Let me start by introducing myself. My students know me as Mrs. Forgey, the science and mathematics teacher at Hope Street Academy who goes on a lot of field trips and is generally pretty nice (at least that's what I hope they would say). I
am their teacher, and I
do take a lot of field trips, but the majority of my field trips are designed to engage my students in learning about grassland ecology on a unique piece of land owned by Topeka Public Schools, USD 501.
The Kanza Education and Science Park is the technical name of this land. On the property located within the city limits of Topeka, there are approximately 80 acres of soil that has never been tilled for the purpose of agriculture. It has a fascinating history - it was once used to graze cattle for a dairy barn on State Hospital grounds, and it appears that there are wagon tracks from the long-ago westward movement of pioneers across the state of Kansas. Most recently, the property has been used for haying. But the discovery of native plant species led to a district initiative to preserve the land for scientific exploration by the students of our district.
For the past two years, I have taken my Ecology classes to the prairie to study it. We have recorded data - plants we have identified, insects collected and identified, soil moisture and temperature, soil chemical composition, and more. Each semester, I get to introduce a fresh new group of students to learning about grassland ecology, and they have access to former student data and observations. So, each year, we have more and more knowledge to gain about the prairie.
However, one piece has been missing from our scientific experience - communication. We communicate quite a bit within the walls of my classroom, but rarely share with other students in our district, other teachers, or people in our community. We haven't accessed the learning that can come from opening up our experience to others who have interest in studying prairies, especially experts in the field. This was part of our districts goal for the property - a community of scientists, from kindergarten to professional, working together in the name of science. With this blog, I hope that my students can share their learning with others, and that they may also learn from others in return.
On this blog, we'll share photographs of our adventures and seek assistance when we come across a plant or insect we can't identify. We invite others to share their knowledge with us, to ask questions, and to broaden our experience of learning outside the classroom.
