Tumalo Week 4: Opening Circle

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Tumalo Week 4: Opening Circle

Karen reading a poem

"Shevlin Park"

Today, instead of going out to our study site we went out to Shevlin. As we arrived and unloaded all the group gear we gathered under the roof of Aspen Hall to shelter from the cold. Mr. Beck and Karen each read a piece of writing from our “Tumalo Poetry Book” and we went through some procedures and the agenda of the day. Mr. Beck explained a bit about the two different groups we were breaking up into and what each would be doing before we switched.

One group was to collect bugs and collect data on them (such as what type, how many, etc.) and the other group was to collect water quality data using the vernier probes. I was excited to hear we were going to delve into bugs and start data collection on them and it seemed like everyone else was also excited about our day ahead. 

Gathering for Opening Circle

Tumalo Week 3: Opening Circle

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Tumalo Week 3: Opening Circle

When we arrive at Skyliner Lodge, at the base of Tumalo Valley, we circled up in the woods behind the lodge. Today we are going to a new study site because of the Bend city water pipeline project. I felt dissapointed about the road being closed to our study site I had come to love. We learn that we are doing art, water testing and solitude and reflection, and we read a piece from the Mosaic of Tumalo. We read a peice from Martha Campbell "Through this precious and converted gem in the tumalo water shed protected by the U.S. Forest Service, the glorious area around us is still open to recreators." After were done reading we are told what our ethnography group jobs for the day. My ethnography job for the day was to cordinate the opening circle.  Finally we head to our temporary study site taking out our feildwork journals along the way, on the way Karen told us to look for any new sign of impact caused by the road being closed off. We did this to mainly focus on our social scientest views.

All of the class huddled in our opening circle ready to start the day.

Tumalo Week 3: Science

 

Tumalo Week 3: Science

Students recording water quality factor data
 "Science Is The Desire To Know Causes"

Our class went to the creek of Tumalo so we could take data back to the classroom to help us expand our learning and our understanding of what is a healthy river/creek verses an unhealthy river/creek. We also learned what a healthy riparian zone looks like and how to measure water quality components and factors. We all broke into groups of 4 people who were all specialists in different water quality components. We all took turns doing different jobs so we could all individually have a better understanding of each component and how it affects the creek. 

Boris testing the creek for Dissolved Oxygen levels.

We evaluated the heath of the stream based off of the data we collected compared to the idea range of each component. We now know can decide whether the creek is healthy or now and what contributes to that. We know how to measure for conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, water temperature, and air temperature to help us evaluate water quality. Our favorite part of the science day was finally getting to collect data and having that level of trust from our teachers to be trusted with probes.

Week 3 Social Science

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Tumalo Week 3 Social Science

Since the road was closed for pipeline construction we learned about water rights. For the first part of learning water rights we studied how many cfs (cubic feet per second) were allotted for taking by the Tumalo Irrigation District and by The City of Bend. After that we learned how many cfs were allotted to Tumalo Creek. We also learned about construction and effects about the pipeline after we were told to record our opinions. After that we went and visited the road entrance and observed the equipment and pipe.  Then we learned about why the pipeline was being replaced, because it was over 50 years old! And after that, we took water quality tests to determine the creeks health. The tests consist of PH, conductivity, turbidity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. These allowed us to know just how healthy or unhealthy Tumalo Creek is for fish and for drinking water.

Tumalo Week 3: Art

  Watercolor art at Tumalo creek-

week three:

Olivia's watercolor

Last Monday we gathered in a circle and talked about the “lens” of our vision and about supplies. Once we all found a spot we sat there and chose a depth of field, filter, exposure, aperture and focal length. We focused on the vibrant scenery around us and painted it trying to match the colors as close as possible. The experience was unlike our other art times during fieldwork because we got to be with a few friends while drawing and help each other out. We gathered up, shared our paintings and got to feel good about our artistic talents!

   Kersey's watercolor

~natalie                                       

Tumalo Week 3: Solitude & Reflections

                  Tumalo Week 3: Solitude & Reflections

On week three we had gone to a new location in the valley downstream from our main study site. For reflection we were to use the Bridge Creek Fire and its impact on the valley, learning about the riparian zone, or a little on the importance of the valley for the Bend Community. We were to use these as a backdrop for our writing. Students chose a wide variety of subjects to focus on. We sat away from others in our own space capturing the essence of Tumalo Creek and its importance to us.

Soleil during solitude and reflection

Jessi wrote about the differences between our normal study site and the spot downstream. She quoted “Rather than the fresh pine I smell the perfume of the grass, river and bushes. There is much more grass and a variety vegetation around.”

Tumalo Week 3: Closing Circle

Tumalo Week 3: Closing Circle

Everyone sits together to sum up our day and share our writing and/or art

 

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   It's Week 3 at Tumalo! As our day came to an end we got together for our closing circle to take some time to sum up what we did that day. There was also time to read a part of our writing from solitude & reflection or share the artwork we had done. It was nice to sit down after a long day's work and talk about what we accomplished. It was also nice to hear some of the pieces of writing from student's reflections, and I think it helped us all connect to the place better. 

   We all loaded the group gear into the bus, made sure we “left no trace” and said goodbye to Tumalo for today, eager for the next time we would come out.

All of us sitting together as we shared pieces of work from our Fieldwork Journals

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"I looks up at the branches full of yellow leaves and I can almost see the memories they hold. I close my eyes and rest my head against the trunk of the tree."

  - Soleil

"An area once threatened by fire but never touched."

 - Bella

"The air smells of grass and vegetation, making a bitter sweet smell that you learn to enjoy every waking minute."

 - Van