Science in the Redwoods

We just had the 4th graders from Rise Community School in Oakland join us for an adventure filled day surveying the health of Lagunitas Creek. Rise Community School, along with 30 other classes, is already registered to grow redwoods in their classroom as a part of the 10,000 Redwoods Project.

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On this trip, under the towering redwoods, students collected benthic macroinvertebrates in Lagunitas Creek and identified their tolerance to low water quality. Through analysis of the diversity of species we documented, students were asked to determine the health of the creek.

SONY DSCWe overcame fears of holding crayfish, counted and identified juvenile salmon, listened to birds, deciphered mysterious bones, and even tasted some delicious native plants!

SONY DSCAfter our hike to removed invasive plants throughout the redwoods, and by the end of the hike the kids were not ready to leave. We even had a couple of kids trying to hide when the bus pulled up to take them home.

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Thankfully, we will all see each other again this fall when the class comes to collect their own redwood seeds.

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This field trip was made possible by NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, Save the Redwoods League and all of our amazing donors.

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You can support our redwoods in the classroom program by adopting a redwood at www.10000redwoods.org

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To learn more about how you can sign up your students to join Turtle Island’s Science in the Redwoods programs please email Catie@tirn.net

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