EcologySeminarwithinExplorationAcademy

ByMorganSandler

InlateSeptemberandearlyOctober,studentsofExplorationAcademytookanecologyseminar
downtheWisconsinRiver,canoeingandtakingsamplesfromtheschoolprairie.Theobjective
ofthistripwastoobservetheforeststocompleteoneoftheirsciencegoals.

ThestudentsofExplorationdonotlearnthesamewayasaveragehighschoolstudents.They
learnthesamematerial,butthroughdifferentmethods.Oneofthewaystheycanchooseto
learnisinaseminar,whichissimilartoaclassroomsetting.

Forasciencegoal,someofthestudentstookanecologyseminarleadbyDebWeaver,a
scienceteacherinVAHSandExploration,alongwithSteveLewiswhoarrangedacanoeingtrip
forthestudents.

Thecanoeingtripwasarealhitwiththestudentsaswellasthetwochaperones.Ienjoyedthe
seminarimmensely,especiallythecanoetrip.Wesawturtles,asnake,blueherons,andbald
eagles,saidLewis.

Theprairiecollectingandobservingtheforestwasalsoenjoyedimmensely.Oneofthethings
thatmostofthestudentsrealizedisthatbeingatreeintheforestislikeaconstantbattleforlife
astheytrytogrowtallerthantheothertrees.

Intheprairies,thestudentslearnedaboutwhatplantsneededtothriveaswellashowexperts
handleprairies.

ThestudentsmetanexpertnamedWaynePaulybehindtheVeronaPublicLibrary,wherethey
tooksamplesoftheprairieplantsbysnippingoffthetopoftheplants.Then,volunteersfrom
DaneCountywilldryouttheseedssothattheycanbespreadnextspring.

Observingtheprairieandforestwentalongwaytochangehowthestudentsviewthe
environmentLainieSchroederstated,Illhavemorerespectforthenatureandthewildlife
aroundme.

DebWeaversummarizedthetripspurposebysaying,Itbenefitsthekidstounderstandtheir
surroundings,wheretheirwaterandfreshaircomesfromandhowtheiractioncanharmorhelp
theirenvironment.