Blog
Browse this page for blog postings related to middle- and high-school-teacher Adventure Learning workshops taking place across Idaho. Use the widgets to the right (or at bottom of this page, for smaller devices) to filter blog posts.
Benewah Creek Project- From a Local's Point of View
I am a digital adventure participant, still trying to feel my way around where I fit into all of this. One thing I was very surprised about was that Monday's project was focused on Benewah Creek. My family and I own a house right above Benewah Creek about 5 miles down Benewah Creek Road. Recently, we have moved to Salmon, and are in the process of selling our home, however, we still own it and return frequently. In fact, we were just there this weekend! If I had known that everyone was there, I would have stopped by! (We have just barely returned to Salmon, that is why I am writing this at... more
Water Quality Testing at Benewah Creek
Today we were taught how to conduct water quality testing at a creek setting. Marie has these great water quality kits that can be loaned out (if you teach locally) to show your students how to do field work that really matters. The project at Benewah Creek has a purpose, to create healthy habitat for native Cutthroat trout. We learned how to use the kits to test for a variety of water quality parameters. First, we took the temperature of the creek and determined that it is great for the fish we are working with. Second, we took a reading with a transparency meter. It is a tube with... more
Day 1: Restoring Equilibrium to Maximize Biodiversity of Benewah Creek
When you think of equilibrium, you think of a calm state of mind and a physical balance where opposing forces offset each other. Of course that is what us educators thought (early into our summer break) when we were able to explore the many reaches of Benewah Creek. Behind the scenes, drastic revitalization has occurred over the last twelve years, but there is still plenty of work for equilibrium to be restored. Stephanie Hallock, a Habitat Biologist for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, led us through our first adventure.
The area of focus for the Benewah Creek Restoration Project is to... more
On-line Adventurer Responsibilities?
Hello out there!! I'm one of the "On-Line Adventerers" and I'm a little unsure of what my responsibilities are. I've done all the required reading and viewed all the videos but I I don't quite know what to do with the blogs since I'm not a part of the actual activities and don't know what is actually discussed each day. I feel like I'm a little out of the loop. I check this site, Flipgrid, and iNaturalist quite often but I'm not quite sure how to participate. Any help?
Thanks a bunch. Talk to you all later.
Randy Boyd
Hi, CdA Adventurers! Do you have a favorite take-a-way from Day 1?
Day 1 as a Pocatello in-person adventurer on June 5 opened a whole new world. I am certainly one who did not give much thought to how I operate (both giving and taking) within my ecosystem community. I did not possess the knowledge or vocabulary to disucss ecosystems, ecosystem services, their value, and how integral my choices are in affecting my community of animals, plants, and environments in which I live and interact. Day 1 we defined ecosystem services into categories: Provisioning Services, Regulating Services, Supporting Services, and Cultural Services. As I meditated on those... more
Social Learning?
I was one of the lucky participants in the Pocatello Miles program 2 weeks ago. The day 1 focus of Social - Ecological Systems and Ecosystem Services took a few days to sink in, but by the end of the week's activities, I gained a heightened awareness. I still value my interactions with nature, it is just that now I can hopefully better verbalize the relationship that we all share both locally and globally. The social aspect was another breakthrough for me. From a science perspective, it is easy for me to overlook the feel-good of interacting with the environment. We recently floated down... more