Natural Resources
The Yaquina Lighthouse Native Plant Restoration grant with the Bureau of Land Management received more good news on its funding. The original grant was for $10,000, but just last week we received word that the grant amount was raised to $17,500. With success, there is also the possibility that more money will be awarded annually. The projection for the grant length is three to five years.
The additional money will make capital improvements to the greenhouse area and offset some of the operation costs. Five new high quality metal tables, heating mats for seed germination, an automated water system, and electrical upgrades have been ordered, received, or in process. The most exciting news is that in order to meet the needs of unattended young plants and seedlings during the summer a new 20 X 30 foot shade house is going to be built next to the existing greenhouse. The students and I will begin the construction of the shade house when we receive it. If you are bored and looking for something to do, come on down!
On May 4th, students and I will be helping the BLM collect and plant 1500 salal, Gaultheria shallon, cuttings from light house area at Newport
.
The sign for the orchard dedicated to Morris Smith is now being made. I expect it to be done within a couple of weeks. The final draft of the sign may be viewed at this location. Orchard Sign
The Spring Fling plant sale will happen on May 26th. An earlier opportunity to get your garden and plant needs will be held at Burnt Woods on May 14th. I look forward to seeing you and hope you will show up at one of the two locations for your planting needs.
Field Biology
The science lab is filed with a menagerie of wild critters. As part of an assignment the students were to collect a wild animal and set up a suitable habitat for the animal's care. The object is for the student to become an expert on the species of their choice, make some inquiry observation about it, and report back to the class in written/oral form or power point presentation on what they discovered. The animals collected thus far are, a Red Legged frog, Pacific Tree frog, a Pacific Giant Salamander, Rough Skinned Newt, Red Back Salamander, Yellow Spotted Millipede, Gopher Snake, Townsend's Chipmunk, and California Ground Squirrel. The squirrel I actually caught with a live trap. It was eating all the lettuce starts in the greenhouse. The class assignment may have saved it from a more unfavorable alternative outcome since I was losing all patience with its daily foraging of my vegetable starts. There are also around two hundred steelhead fry in the chilled aquarium. These we raised from eggs and will be released in a nearby stream shortly.
As soon as spring comes, assuming it does come this year, the students will be collecting flowers and leaves for their botany project.
StRUT (Students Recycling Used Technology)
The technology students have upgraded ten desktops and five laptop computers we received from the Strut organization. The desktops replaced aging computers in the computer lab. The laptops are replacing teacher’s computers. If you are interested in owning one of the desktops out of the library, they are for sale. We formatted the hard drives of each one and then reloaded Windows XP Professional with service pack three on them. That is all the software that is on them. A complete computer with CRT monitor, keyboard and mouse can be purchased for $50. If you don’t want the monitor it is $60. That is correct. It is more for not taking the monitor since it will cost us $10 to dispose of them. We also give you a paper with suggested software sites for free anti-virus downloads as well as recommended sites for add-ons to view web pages effectively. Word processing on line is now available in several places for free in the “Cloud.” The paper will provide directions on how to find these places or how to down load a free open source office suite called Open Office. These computers are a good deal for that second computer need, be it school work, email, or web surfing, but it will not meet your child’s high end gaming needs. See or email me for more details and questions on how to obtain one. They are limited and it is first come first serve.
Integrated Science
Energy has been the topic for the last few weeks in the freshman science class. We have covered the numerous energy sources available from fossil fuels to alternative energy to nuclear power. The students were required to make a steam driven turbine from materials of their own choosing that would spin for thirty seconds. A steam generator was created by boiling water in a flask heated with propane and modeled how power plants operate. The students had to bend science grade glass tubing, and temper and narrow the outlet hole in order to develop enough steam pressure to make the turbine spin. The tubing was inserted into a one-hole rubber stopper that fit the flask opening. As always, some very interesting turbine creations were made, and as always, with a few modifications, all of them were successful.
We are now doing several activities using coiled winding wire and magnets which will lead us to how electricity is made. With an energy source, a turbine, and a generator one can make electricity. With electricity, I can have my toast and coffee in the morning and that makes me happy.
We are now doing several activities using coiled winding wire and magnets which will lead us to how electricity is made. With an energy source, a turbine, and a generator one can make electricity. With electricity, I can have my toast and coffee in the morning and that makes me happy.
Following this unit and for the remainder of the school year we will discover and explore Newton’s Laws.
