Environmental Education Program

Great Lakes

Newsletter: Rustlings
Volume 12, No.1
2002
Our 25th School Year

A Curriculum Change

Water tables have dropped in our region. Since 1997 the water level of Lake Michigan has dropped thirty inches. Louie's Pond, the site of our well-loved pond studies here at Au Sable, has turned into a meadow. As a result we have had to (temporarily?) remove the pond study from the curriculum.

For the third and fourth grade teachers who have been doing the pond study, may we suggest a parallel study as a substitute? The wildlife study conducted in February and March also focuses on how energy flows through an ecosystem. The concepts of food chains, carrying capacity, and food webs are taught in the wildlife study, too.

In the morning, students visit our wildlife lab and learn about the common animals found in the northwoods. Mounted animals, animal furs, skulls, plaster casts of tracks, scat, drawings, and pictures help students learn about our wildlife and how to recognize evidence of their presence. Students also engage in an energy lab to learn about the elements of a food chain and participate in two simulation games to understand the concept of carrying capacity.

After lunch, students conduct a wildlife census to determine what animals are active at Au Sable. Each small study team is assigned an area to survey. Since we usually have around three feet of snow on the ground in February and March, this survey is carried out on snowshoes, which Au Sable provides. After the students return with their data, a food web is constructed using the animals found on the census.

Winter is a wonderful time to study at Au Sable! Other studies offered in winter are a mammal study for kindergarten through second graders, a winter study for fourth through sixth graders, a water quality study of Big Twin Lake for sixth through twelfth graders, and a groundwater study using unique test wells here at Au Sable for sixth through twelfth graders.

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