Facilitations and Blue Bell greenhouse

Today was a busy day.  Starting with the two facilitations was great.  I really liked the activity that Lynn and Erin did during their presentation.  Having the questions on the tree cookie was a great way to tie the activity to the reading.  Their slideshow was great as well, seeing all of the old pictures really gave me an idea of the scale of these giant white pines that were being logged.  As well as showing me what a feat it must have been to transport them over the land, it makes sense that in the spring they just shot them right down the river.  I bet that is an interesting sight to see.  I remember when I was in Alaska going to a lumberjack demonstration, it was pretty awe-inspiring.  They sped up trees supporting themselves with a blade pushed into the tree.  They stood and ran on top of the logs rolling on water.  It definitely took some skill and determination to be loggers.

I found Lizzy's facilitation really beneficial as well.  It was good to consider different communities and how best to conduct inquiry-based activities given the resources of specific areas.  Inquiry-based activities definitely require flexibility on the part of the teacher in order to truly make a good match between students, resources, communities and projects.

Our project group did really well today too!  We started researching the plants foudn on the boundary between the conservation land and the development.  The plant that stuck out to me the most was the Indian Pipe.  It has a very surreal appearance, almost alien, no wonder its nickname is the ghost or corpse plant.  It is white with a tad bit of pink at the center.  It does not conduct photosynthesis because it lacks chlorophyll.  It gets its nutrients by participating in a parasitic relationship with the forest trees and fungus.  It was great to have background knowledge of plants I have been learning to id in the forest.  I look forward to being out on the land tomorrow finding more plants to identify and learn about.

After a long time in the computer lab our group got to visit Blue Bell greenhouses.  They were having a huge plant sale which was very tempting for all of us.  But we got down to business and talked with the owner and a very informative woman who worked in the greenhouses.  They gave us some leads on what plants to recommend to the new homeowners.  Although some of the plants recommended were not native they were cultivators, a new term for me.  In the end I did succumb to temptation and buy one Thai Basil plant, a good reward for a hard days work!