design

July 22: Landscape Design for the Small
Residential Site

Aug. 19: Lighting in the Landscape

Gardening

July 15: Field Course: The Lazy Gardener —
Low Impact for You and Your Landscape
July 15-16: Insect Pests and Diseases of Plants
July 22: Daylilics: The Answer to Every
Gardener’s Prayer

July 29: Field Course: Summer Wild Plant
Identification

July 30: Field Course: Pinching, Deadheading,

Staking and More

Aug. 5: Basic Irrigation Systems

Aug. 12 and 19: Fundamentals of Gardening

Natural Science Illustration
July 10-14: Colored Pencil Techniques
July 10-14: Sketching in the Garden and
Woodlands

July 1 5 and/or 1 6: Sketching at the Zoo

Aug. 1-3: Watercolors in the Garden - Extended

Biology and Earth Science

July 23: Field Course: Glacial Retreat — The
Sediment Record and What Really Happened
Aug. 5 and 6: Field Course: Wetland Plant ID
Aug. 12: Field Course: The Amazing Diversity
of Life in Soil

Excursions

July 12: A Tour ofStonecrop

July 14: Plants of Bartholomew’s Cobble

Aug. 19: Wave Hill and the Cloisters

Call 914/677-9643 for information.

Calendar

SUNDAY ECOLOGY PROGRAMS

Free public programs are held on the first and third
Sunday ofeach month, except over holiday weekends.
Last-minute changes are sometimes unavoidable, so
call 914/677-5359 to confirm the day’s topic. In case
of poor weather, call 677-5358 after 1 p.m. to learn
the status ofthe day’s program. The following
programs begin at2 p.m. atthe Gifford House, except
as otherwise noted*:

July 1 6: Animals in a Grassland, an outdoor activity
for kids and their adults led by Catherine Corey and
AnaRuesink

Aug. 6: Exploring Cary Pond, an activity for kids
and their adults led by Peggy Shea. Wear clothes and
shoes you don ’t mind getting wet and a I ittle dirty !
Aug. 20: What’s Happening in the Oldfields?, a
walk led by Dr. Steward Pickett (* meet at the
Greenhouse parking lot, on Route 82)

• We strongly recommend that participants in
outdoor programs wear sturdy footwear and long
pants tucked into socks.

GREENHOUSE

The lES greenhouse, ayear-round tropical plant
paradise and asite for controlled environmental
research, is open until 4:00 p.m. daily except public
hoi idays. Admission is by free permit (see below).

HOURS

Summer hours: May 1 - September 30
Closed on public holidays.

Public attractions are open Mon. - Sat., 9 a.m. -
6 p.m. & Sun. 1 - 6 p.m., with a free permit.

The lES Gift and Plant Shop is open Mon.- Sat.,

1 1 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sun. 1 -5 p.m. (The shop is closed
weekdays from 1 - 1 :30 p.m.)

•All visitors must pick up a free permit at the
Gifford House Visitor and Education Center on
Route 44A for access to lES public attractions.
Permits are available until 5 p.m. daily.

lES GIFT AND PLANT SHOP

New in the Shop ...New York state maple syrup ...
pocket guides to flowers, berries, trees, ferns, birds
and animal tracks ... “eco-spouts” to convertyour
used plasticjugs into usable containers ... washable
fabric lunch-bags ... and for children ... “SPROGZ”,
ceramic frogs with individual personalities ...
bandana games

Senior Citizens Days: 1 0% off on Wednesdays

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

The lES Volunteer Program is looking for enthusias-
tic women and men interested in working with
Institute staff for a few hours (or more) each week at
the Gifford House Visitor and Education Center. The
summerwish list includes someone with photo-
graphic experience to do black-and-white photogra-
phy for the newsletter; salespeople in the Gift and
Plant Shop; gregarious individuals to orient visitors
and/or assist with an ongoing visitor survey; and
those whose organizational abilities help to make
office work go more smoothly. For information on
responsibilities and benefits, call SuMarcy, lES
volunteer coordinator, at 9 14/677-5359.

MEMBERSHIP

Become amember ofthe Institute of Eeosystem
Studies. Benefits include a member's rate for lES
courses and excursions, a 1 0% discount on Gift Shop
purchases, a free subscription to the lES Newsletter
and participation in a reciprocal admissions program,
with benefits at over 1 00 nature centers, forest
preserves, gardens and conservatories in the U.S. and
Canada. Individual membership is $30; family
membership is $40. For information, call Ms. Janice
Claiborne at914/677-5343.

The Institute’s Aldo Leopold Society: In addition
to receiving the benefits 1 isted above, members of The
Aldo Leopold Society are invited guests at spring and
fall lES science updates. Call Ms. JanMittan at 9 14/
677-5343 for information.

For general information, call the lES Education Program Office at the Gifford House Visitor and Education Center:

914/677-5359 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

INSTITUTE OF
ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
Education Program
Box R

Millbrook, New York 12545-0178

Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID

Millbrook, N.Y.
Permit No. 16

Newsletter

Volume 12, Number 2
March - April 1995

100% Recycled
Paper