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

Tumalo Week 2: Opening Circle

Tumalo Week 2: Opening Circle

On Tumalo week two we where out at our study site we where gathering carbon data  out of the forest above the river. We started off the day with the opening circle. During the opening circle we went over the agenda and we reminded ourselves of scientific notation. (A way of taking really big numbers into a pretty small number) We also went over where we will be working. When we where all done we split into set groups and started collecting carbon data.

Tumalo Week 2: Science

Tumalo Week 2: Science

Students determining the river's health

     Our purpose of the activity was to observe the river to determine if it was healthy for fish to live in or not. One thing we did to see if the river was healthy was seeing if the banks were stabilized or not by checking how much riparian vegetation there was around the river.

Tumalo Week 2: Math

Tumalo Week 2: Math

Students creating a right triangle to help create a 82X82 foot sample plot.

"The Only Way To Learn Mathematics, Is To Do Mathematics". --Paul Halmos 

The purpose of this activity was to collect and track data about carbon storage in individual tress and the forest near the creek over all. We created a 82X82 meter square using right triangles (and the Pythagorean theorem) to create a sample plot. We used 3 4 5 right triangles to find the corners of the plot, we then measured 82 feet out to the next 3 4 5 triangle. 
We then broke into teams and measured tree DBH (Diameter at Breast Height), tree height and Down and Dead wood (wood that is dead and beginning o decay on the forest floor). Now we have the carbon percentages from the sample plot we can estimate the total carbon storage for the whole forest. We can now covert the large numbers into scientific notation that we can compare to other ears of the creek. 

What is Carbon Storage? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage 

What is the Pythagorean Theorem? http://math.about.com/cs/pythagorean/g/pythagdef.htm

Data sheet/recording form of  measurements (Special Right Triangles For Determining Tree Height)

Tumalo Week 2: Solitude & Reflection

Tumalo Week 2: Solitude & Reflection

Kab sits during solitude & relfection and writes about his experience

   At Tumalo on Week Two it was Math day! In solitude and reflection we made connections between our day and quotes. Such as- How do mathematicians know what they know and how do we know what they know is true?

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A student sits alone & writes about his day next to the river

    At the beginning of the day when we looked at the quotes and most of us didn't know what they meant. After measuring trees, recording data and doing math that was all related to nature I felt I had a better understanding. With all the going and rushing that day it was nice to sit down and think about what we learned and connect our findings with what mathematicians said throughout history.

A great Solitude & Reflection spot at Tumalo

Quote: "Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere."
- Blaise Pascal

"It's hard to determine what each author meant about the quote, as we all have different ideas. The first one made me first think that nature is everywhere, that it has no limited space and it can keep improving. It relates to my day with Tumalo about always improving and it seems as if this (the place) could go on forever. 
- Reflection by Riley

Tumalo Week 2: Closing Circle

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Tumalo Creek Week 2: Closing Circle

^{After a long day of math everyone got in a circle to share our reflections and art. I drew dark rocks and bright leaves, but I didn’t want to share it. Everybody wrote about what we think certain math quotes meant. We were encouraged to share our work. After listening to what other people thought the quotes meant. I knew that other people thought} differently than I did. When I saw other peoples' art, I knew how I could make my  drawing better next time were in the field. All the closing circles give you a better understanding of the learning by seeing other peoples thoughts on one topic and being able to compare them to your own work. I thought the math theme of week 2 really helped the closing circle by giving us a new theme to work with and something new to learn. 

^{(Kab shares his wonderful drawing during our week 2 closing circle)}

Tumalo Week 1: Opening Circle

Tumalo Week 1: Opening Circle

                                         REALMS Students stand ready to learn what the day holds.

Standing in a circle, looking at everyone's apprehensive faces. today is our first day out at Tumalo creek. Everyone is excited to go explore. To discover the place we have all heard so much about. We stand in circles so we can check in with everyone before the day starts. We all intently listen to a writing piece by Missy Van Doran (an old REALMS student) to get us inspired about today’s writing invitation and to motivate us to find ways to personally connect to the place. We all know what is expected of us today. We an all be held accountable. 

Tumalo Week 1: Mapping

Tumalo Week 1: Mapping

Olivia finding where we are

 The purpose of the activity was to find where Tumalo creek is, to find things on land that are also visible on the maps, find ourselves on the map and where we think we are. The results of the activity: we found where we were. first bend, Tumalo lake, Tumalo falls and then Tumalo creek. We were correct about our location. We took pictures of the maps and of the groups working together.

Tumalo Creek week 1 science

                                                                      By:  Dale Thompson

                                                                                                             

                                                                                   

Today we went to see how healthy the Bank line was. To determine whether the shore line was healthy or not we needed to see how many plants there where along the edge of the river. First we took measuring tape and walked along the bank. Then we took a stick that was about a yard long and walked along the measuring tape with the stick a yard above the ground. Any plant that was above the stick we recorded what type of plant it was and how big it was. We determined the bank line had just enough plants to support the water from eroding away the bank of the creek. 

         

Tumalo Week 1: Art

Week 1 - Art at Tumalo

A super up-close drawing of a leaf

   

    It is our first day out at Tumalo, and the nervous excitement rung through the air as we filed off the bus. Today was immersion day, a day to connect to this new place. Near the end of our day, we learned all new sorts of new drawing styles and techniques. Today, the purpose of our Art time was to learn to appreciate the small things in the wilderness. Today we focused on just a few drawing styles, such as shading and macro. Phoebe had us split up separately and we found a spot where we could see no one else, then we picked out something small to draw and drew it big and up-close (macro). She told us to start with shading the object so the shading made the shape instead of starting with an outline.

   In the end, everyone had a beautiful drawing that they had worked hard on and it was great to see a few people share their artwork.

Tumalo Week 1: Reflection

Tumalo Week 1: Solitude and Reflection

Today the purpose of solitude and reflection was to take note  experiences from mapping to bankful lines to just seeing this place for the first time. This helped me realize how I impact my surroundings. This weeks solitude and reflections gave me a time to slow down the day and focus on the place that surrounded me. It also gives us time to find peace with our surroundings that we have come to love for generations. We write silently as we become lost in work. Each week we are given a new prompt to help us guide our writing.This weeks prompt was to: Describe the area around us with enough detail that someone who has never been here could imagine what it is like to be you in this place. Here are some of my favorite examples of this prompt:

 Jessi Head:

I feel the wind lick me. Wishing that I could swim,if i was allowed to i’d dive right in. I live this new oath to love natures grace. A hill on each side a creek through the center. Once i got off the bus i knew this place was special.

Soleil Haskell:
The sky is blue with no sign of a cloud but still full with the thick smog of the fire. As I try to think about the fire the creek distracts me. With each rock it flows over it whispers "Am I not magnificent?" and it really is.



Photo: Looking for a photo to post.Thanks for waiting.

Tumalo Week 1: Closing Circle

Tumalo Week1: Closing Circle

Every time we go on fieldwork, we do a closing circle at the end of the day to end each day positively and to reflect on what we did to learn, grow, and have fun. On Tumalo day one, after our research and exploration, we had our closing circle. We circled up and confident students read their reflections from solitude and reflection about their surroundings and experience that day. Two quotes that i feel caught the essence of Tumalo Creek were by Bella Robles and Spencer Scott,

“Bugs crawling and flying in all directions, as though it is an urgent mission to distract us from our thoughts and goals.” -Bella Robles

“But i write from the rock banks on a river rock smoothed by years of water rushing by and around, cooled by the shade of a spruce, casting its lonely shadow across the creek.” -Spencer Scott

Then we read a few captions and sang happy birthday to Soleil. The results of the closing circle were that we all got on the bus thinking of our day and the fun we had, slightly sad due to the fact that we had to leave right when we were connecting to Tumalo, a beautiful and amazing place. In my opinion the closing circle is a way to connect to Tumalo creek  even more at the end of the day.