Calling Nature - sustainablethinking

Transcription

Calling Nature
=DB:
Restoring Environmental Justice in an Urban Wetland
AcknowLEJments
Many people have helped to develop the activities contained in this guide. Former park naturalists
Patrick Marley Rump, Damien Raffa, Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, and Benjamin Stone-Francisco developed
many of the activities at the core of the Heron’s Head Park education programs. Hundreds of San
Francisco teachers have also shared their insights and activities over the years. We would also
like to acknowledge the other educators and publishers of curricula who have allowed us to adapt
their activities and inspire our work: Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge’s “Salt Marsh Manual,”
Integrated Waste Management Board’s “Closing the Loop,” Kids for the Bay, Kids In Parks, Occidental
Arts and Ecology Center, Save the Bay, the Stewardship and Environmental Education CollaborativeSF, Sharing Nature with Children, Environmental Concern Inc., and The Watershed Project.
Literacy for Environmental Justice provides education and stewardship programs
at Heron’s Head Park on behalf of the Port of San Francisco.
www.sfgov.org/site/port_page.asp?id=102470
LEJ’s work at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area
is a partnership with the California State Parks Foundation.
www.calparks.org
Calling Nature Home 2nd edition ©2010 Literacy for Environmental Justice
Lead Author: Reiko Ando
Project Editors/Additional Material:
Pamela Calvert, Myla Ablog, Anthony Khalil, Patrick Marley Rump
Project Designer: Barbara Nishi Graphic Design
Art: Renate Woodbury
Funding for this project was provided by the Kimball Foundation.
1st ed. credits:
Editors: Dana Lanza and Cleo Woelfle- Erskine
Authors: Anna Lee and Cleo Woelfle-Erskine
Contributing Writers:
Michael Gast, Dana Lanza, LeAndrew Rigmaden, Brenda Salgado, Jenn Sramek
Dedicated to the youth of southeast San Francisco
CALLING NATURE HOME
i
© 2010 Literacy for Environmental Justice
ll I Want
Respect Is A
ect
me is for resp
on
e
liv
ho
w
u
from yo
for respect
l and all I ask
st all I ask is
co
no
I am beautifu
d
an
ee
fr
my respect
guests on me
it but where is
as
ke
e
ta
liv
d
u
an
yo
e
t
le
er
anes
I
th
rnadoes hurric
omp and I sit
to
st
s
it
ke
sp
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ua
m
hq
rt
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ea
You litter
back with my
etimes I fight
m
so
it
m
ad
t
t
I mus
d my respec
ms to deman
the worst stor
so do you
days I shine,
y
nn
su
u
yo
When I give
y me
how do you pa
d
ers I bloom
an
w
s,
flo
l
ge
fu
ti
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au
what be
h all these ch
e to go throug
m
r
fo
it
is
rd
How ha
ns
tural
e city expansio
is where my na
is
th
e
us
ca
be
back, you mak
natural areas
s and all the
I love the park
n
beauty is show
e the real me
ver me you se
co
to
shake you up
p
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ak
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much I like to
o
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And when I fe
my eyes
You build onto
disguise
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My natural be
you a home
ect for giving
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w
All I
ne
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d are going un
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m
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on
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akeup you ha
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build me up
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us
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ound you have
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ai
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All I ask for is
on, 2010
Brittany Brand
ment
for the Environ
LEJ Bay Youth
CALLING NATURE HOME
ii
Introduction
This young woman’s
about the environment
response seems
without actual
to
we don’t get
o
s
,
s
to be ubiquitous
experiences. Through
id
k
y
it
“We are c
,”
rs
o
o
td
u
o
among the current
actual experiences we
e
experience th ear-old senior at Philip &
generation. Even
increase our sense of
17-y
a Johnson, a
t like
sh
n’
ni
do
on
“I
R
o.
id
sc
sa
ci
amidst the global
place and our ecological
San Fran
igh School in
ild animals,
w
e
trend of “greening”
interconnections.
Sala Bur ton H
lik
t
n’
do
s
t of my friend
hool.
sc
in
ss
all facets of life,
Investigating the
ne
er
bugs, and mos
the wild
ach you about
a
te
t
as
n’
it
do
of
k
ey
a disconnection
surrounding location
in
th
and
st th
a park, they ju
as
it
of
k
in
th
t
of youth from the
and its flora, fauna,
.”
Kids don’
nothing to do
where there is
e
ac
environment still
and history speaks to
sp
ld
en
or
w
op
big
tural
ch from the na
ta
de
n
re
persists in the
our natural heritage:
ld
hi
“C
e.”
e the virtual on
or
pl
ex
ey
United States. As
common roots that
th
as
er 22, 2007
ob
ct
O
e
cl
ni
ro
an environmental
bind us closer. Among
SF Ch
educator for the past
all our differences,
decade, I engage with
all are related, all
hundreds of students
are important, each
each year and can
with a story to tell, a struggle to overcome, and an
attest to their lack of ecological literacy—branded with
active role in the web of life. Becoming literate in
the new diagnosis “nature deficit disorder.” We cannot
our environment and identifying what is relevant to
let that be an obstacle to co-creating consciousness
our lives, we gain a deep knowledge of belonging.
that is truly “green” and not just a fleeting trend. I am
“Reading” our surroundings in a multiplicity of ways,
one of the few environmental educators of color, and
we begin to see meaning where previously there was
my traditional indigenous knowledge guides my belief
a void; experiencing the outdoors opens doors within
that we are the environment and the environment is
ourselves.
us—where we live, work, and play.
Expanding our ability to read ourselves in turn leads to
Today’s youth do possess this ancient knowledge,
positive and powerful action outward. The goal of this
but rarely have the opportunity to embrace, share,
curriculum is to inspire action for environmental justice
and further cultivate it. Now is the time to empower
within our communities. We can all can learn lessons
this wisdom. As both scientists and advocates of
from the legacy of Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick
environmental justice, we focus on how the interplay
Point, and the Bayview Hunters Point community, but
between organism and environment manifests in
the struggle for health, safety, and justice starts within
environmental justice communities right here in San
our own immediate surroundings. As educators, it
Francisco, purportedly one of the “greenest” cities in
is our responsibility to help reverse the disconnect
the world.
between youth and the environment—so get out there
and work not just for sustainability exclusively, but
This curriculum draws its inspiration from Heron’s
for the linked inalienable rights to sustainability and
Head Park and Candlestick Point State Recreation
justice for all!
Area—sacred places born from the cycles of renewal
of both land and people—and the surrounding Bayview
Peace, Health, Justice,
Hunters Point community. It has been said that you
cannot restore the land without restoring the people,
Anthony Khalil
and we cannot expect youth to have positive thoughts
Literacy for Environmental Justice
CALLING NATURE HOME
iii
Table of Contents
The Five Steps to a Successful LEJ Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activities Organized by Subject Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Story of Heron’s Head Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Story of Candlestick Point State Recreation Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITIES
Field Trip Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Native Species Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Watershed in Your Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wild in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Beaks & Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wetland Metaphors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Who Dirtied the Water?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Principles of Environmental Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
2
5
9
12
18
34
40
50
58
65
71
78
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITIES
Mapping Habitats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Mud Creature and Plankton Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Discovering Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Ethnobotany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Growing Native Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Plant Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Bird Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Fit to be Tide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Treasure Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
What’s in the Water? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
POST-TRIP ACTIVITIES
Crossing the Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Airborne Solid Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Four Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Water Treatment Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Environmental Justice Sheroes and Heroes
and the Four Rs of Environmental Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roots Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bioaccumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creation of Heron’s Head Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eating Bay Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX
CALLING NATURE HOME
185
189
197
200
205
217
224
232
240
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Animals and Plants of Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point . . . . 252
iv
The Five Steps to a Successful LEJ Program
Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) believes that education through
action is the most effective way to engage students in community-based
learning. By following LEJ’s model, students engage their own interests
and knowledge of their communities in the task of improving their
neighborhoods. The LEJ model includes the following steps:
STEP 1
TEACHER MEETING
Teachers arrange a meeting with one of the LEJ staff educators prior
to planning a Park program. LEJ staff will tailor a program or a set of
programs to meet each teacher’s curricular objectives.
STEP 2
CLASSROOM VISIT(S)
Introducing environmental justice concepts prior to the field trip allows
students to make connections between what is learned during the field
trip and other learning and life experiences. LEJ educators are available to
lead pre-trip activities in your classroom. Classroom presentations include
slideshows and hands-on classroom activities.
STEP 3
COMMUNITY INVESTIGATION
Experiential learning leaves the most long-lasting impression on students.
Students learn directly through hands-on activities about the ecology of
the park. Also, students learn to gather information regarding community
issues in preparation for taking action in their communities. Examples
include: field trip modules, community member interviews, photographic
essays, videotaping, historical research and surveys. The LEJ staff can
help with coming up with ideas.
STEP 4
ACTION PROJECTS
Completing an action project leaves students with a sense that what they
say and do is important, and that they have agency when it comes to
addressing community concerns in a positive way. Projects may include:
habitat restoration, video documentaries, photographs and articles,
petitions, letter writing campaigns, participation in public hearings and
community meetings, mapping projects, public art projects, as well as
other ideas generated by students.
STEP 5
EVALUATION AND
REFLECTION
When addressing challenging social issues such as those that are part of
any environmental justice program, it is critically important to set aside
space for students to reflect upon and share their feelings. Examples of
ways to share include writing, art, poetry and discussion. Evaluations
can help us to monitor the impact of our work, and allow us to make
improvements. Please be sure to return your LEJ evaluation form after
completing your Park Program. Reflections can also help with assessing
the success of action projects, and can be used to inform further action,
leading to sustainable movements.
CALLING NATURE HOME
1
Activities Organized by Subject Areas
This list describes the particular areas of study under which the Calling
Nature Home modules fall. Each module includes a list of California state
science standards that correlate with the activities.
KEY
ANIMALS AND HABITATS
Modules
PLANTS AND HORTICULTURE
Modules
CALLING NATURE HOME
Pr = Pre-Trip Activity
FT = Field Trip Activity
Po = Post-Trip Activity
These activities introduce the concept that all organisms depend on
habitats for survival. Students investigate the habitats along San
Francisco’s southeast bayfront shoreline and learn how each habitat
provides the basic needs of its inhabitants, and participate in habitat
restoration projects.
Field Trip Prep (Pr)
Native Species Web (Pr)
Watershed in Your Hand (Pr)
Wild in the City (Pr)
Mapping Habitats (FT)
Mud Creatures & Plankton Study (FT)
Crossing the Line (Po)
These activities introduce students to native and non-native plants of
the tidal marsh, grassland, and coastal scrub. Students learn about
the adaptations of native plants to the San Francisco Bay’s ecology,
the traditional uses of native plants by indigenous inhabitants, and the
threats posed by invasive plants toward native communities. Students
also learn how to grow native plants and participate in habitat restoration
projects such as the planting of natives, the removal of invasive plants,
propagating native plants, collecting and processing seeds and cuttings,
and monitoring existing restoration sites.
Discovering Plants (FT)
Ethnobotany (FT)
Growing Native Plants (FT)
Plant Survey (FT)
Soil (FT)
2
BIRDS
Modules
LAND USE
AND WATERSHED STUDIES
Modules
WETLANDS
Modules
CALLING NATURE HOME
These activities introduce the resident and migratory birds found at
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA and how they have adapted
to their habitats. Students learn how to identify and survey birds, to
observe bird behavior, and to classify birds according to the physiology
of their beaks and feet. Through these activities, students gain a greater
understanding of the ecological roles that birds play.
Beaks and Feet (Pr)
Bird Surveying (FT)
These activities introduce the history of land use in the San Francisco
Bay Area and its associated impacts, and the concept of watersheds.
Students investigate and reflect on the land/watershed where they live
– the ecological and human communities of past and present and the
impacts of urbanization and urban runoff. Activities evaluate students’
knowledge and what they have learned from Heron’s Head Park and
Candlestick Point SRA programs.
Assessment (Pr)
Watershed in Your Hand (Pr)
Wild in the City (Pr)
Crossing the Line (Po)
Airborne Solid Waste (Po)
Four Corners (Po)
These activities introduce wetlands, the elements of a wetland
community, and tidal marsh habitats such as those at Heron’s Head Park
and Yosemite Slough. Students learn about the benefits of wetlands and
properties of wetland plants and soils.
Wetland Metaphors (Pr)
Fit to be Tide (FT)
Treasure Hunt (FT)
Water Treatment Plants (Po)
3
WATER
QUALITY
These activities introduce sources of water pollution and its effects on
the estuary’s ecosystems. Students learn how to become stewards of
the watershed by conducting scientific investigations to determine water
quality and by thinking of ways to keep the waterways clean.
Modules
Who Dirtied the Water? (Pr)
What’s in the Water? (FT)
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
AND JUSTICE
Modules
CALLING NATURE HOME
These activities introduce students to the environmental justice
movement in the Bayview Hunters Point community. Students learn
about city infrastructure, industry, and social policies that have led to
a disproportionate distribution of environmental injustices, primarily for
low-income people of color in Bayview Hunters Point, but also on a state,
national, and global level. Environmental contamination often contributes
to compromised public health for an entire community. Students will have
the opportunity to investigate ways in which environmental contamination
affects human health, and will implement action projects that contribute
to environmental justice, advocacy, and environmental restoration.
Students learn about the environmental justice movement and some of its
ongoing struggles and local victories.
Principles of Environmental Justice (Pr)
and the Four Rs of Environmental Justice (Po)
Roots Communication (Po)
Bioaccumulation (Po)
Creation of Heron’s Head Park (Po)
Eating Bay Fish (Po)
4
The Story of Heron’s Head Park
Adapted from original essay by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine with new material by Anthony Khalil
Heron’s Head Park, this landfill-turned urban refuge,
stretches more than a half-mile into the San Francisco
Bay. From its
tip one gets a
panoramic view
of the central
portion of the
Bay. The view
encompasses
two ports, two
bridges, the
smokestack of
one power plant
and the remains
of another both
at the bay’s
edge, three
former military
installations, and the skylines of two major cities.
Also visible are several grass-topped hills, some with
a prickly adornment of radio towers, a thin strand of
redwoods along a far ridge, and looking back towards
shore a widening arc of salt marsh and shrub-studded
grassland that from the air takes the shape of a
heron’s head.
Richmond to San Jose. Tall shipping cranes, freeways,
marinas, refineries and airports now stretch in a nearly
unbroken cover of steel and concrete.
THE WATERFRONT’S TRANSFORMATION
Many parts of current southeast San Francisco were
once open bay. Numerous species of native fish,
invertebrates, expansive flocks of birds and occasional
mega-fauna such as whales and grizzly bears would
have been present. The Ohlone, first peoples of San
Francisco, fished, hunted and harvested in the area.
Ohlone used fire to shape and cultivate the land,
hunted game, and harvested acorns, as well as a wide
variety of plants for food, fiber and medicine from the
abundance of the natural bounty of their surroundings.
Spanish settlers in the early nineteenth century
dispossessed the Ohlone of their lands and sought
to convert them to Catholicism and agriculture. The
forced settlement of immigrants forever changed
their traditional ways of life, causing an indigenous
holocaust. The Gold Rush of the mid-1800s brought
tens of thousands of fortune-seekers to San Francisco.
During that period a rural community founded by the
Hunter brothers took root. Post-1850 zoning laws
relegated many ‘undesirable’ industries including
slaughterhouses, meat-packing plants, tanneries,
fertilizer companies, soap and tallow works to piers
over the tidal flats below Islais Creek, leading to the
name “Butchertown.”
For a moment we can almost see how this area looked
for thousands of years. To the south, the cliffs called
Candlestick Point that once dropped straight into the
water are now hidden behind the abandoned cranes of
the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. An Ohlone fishing
camp of Tule huts once sat above the serpentine
slopes of Hunters Point; the hill is now dotted with
housing projects and obscured by the remains of the
PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant. To the north, the
marshland where Islais Creek meets the Bay once
stretched up into Glen Canyon is now filled in and
covered by a railroad and an industrial district. The
creek itself is submerged under a river of cars running
down the freeway. To the west, some of the highest
points of the city – Mt. Davidson, Twin Peaks, and
Bernal Hill – are in view standing regally. To the east,
across the wide water, a shimmer of green once
marked the vast marshes that stretched from
CALLING NATURE HOME
As Hunters
Point grew,
offal, raw
sewage and
garbage were
dumped into
the creek and
wetlands. In
the 1800s,
most people
considered wetlands to be wastelands to be ‘reclaimed’
for productive uses such as farming or industry. San
5
Francisco’s southern waterfront was profoundly altered
by a century of bay fill projects. Two square miles of
Potrero Hill were dynamited and used for bay fill. Candlestick Point was transformed from a sheer cliff dropping
into the water into the terraced profile surrounded by
vast level bay fill it is today. As the growth of San
Francisco simultaneously overloaded the creek and bay
with pollution and destroyed the filtering and watercleaning wetlands, the creek became undrinkable,
shrimp and oyster fisheries were destroyed, and the
ecological balance of the area was changed forever.
One of the movement’s success stories is the transformation of Heron’s Head Park, a former brownfield, into
a 24-acre park providing open space habitat for the
area’s human and non-human residents.
In the early 1970s the Port of San Francisco began to
fill in the future site of Heron’s Head Park with
construction debris, rock and dirt to create the base of
a new bridge across the Bay. Later, the plan changed
to construct a shipping terminal known as Pier 98, but
when mechanization of the shipping industry shifted
the bulk of cargo traffic to the Port of Oakland, the pier
project was abandoned. Gradually the fill subsided into
the Bay mud. Native wetland plants colonized the tidal
zone. Pampas grass and Fennel – non-native plant
species – covered the upland habitat and the site
began to attract illegal dumping and other undesirable
activities. Still, migratory birds discovered the rich
wetland habitat and returned repeatedly on their
seasonal migrations. Fishers dug for bait worms from
the mudflats and fished for striped bass and shark that
were attracted to the warm outflow of the power plant
bordering the emerging oasis of habitat. Adventurous
teachers brought their classes to the peninsula to
learn about wetlands, ecology, and the power of natural
regeneration.
In 1939, the Navy bought the docks at Hunters Point
and fifty acres of land. Hunters Point and the Bayview
were transformed into a vibrant industrial zone. San
Francisco’s African-American population grew by six
hundred percent between the years 1940-1945.
Activities during 1941-1974 included shipbuilding
and repair, decontamination of ships involved in
nuclear tests, radiological experiments on animals
and humans, and the disposal of toxic and radioactive
waste from bases around the Bay. The shipyard closed
in 1974 and presently the Navy has failed to fully clean
up – or properly assess – the toxic and radioactive
waste there. To Bayview Hunters Point residents, this
is an unacceptable case of environmental racism, in
which a low-income community of color has become
the dumping ground for toxic waste and polluting
industry, while being denied their basic right to a clean,
safe and healthy environment.
Working with neighbors and environmental advocates,
the Port of San Francisco organized community
meetings to transform this land into a community
resource. Teachers expressed the need for a safe
environmental education space for their classes,
similar to those in the more affluent Presidio and
Marina districts of the city. Amongst the advocates was
a newborn environmental justice education organization
called Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ). In 1998,
A COMMUNITY RESTORED
In response to the systematic burden of toxic industries
on their community, Bayview Hunters Point residents
have created a strong environmental justice movement.
CALLING NATURE HOME
6
the Port restored eight acres of tidal salt marsh,
created trails, benches, interpretive exhibits, and
employed community members as part-time park
educators to run program for local schools. Their vision
was that youth who came to learn about this open
space would also be its stewards: planting plants,
building habitat for wildlife and educating their parents
and community about this new local resource. The San
Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) was
contracted to maintain the park using local residents
employed in a transitional employment program.
environmental devastation, pulling some invasive
weeds at a 24-acre park may seem futile.
Wetland plants
are renowned
for their ability
to remove
pollutants –
from nutrients
to heavy
metals to
hydrocarbons
– from
polluted waters. 95% of the wetlands around the Bay
Area (and nationwide) have been destroyed, while the
production of chemicals has increased from 1.3 billion
pounds per year to over 400 billion pounds per year
since 1940. With the loss of wetlands have come
increases in flooding (like what New Orleans
experienced during Hurricane Katrina), a decrease of
river health as well as the bay as a whole, and the
decline or extinction of hundreds of species that
depend on wetland ecosystems for food, shelter,
resting and nesting habitat. There have been some
successes for the bay beginning in the 1960s:
environmental organizations such as Save the Bay
have effectively halted the filling of the Bay, and the
Clean Water Act of 1972 was the first federal law
prohibiting the dumping of dredge or fill materials into
wetlands with later bills providing more protection.
Increasingly, the public, industry, and government are
recognizing the intrinsic value of wetlands as well as
the ecosystem services they provide.
In 1999, the former Pier 98 reopened as Heron’s Head
Park. At the same time LEJ had begun leading “toxic
tours” of the surrounding neighborhood as means to
use the area as a living case study for environmental
justice. The Heron’s Head Park project became a
glimmer of hope in a grim tale of environmental racism.
By the summer of 2000, the Port of San Francisco
hired LEJ with the goal of developing a comprehensive,
community-led stewardship program for the new park
that would introduce working-class students of color to
careers and concepts in the environmental field. Since
the Pier’s restoration, biodiversity has exploded, bird
populations have increased dramatically, and native
plants have been established and thriving. Thousands
of youth and community volunteers have come to
the park as well, learning about its significance as
an urban natural area and to help out with the laborintensive task of restoring this ecological gem.
INHERITANCE OF A LEGACY
Today much of San Francisco’s waterfront contains
cathedral-like abandoned spaces, relics of a nearly
vanished shipping and industrial heritage. Collapsing
piers become home to nesting colonies of terns,
peregrine falcons roost on window ledges of financial
district skyscrapers, whales occasionally cruise among
dry-docks, searching for a meal of krill; wherever they
can, wild creatures carve out niches in the urban
environment. Yet wildlife that live and eat from the bay
are also impacted by the toxic legacy of industry,
agriculture, and mining throughout the watershed.
Wildlife, like people, carry heavy body burdens of
dozens of toxic chemicals including dioxin, PCBs and
heavy metals. The combinations of chemicals have
been linked to cancers, autoimmune and reproductive
disorders. In the face of such widespread
CALLING NATURE HOME
7
A new generation of youth is acutely aware of the
environmental justice problems impacting their
communities. Through environmental education
programs that teach stewardship of local natural
resources via hands-on restoration projects, they
are learning about the connections between the
city and the wild world. With this knowledge they
are articulating their demand for a sustainable
environment that moves forward to a future where
creeks flow through coastal cities lined with wetlands.
For many young urban visitors, Heron’s Head Park is
the first place they see a wild bird interacting with its
native habitat. Students often describe the park as
safe, quiet and peaceful in comparison with the streets
of their neighborhoods. In the context of overwhelming
daily evidence of systemic racism and environmental
devastation, the park gives them an opportunity to
take positive action to improve their communities. They
leave with a sense of what is valuable about healthy
ecosystems and a fierce desire to protect and restore
natural areas for the health of their community.
improve the severity of the environmental degradation
in the area, who will? We hope that our data will be
the vehicle we need to protect our health, equality,
open space, our right to environmental justice and the
survival of the diverse wildlife found at Hunters Point.”
At times, the biota and tidal action at Heron’s Head
Park combine to
give us a gut feeling
that the habitats
are coming back
and that the natural
world is yet capable
of regeneration.
Those moments give
us historical and
ecological continuity
that complements
the fragmented
record of photographs, journals,
bay fill permits
and anecdotal
observations of the decline of wildlife that paralleled
the erection of urban infrastructure. Though people
often point to scientific data about water quality of the
bay or the number of birds wintering on its edge as
benchmarks of ecological restoration, the restoration
of our relationship to the natural areas close to home
are just as essential.
Lilian Largaespada is a graduate of Thurgood Marshall
HS in the Bayview who was involved through LEJ’s
Youth programs in environmental monitoring and
restoration at Heron’s Head Park and nearby Yosemite
Slough. She wrote about the significance of the project:
“One does not
need to be an
environmental
scientist to see
that [Yosemite]
Slough has
been neglected.
In fact its
present state is
inexcusable. The
process of evaluating the condition of the slough is the
first step in the restoration of our environment. We feel
that our work focuses on important issues concerning
the Bayview Hunters Point District. If we don’t work to
CALLING NATURE HOME
This awareness develops through the act of caring for
wild land, through planting and weeding in the hot sun,
through harvesting water in the middle of a rainstorm,
through watching a pair of Killdeer mate, nest and
care for their young and by witnessing the return of
the same birds year after year. From this reciprocal
relationship with wild ecosystems often arises a sense
of purpose connected to our ability to be stewards of
a piece of Earth, to heal past mistakes and to actively
create a world where we all have clean air, water, food
and a place within the web of life.
8
The Story of Candlestick Point State Recreation Area:
A State Park for the People
Patrick Marley Rump
Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP), in the southeastern
corner of San Francisco, is a predominantly low-income
community of color that has served as the dumping
ground for the city’s toxic industries. While children
comprise one-third of the Bayview’s population – the
highest proportion in San Francisco – there are more
than 300 toxic sites in this six square-mile community,
including the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a federal
Superfund site. BVHP residents are hospitalized more
than residents of other SF neighborhoods for nearly
every disease; twenty percent of the children have
asthma, and the prevalence of chronic illness is four
times the state average.
the construction
of Candlestick
Stadium and the
development of
the Hunters Point
Reclamation Project,
turning the shoreline
into “an uninviting
wasteland of
junkyards and dumpsites,” in the words of the Park’s
1978 General Plan.
The southeast shoreline was not always a polluted
“sacrifice zone.” Neighborhood residents remembered
miles of expansive coves, beaches and tidal wetlands
where families fished, picnicked and played at the
water’s edge. By the 1970s, residents organized
themselves to demand the State purchase the land
and restore their beautiful shoreline, turning it into
California’s first urban state park, within easy reach of
millions of urban dwellers.
There is an overall inequity in how parks and open
space are distributed throughout San Francisco. San
Francisco’s east side lacks the pristine, expansive
open spaces of the more affluent western side of the
city: Golden Gate Park, Lake Merced, Land’s End, the
Presidio, Crissy Field and Ocean Beach. There is little
Bay access east of the Marina District, and much of
the bayfront is occupied by commercial and maritime
facilities. Further southeast, the abandoned and
polluted naval shipyard dominates the shoreline.
Then-Assemblyman Willie Brown convinced the
Governor to set aside $10 million in state bond
funding to purchase the land, but nothing happened
for several years. But the neighborhood would not give
up. By 1976 they had convinced the State Parks and
Recreation Commission to consider designating the
shoreline a state park but became more determined
when the Commission voted not to proceed with the
The land that makes up Candlestick Point State
Recreation Area (CPSRA) was created during World
War II as 170 acres of landfill that was dumped into
the Bay to create more property for the shipyard.
Haphazard filling of the Bay tidelands continued with
CALLING NATURE HOME
9
park because in one commissioner’s words, “we make
beaches and redwood groves into state parks, not junk
yards.” Fortunately by this time, the residents had a
powerful new advocate on their side: newly elected
Assemblyman Art Agnos.
away as the champions of Candlestick left office. To
date, only one quarter of Candlestick has been
developed, while great expanses of the park’s bayfront
lands are still occupied by warehouses and leased as
dirt parking lots for the nearby football stadium.
Assemblyman Agnos worked with people from the
several neighborhoods surrounding Candlestick to
form the “Friends of Candlestick.” He then introduced
AB1-1977 (his first bill as a newly elected legislator)
to require development of the shoreline as a state
recreation area – California’s first urban state park.
With the help of the “Friends” and supporters from
throughout the state, the bill was approved by the
Legislature and signed by the Governor – all because
people refused to take “no” for an answer.
In the past ten
years, however,
efforts have
been renewed
to fulfill the
community’s
vision. In 2003,
the California
State Parks
Foundation (CSPF) assessed the restoration potential
of Yosemite Slough – the largest contiguous wetland in
San Francisco. The California State Parks Foundation
is now raising the funding for the restoration, projected
to cost some $20 million.
Following the legislature’s designation of the area as a
state recreation area, an intensive statewide planning
process began. State park planners and residents
gathered in more than 200 community meetings to
share ideas and develop a community-driven vision
and general plan for the new park. From the beginning,
there was a conscious decision from the residents
of Bayview Hunters Point that they wanted a park
that would provide a natural experience in an urban
environment. Unlike many of the decaying and poorly
maintained city parks in their part of the city, residents
saw value in creating a place that offered a more
natural state park experience – hiking trails, picnic
areas, community gardens, amphitheater, interpretive
center, group camp sites, tidal wetlands, fishing piers,
boardwalk, windsurfing amenities, and wildlife habitat.
In 2004, CSPF also began partnering with Literacy
for Environmental Justice (LEJ), an education and
youth empowerment organization based in Bayview
Hunters Point. Together, they launched Bay Youth
for the Environment. Working with close to 1,000
community, student, and workplace volunteers each
year, LEJ’s youth team has revitalized Candlestick’s
aging and under-maintained community garden, built a
native plant nursery that produces thousands of plants
annually for Park restoration projects, and assisted in
removing more than 30,000 pounds of trash from the
Park’s shoreline.
In the beginning, there was great legislative enthusiasm
for all these dreams, but over the years support ebbed
CALLING NATURE HOME
Despite all this reinvigorated effort on behalf of the
Park, in 2008 Governor Schwarzenegger threatened
10
to close Candlestick Point along with 47 other state
parks due to California’s budget deficit. This action
brought together many of the older residents who
fought to build the park with a new generation of
activists, local environmental groups, and community
based organizations to form the Save Candlestick
Coalition. While the proposal to close the park was
ultimately defeated, the State’s continuing financial
crisis has caused significant cutbacks in staffing and
maintenance throughout the park system.
for contaminated parcels of the naval shipyard, and
proposed plans include building a multi-lane bridge
spanning Yosemite Slough to accommodate traffic to a
new football stadium. These proposals do not reflect
the community’s wishes but stem from the developers
and the perceived priorities of major business interests.
At stake is the vision of the community which fought
long and hard to reclaim their shoreline and make
Candlestick Point the “State Park for the People.”
Community leader Claude Everhart concludes,
“Candlestick is the example of if you leave people to
their own devices, they really do have sense, and that
really is what the fundamentals of democracy ought to
be about. Instead of us always having to react to other
people’s visions for us, Candlestick was one place
where people were able to express their own vision for
their own park and their own neighborhood – and that’s
ultimately what came about.”
New and old Park supporters are staying actively
involved, and are talking about re-establishing a
formal “Friends of Candlestick” group. Community
organizing will be critical to Candlestick’s future, as the
park faces new threats from the Bayview Waterfront
Project, a colossal urban redevelopment initiative
that encompasses the entire southeast sector of San
Francisco. Existing state park land is being exchanged
CALLING NATURE HOME
11
FIELD TRIP PREPARATION
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Field Trip
Preparation
GRADES: K-12
Overview: Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point State Recreation
Area are natural areas that contain some of the few wetlands in San
Francisco. As stewards of the parks, we must be respectful of the plants
and animals, including other humans we will encounter. This activity
prepares students for a field trip to Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
Point. Students will collectively create a set of agreements to act in
respectful and responsible ways during the field trip.
KEY CONCEPTS
• Students are prepared for how to act responsibly and respectfully on
a field trip.
OBJECTIVE
• To learn about what is appropriate conduct for a steward of a natural
area.
• To work cooperatively to brainstorm guidelines for park visitation.
CALIFORNIA STATE SCIENCE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
Kindergarten: Life Sciences 2b; Earth Sciences 3c
Grade 1: Life Sciences 2abc
Grade 2: Earth Sciences 3e
Grade 3: Life Sciences 3cde
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2c, 3abd
Grade 6: Resources: 6abc
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ab
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Small chalk boards (4-6 boards)
Chalk (4-6 pieces)
Butcher paper (1 sheet)
Marker (a couple in contrasting colors)
Masking tape
Small potted native tidal marsh plant
Images of Heron’s Head Park (aerial image, other photos from the
ground) (maps.google.com Cargo Way and Jennings Street, 94124
and select satellite view)
• Southeast San Francisco map to show the location of Heron’s Head
Park and Candlestick Point SRA
• Images of Candlestick Point SRA (www.calparks.org)
30 minutes
This activity will be led by LEJ staff or the classroom teacher.
12
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA are restored parks located
in Hunters Point. While visiting the homes of the fauna (animals) and
flora (plants) of the parks, students need to conduct themselves in safe,
non-disruptive ways as they would expect others to act in their own
homes. Since these are public parks in our backyard, visitors can take
pride in being stewards of this land that belongs to all San Francisco
and California residents, and reclaim this space as a resource that the
residents can embrace and enjoy to its fullest capacity.
The parks, as with the rest of San Francisco, can have extreme
temperature fluctuations that can range by 30 degrees Fahrenheit on
any given day. Make sure to wear layers to be prepared for any type of
weather situation. Also, expect a full day of exploration and hard work,
and wear comfortable shoes and play clothes that can get dirty. Always
bring a lunch and plenty of water.
LEJ educators will be going over expectations on how to present oneself
during a field trip to the park, and would like a space within the classroom
committed to placing the agreements from the time of the pre-trip to the
day of the field trip to serve as a visual reminder for the students.
If the classroom teacher leads this introductory activity, then make sure
to supply the visual materials (plant, HHP photos, map of southeastern
San Francisco) to the class beforehand.
Introduction
Activity
CALLING NATURE HOME
Have the students sit in a circle. Show the native marsh plant to the
students, and tell them what it is, and where it grows. The students will
pass around the potted plant, and each use one word to describe the
plant. Any descriptive word using any of the senses (seeing, feeling,
smelling) can be used. Tell the students to listen respectfully and carefully
to her or his classmates so the same word is not repeated. Then show
an aerial photo of the park, the other images of the park, and the map
(point out where the students’ school and the park are in relation to one
another) to place what they just passed around and their upcoming field
trip in context.
As a guest at a friend’s home, there are ways in which one can respect
their space. What if someone picked up another person’s home and
moved it somewhere else? Is that respectful? Why is it a good idea not to
collect natural objects from the park? Students can return to their desks,
and in groups of 3 to 5, brainstorm for 5 to 10 minutes some good
guidelines for the park that relate to:
13
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
• Respecting the park and its plant and animal inhabitants
• Respecting the people in the park (classroom peers, adults, and other
park visitors)
• Safety
Have representatives from each group share out and write their ideas
on the board. Look for commonalities between comments and have the
students select the best ideas for an agreement that they have created
that they can follow when visiting the park. Those ideas can be written
by a LEJ staff member or the classroom teacher on the sheet of butcher
paper to be posted in the classroom (no more than 10 bullet points to be
concise). Title the sheet, “Heron’s Head Park Agreements,” “Native Plant
Nursery Agreements,” “Candlestick Point Agreements,” or whatever title
is appropriate for the upcoming field trip.
Make sure to add these points if necessary:
• Using quiet voices to respect one another in the park and to respect
the animals in the park.
• Avoid handling dead or decomposing things for safety.
• Only wade into the water up to the top of your boots.
• Put rocks and other items exactly the way they were found. Algae, which
grows on the tops of the rocks, must be in the sun to grow. Also, put
rocks down carefully so that crabs in the mud do not get crushed.
• Be respectful of creatures, plants, and each other.
• Stay on the path unless a teacher tells you to leave the path.
• Leave the park cleaner than you found it!
Congratulate the students on coming up with a comprehensive list,
and remind the students that they will be held accountable to follow
the agreements. Then post the agreements in a pre-agreed location
in the classroom. Both Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA
came about because community activists from Bayview Hunters Point
had fought to restore this land, which has given rise to an incredible
resource for the community. Literacy for Environmental Justice staff really
look forward to a visit by the class to become more familiar with these
community treasures.
OUTCOME
The class will enjoy a safe, fun-filled day.
Describe some scenarios where some of the agreements are not
followed. What happens when students throw rocks or other items?
People or animals can get hurt. When is it okay to put crabs or sea
shells in one’s pockets? Never. While exploring the rocky shoreline,
CALLING NATURE HOME
14
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
what should one do with a rock after it is picked up? Put it back exactly
where it was found. If other visitors are in the park, how should students
on a field trip conduct themselves? Serve as good role models for other
park visitors. While visiting the native plant nursery, is it okay to pick
the plants? The garden plots belong to members of the community, and
the plants being propagated have been nurtured to aid in local restoration
efforts, so visitors should be respectful.
Have a mock field trip in the school yard. The students walk around with
respect and care as though the students were walking through protected
habitats at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point.
Discuss some ways that students can make the park cleaner and
healthier than when they arrived.
Talk about the “Zero Waste Lunch” goal for the field trip so that students
do not leave trash at the Park:
Explain to the students that in order not to produce garbage during the
upcoming field trip, all people – students and teachers need to think of
ways to carry our lunches without throwaway containers.
What are some ways we can reduce waste? Students can brainstorm
different ideas, and write their ideas on the board. Some of the ideas that
may come up:
Reuse containers such as lunch boxes, cloth lunch bags, re-sealable
zippered sandwich bags that can be washed out and dried, refillable
water bottles, reusable plastic containers, washed out yogurt containers.
Recyclable containers can also be used. Carry foods that do not need to
be wrapped, like apples and oranges.
Have samples of reusable containers for the class to see. Maybe as an
art project, have a sewing project to turn an old t-shirt into a shopping
bag; provide needles, thread and fabric paint.
Students can avoid buying things like over-packaged boxed lunches from
the deli section of the grocery store which are expensive, unhealthy and
have wasteful packaging. It is a lot cheaper to collect all of the little
food items in a boxed lunch package (like ham, cheese and crackers)
separately and store them in a reusable bag, and it will taste the same.
What items can easily be recycled? Glass, aluminum, all plastic
containers. (Polystyrene, plastic bags and plastic wrap cannot be
CALLING NATURE HOME
15
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
recycled.) These can be placed in the blue curb pick-up receptacle at your
school or home.
Food scraps such as apple cores and banana peels can be collected to
be composted. These can be placed in the green curb pick-up receptacle
at your school or home.
Tell the students that we will write down all of these great ideas for
packing a no-trash lunch so we can take them home to put in our
kitchens. That way, we will be reminded of different ways that we can
carry our lunch that produce little or no garbage.
At your school and at the park, become good stewards of your spaces and
do a community service class project involving a trash pick-up.
Have the students find out what waste reduction and recycling facilities
(i.e., paper, cardboard, compost, aluminum, etc.) are available in their
school, and if recycled items are used in school operations (i.e., recycled
paper in the office, composting of cafeteria or yard wastes, etc.)
Set up bins or boxes in the classroom for items that can be reused or
recycled. Have the students be responsible for monitoring and teaching
other students about, if necessary, any misplaced items in the bins, since
contamination can prevent a whole bin from being recycled.
Have reusable item drives: whatever a student’s household does not
need any more (used clothing, books, etc) can be brought to school to
be exchanged with other classmates, or donated to a charity such as
Goodwill.
Create posters using reused materials on material conservation to spread
the word at school.
Set up a tour of Recycle Central and the Reuse Sculpture Garden through
SF Environment. Call San Francisco Environment at (415) 355-3712.
CALLING NATURE HOME
16
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Building Resources
701 Amador Street
San Francisco, CA 94124
(415) 285-7814
www.buildingresources.com
San Francisco Environment
11 Grove Street
(415) 355-3700
[email protected]
www.sfenvironment.org
Carquinez Regional Environmental Education Center
(CREEC)
PO Box 65
Crockett, CA 94525
(510) 787-3282
http://www.creecyouth.org/blog/
Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP)
801 Toland Street
(415) 647-1746
(F) (415) 647-1744
[email protected]
www.scrap-sf.org
Earth Science Literacy Initiative
Michael Wysession
[email protected]
http://www.earthscienceliteracy.org/
(314) 935-5625
CALLING NATURE HOME
Sustainable SFUSD ECO Literacy
135 Van Ness Ave., Rm 215A
(415) 241-4327
http://www.sfecoliteracy.com/
17
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Native
Species Web
GRADES: 4-8
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CALIFORNIA STATE
SCIENCE CONTENT
STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Overview: Students investigate native flora and fauna by modeling the
web of interaction in a native ecosystem. They learn about invasive
species by modeling the change in biodiversity that takes place when
invasive species are introduced into a habitat. Each student represents
a biotic or abiotic component of the ecosystem in order to draw
relationships between the different factors. We will examine urbanization,
native species within local ecosystems, and habitat restoration.
(Adapted with permission from Joseph Barat Cornell, Sharing Nature with Children:
Dawn Publications, 1979)
v Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the amount of diversity in life
forms within a given ecosystem.
v Ecosystems tend to have higher levels of biodiversity when native
species are present.
v Invasive species can displace native species by disrupting the
balance of native species interdependence which serves to decrease
the biodiversity of a habitat.
v Biotic and abiotic factors within a given ecosystem form an
interconnected community and tend to rely on one another for
survival.
v Students will learn about a specific component of the salt marsh
ecosystem – either biotic or abiotic – and learn about plant and
animal adaptations, habitats, and interrelationships.
v Students will understand the terms native, non-native, and invasive as
they relate to plant and animal species, and be able to identify
several native and non-native species at Heron’s Head Park or
Candlestick Point SRA.
v Students will understand the concepts of biodiversity and species
loss.
v Students will understand factors that led to decreased biodiversity
that are specific to San Francisco in terms of Spanish colonization
and Western expansion.
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2abc, 3abcd
Grade 5: Life Sciences 2aefg; Earth Sciences 3d
Grade 6: Life Sciences (Ecology) 5abcde
• Laminated sheets with terms and images for “food,” “water” and
“shelter”
• Food chain props (plastic plant, toy mouse, toy bird)
18
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
• Salt marsh species web cards – upland and wetland ecosystems
• Ball of string
• Wild in the City map (Nancy Morita, 6 Cypress Road, San Anselmo,
CA 94960)
• Nature in the City map (www.natureinthecity.org)
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the number of players
In the wetland ecosystem, sun, soil, water and air are the basic building
blocks for the primary producers – the plants, such as pickleweed,
cordgrass, sea lavender, jaumea, algae, and phytoplankton in the water.
They are eaten by the primary consumers, or animals that eat plants –
shorebirds, mussels, small mammals (such as the salt marsh harvest
mouse), and reptiles. Secondary consumers, or predators at Heron’s
Head Park include sharks, herons, egrets, pelicans, American kestrels
and peregrine falcons.
All living things have certain basic needs that are met through its habitat:
food, water, shelter, and space. Biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving)
factors play important functional roles within a habitat. Roles can overlap,
and living members often compete for food, water, shelter, and space.
Plants and animals that are endemic, or native to a certain area, have
evolved together over time and have come to live symbiotically with one
another to keep the ecosystem in balance.
When an ecosystem is in equilibrium, the factors work together to
maintain the ecosystem’s stability; however, when landscapes shift and
species composition changes, then the balance becomes tenuous.
In the last 300 years, the landscape of the Bay Area has changed
dramatically. Humans have constructed and channeled creeks into
underground concrete tunnels called culverts which have destroyed
riparian (the interface between streams and land) habitats along their
banks. Wetlands were filled along the Bay’s edge, and sand dunes and
grass-covered hills disappeared under houses and streets. Forests of
eucalyptus, Monterey pine, and other non-native plants have replaced
coastal prairie and scrub habitats. With the loss of native plant diversity,
many animals that depend on native plant species have disappeared.
Some, like the Anise Swallowtail butterfly, which can eat non-native fennel
in addition to native yampa, have adapted to the introduced plant species;
CALLING NATURE HOME
19
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
however, many other species have been affected adversely. The Mission
Blue butterfly, which feeds exclusively on local lupine species, including
the silver lupine, as well as the salt marsh harvest mouse, which feeds
on pickleweed in marshes along the San Francisco Bay, are endangered
because habitat loss has destroyed the plants upon which they depend.
Plants and animals that have evolved in and are endemic to the San
Francisco Bay Area are called native species. Native species have
adapted to the summer drought conditions and the dry, rocky, and
serpentine soils that define San Francisco’s ecology. Plants and animals
that have been brought here that are endemic to places other than the
San Francisco Bay Area are called non-native species. Current San
Francisco inhabitants depend mainly on non-native species for food,
building materials, and many other products. The majority of non-native
species that humans have introduced for agriculture and other natural
resource uses have often been placed in areas that have already been
disturbed and do not become invasive. Invasive species are the types of
non-native species that aggressively outcompete native species to
dominate a habitat. Some common invasive species of the San Francisco
Bay Area include fennel, oxalis (sourgrass), eucalyptus, ivy, Jubata grass,
Scotch broom, and ice plant.
When invasive species take over, the biological diversity – or biodiversity
– of a habitat usually decreases. At Heron’s Head Park, prior to the
commencement of habitat restoration efforts, Jubata grass and fennel
dominated the upland areas and crowded out all of the native coastal
prairie species. When this habitat was restored, the Jubata grass and
fennel were removed, and a mix of native grasses and wildflowers were
planted. As part of an ongoing restoration process, youth and adult
volunteers have removed thousands of invasive plants and planted
thousands of natives. These plants have been propagated at the native
plant nursery that is managed by Literacy for Environmental Justice.
Slowly but surely, the diversity of the native ecosystem is rebounding.
Introduction
The lesson begins with a discussion about habitats. The students are
asked, what is a habitat? A habitat is a place that provides food, water
and shelter.
For younger students, images and words for “food,” “water” and “shelter”
can be shown and related to the needs of humans. Can humans survive
without food, water, or shelter? Can other animals survive without food,
water, or shelter? Also discuss what plants need to survive – sun, soil,
water, and air.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
In this game, everyone will become a component of the wetland habitat
and will learn about its role in nature. Define the words biotic and abiotic.
The cards are distributed, and students are asked about whether what
they are holding is a biotic or abiotic factor.
The terms producer and consumer can also be introduced. A laminated
card showing the terms can be shown to the students. The students can
make an educated guess as to what is a producer and what is a
consumer. Plants are producers because they make their own food
through the process of photosynthesis. Animals are consumers because
they have to eat in order to survive. Have three student volunteers come
up to show a simple food chain. One student can hold a plastic plant
(signifying pickleweed); a mouse toy (representing the salt marsh harvest
mouse) will eat the pickleweed, and a bird toy (representing a hawk) can
be shown eating the mouse. Scientists often talk of food webs because
many consumers eat more than one type of food, so many food chains
overlap in complex ways.
As a further extension for the older students, role cards can be
distributed prior to the field trip with class time built in for research. The
students can conduct research on their roles, which should focus on how
the organism gets or makes its food, its predators, its habitat, and other
connections it has with other environmental factors, such as the sun,
water, and decomposers. Research will allow the students to take
ownership in their roles and to gain a better understanding as to how all
of the factors relate to one another.
Younger students can use the cards as their primary source of
information and wear the cards around their necks with pictures of their
biotic/abiotic factor.
During the field trip, students can be asked to define native and nonnative. To get students to think about the terms, ask them: To what part
of the world are your ancestors native? How and when did your
ancestors first come to California? Other than Native American groups
who were already here, everyone else arrived to California from
somewhere else. Make sure to emphasize that everyone present, unless
they are of indigenous lineage, are descendants of immigrants from
elsewhere. Explain that as people came to California from all over the
world, they brought with them plants and animals to provide food, to make
clothes, or for building materials and dyes. Some plants were also
brought accidentally, often as seeds in animal feed.
Californians use plants from all over the world. Much of the food that we
eat that is grown in California consists of non-native plants. Most of these
CALLING NATURE HOME
21
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
plants do not cause problems for native plants if they are planted and
managed carefully on plots of land that have already been altered such as
gardens, farms, and backyard plots rather than in native habitats. Many of
these plants serve important commercial, cultural, dietary, and aesthetic
roles in peoples’ lives.
Some non-native plants become problematic when introduced into wild
areas. Because of a lack of natural predators or other species to compete
for resources, some non-native plants become invasive. They crowd out
the native plants and take over a habitat. Often, these plants are highly
tolerant of growing in disturbed, shaded, or nutrient-poor areas. When
native habitats are disturbed, then biodiversity, or the degree of diversity
in life forms within a given ecosystem, declines as invasive plants
dominate the landscape.
Explain that students are going to do an activity that shows the value of
biodiversity and what happens to the biodiversity of a particular
ecosystem when invasive species take over.
Activity
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
Have students stand in a circle, either inside of the classroom or
outdoors on the yard. The web cards can either be distributed at this
point, or if the students have done prior research, the cards can be
brought out. Explain that the students are going to create a model of a
food web that once existed in San Francisco. Show the Wild in the City
map that compares present-day San Francisco to a pre-colonial San
Francisco prior to 1750. Before immigrant groups began to introduce nonnative species, native habitats were in equilibrium and thrived. The
students will demonstrate how all of the factors are connected by using a
ball of string to create a web.
Begin with the sun card. Have that student read her or his card, and give
any other pertinent information if she or he has conducted research.
Explain that the sun is the main source of energy for the food web since
the producers (the plants) rely on it to make food.
Explain that all organisms depend on water, and all land plants and
animals return to the soil in the end where they are broken down by
decomposers. Tell students that if they are not sure what organism they
eat or which one they get eaten by, they can toss the string back to the
sun (if they are a plant), the soil, or water.
Ask the students who depend directly on the sun to raise their hands – all
CALLING NATURE HOME
22
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
of the plants should have their hands up. The sun, while holding on to the
end of the string, can toss the ball to one of those students. Make sure
that the rope is taut while it is tossed from one student to another. Have
those students read their cards and give any extra information gathered
through research. Have the students who are connected to that plant –
whether an abiotic factor that it relies on, or an animal that uses the plant
for food or shelter – raise their hands, and have the student toss the ball
of yarn to one of the students. Continue to repeat the process until all of
the students are connected to the web.
When the web is complete, ask one of the students (any in the web) to
tug on her or his string. Then ask everyone who felt a tug to tug on their
string. Continue this process. Ask the students what this says about the
interconnectedness of species within a habitat. The students should see
that all species within a native habitat are interconnected and rely on one
another.
At this point, the game can be ended, or one of the following extensions
can be used to continue the game.
SPECIES LOSS WEB
Ask the students what they think will happen if some of the plants and
animals go extinct and are removed from the web. Explain that you are
going to tell the story of the ecological changes that have taken place in
San Francisco within the last 250 years. Tell students that when they hear
the name of their plant or animal or another factor within its habitat, they
should drop the string that they are holding. The Wild in the City map can
be held to show the changes that have occurred during this time period.
“In the 1700s, Spanish missions took over Ohlone lands. They brought
cows that ate the native grasses and suppressed the fires that helped the
native grasses, poppies, and other wildflowers grow. The cows took food
and habitat away from the deer population, which declined. The
Spaniards, and later the American settlers, shot grizzly bears whose
population went extinct in California in 1903. In the 1840s, President
Andrew Jackson pushed for the idea of “Manifest Destiny,” meaning the
United States government believed that the country was entitled to settle
all lands between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. People from the East
Coast started moving westward in large numbers and displaced many
Native American people who already lived on the land. In the 1800s and
1900s, Americans fished for shrimp, salmon, and oysters until those
populations were severely depleted. The settlers drained and filled the
wetlands for farms, factories, and neighborhoods. Pollution harmed the
water of the San Francisco Bay. People who arrived after 1903 planted
non-native species such as ivy and eucalyptus trees which replaced
CALLING NATURE HOME
23
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
coyote brush, sage brush, and sticky monkey flower. Ivy and eucalyptus
are among many invasive species that have displaced native species in
San Francisco. Today, only five small areas of native Bay Area habitats
remain.”
The students can be asked about the native species web now and be
reminded that through habitat restoration efforts, native species diversity
can return, and the web can be restored.
The Nature in the City San Francisco map can be used to show a more
updated image of natural areas in San Francisco compared to the Wild in
the City map. Restoration efforts in the city by various agencies (Literacy
for Environmental Justice, the California State Parks Foundation, National
Park Service, San Francisco Parks and Recreation, and many other
groups) have allowed for habitats to be restored little by little.
OUTCOME
The students should understand the connection between the arrival of
people to California, the introduction of invasive species, and the loss of
biodiversity in San Francisco.
Students can reflect on what the value of biodiversity is. If a student
had an animal card, did her or his organism have more sources of food in
the native or non-native ecosystem? Which species are thriving in the nonnative ecosystems? Of the species that went extinct in the game, which
are primary consumers? Which are secondary consumers? Which are
pollinators that contribute to the reproductive cycle of native plants?
Which are endemic (native) specifically to the San Francisco Bay Area,
and which have a wider range along the Pacific Coast?
Also, reflect on what causes a species to become invasive. It is often
because insects, diseases, and predators that would have kept a
species’ population in check in its own native habitat are absent in its
adopted habitat.
What changes to our ecosystem have created favorable conditions for
non-native species? Native plants have adapted to grow in sandy and
rocky nutrient-poor soil without a lot of water. Dog feces and non-native
nitrogen-fixing plants (burclover, Scotch broom) have added nutrients to
the soil, while irrigation systems (sprinklers) have added water, which
allows for non-native species to gain a foothold and overtake the native
populations.
Why should native plants be valued and native habitats be restored?
Native plant species have co-evolved over millennia with other flora and
CALLING NATURE HOME
24
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
fauna in their habitats. Over the course of time, complex relationships
have developed between the various plants and animals that comprise
the living elements of these ecosystems. When native plant populations
decline, the balance is broken and the livelihoods of the other plants and
animals of the native habitats become compromised.
A good follow-up activity to “Native Species Web” is “Plant Survey,” in
which students can see directly the effect that non-native species have on
the biodiversity of a habitat through a quantitative survey of plant species.
ACTION PROJECTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Visit the Native Plant Nursery managed by Literacy for Environmental
Justice and become involved with the propagation of native plants
used for restoration efforts at Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick
Point SRA.
Plant natives and remove invasives from Heron’s Head Park,
Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, or another natural area
near the students’ school site with permission from the agency
managing the land.
Grow native plants in the school garden or in planter boxes at the
school.
Have a native plant sale at school. Make posters explaining why
people should plant natives: part of our natural history, low water
consumption, habitat for native insects and birds, and inherent
beauty.
Go to a local nursery and see what native and invasive plants
they are selling. Brainstorm ways to convince the nursery not to
sell invasives, or create a brochure that explains the dangers that
invasive species pose to native habitats, and offer suggestions for
other species (natives and non-invasive non-natives) that can be
planted instead.
25
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter
www.cnps-yerbabuena.org
Nature in the City
PO Box 170088
San Francisco, CA 94117-0088
(415) 564-4107
[email protected]
natureinthecity.org
CalPhotos
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/
Crissy Field Center
603 Mason at Halleck, Presidio
(415) 561-7690
(F) (415) 561-7695
www.crissyfield.org
San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing
Arboretum
9th Avenue at Lincoln Way
www.sfbotanicalgarden.org
Ecology Center of San Francisco
424 Russia Ave.
San Francisco CA 94112
(415) 846-8164
[email protected]
www.eco-sf.org
San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department
McLaren Lodge and Annex
501 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-2700
www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_index.asp
Golden Gate Audubon Society
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite G
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 843-2222
(F) (510) 843-5351
[email protected]
www.goldengateaudubon.org
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC)
Native Plant Nurseries
Building 201, Fort Mason
(415) 561-3000
(F) (415) 561-3003
parksconservancy.org/our_work/native_plants/index.
asp
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
(415) 561-4700
www.nps.gov/goga/
CALLING NATURE HOME
26
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
WEBBING ROLES — UPLAND
Anise Swallowtail Butterfly
I am a yellow and black native butterfly that
lives in the grassland.
As a caterpillar I
eat yampa, a native
plant, and fennel, a
non-native plant. As
an adult I pollinate
California poppies,
gumplant, and other
flowers.
Air
I am made up of a lot of different gases, mainly
nitrogen and oxygen. I am very important to all
living things. Even fish breathe in oxygen that is
dissolved in water. Living things can be harmed
when I am polluted.
California Poppy
California Sagebrush
I am a plant that is
native to California,
and I am the official
state flower. I grow in
the upland habitat. My
orange flowers bloom in
the spring and summer.
Insects use my nectar
and pollen for food. I use
the air, sun, water, and nutrients from the soil
to make my food.
I am a native plant that
is found in the upland
habitat. Insects collect
nectar from my small
green flowers, which
bloom from July to
December. My gray-green
leaves look like needles.
Small birds use me for
shelter. I use the air, sun, water, and nutrients
from the soil to make my food.
Coyote Brush
Coffeeberry
I am a native plant found
in the upland habitat. I
am a shrub with small
jagged leaves. Insects
collect pollen from my
white fluffy flowers for
food. Small birds use me
for shelter. I use the air,
sun, water, and nutrients
from the soil to make my food.
I am a native bush that grows in the upland.
I provide shelter
for mice, rabbits,
and white crowned
sparrows. I have juicy
black berries that are
food for humans, birds,
and grizzly bears.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Grizzly Bear
Gopher
I am a small mammal that digs underground in
the grassland. I eat the roots of bunchgrasses,
coffeeberry, and coyote brush. Peregrine
falcons eat me when I come out of my
underground hole. Although people with
gardens don’t
like me, I have
been around
for much
longer.
I am a bear that can be found on the California
state flag. I can no longer be found in San
Francisco or the rest of California. When I was
still here over 200
years ago, I ate
beached whales,
salmon, berries and
acorn. Spanish
settlers shot me to
protect their cattle
and sheep ranches.
Lupine
Meadowlark
I am a silvery native
bush that grows in the
upland. Mission blue
butterflies eat me when
they are caterpillars.
Once my blue flowers go
to seed, my seeds are
eaten by birds, mice,
and gophers. I use the
air, sun, water, and
nutrients from the soil to make my food.
I am a small bird that
lives in the grassland.
I have a tan body and
white tail feathers.
I eat bunchgrass seeds.
I am eaten by peregrine
falcons and kestrels.
I use the air, sun, water,
and nutrients from the
soil to make my food.
Native Bunchgrass
Mission Blue Butterfly
I am a native plant.
Long ago, many species
of bunchgrasses covered
the hills around the San
Francisco Bay. I can
survive fire. I provide
shelter for meadowlarks,
white-crown sparrows,
mice, western fence lizards, and red-winged
blackbirds. I use the air, sun, water, and
nutrients from the soil to make my food.
I am a small native butterfly. I live in the
upland and only eat
lupine plants. I am
almost extinct in
San Francisco
because there is
not much lupine
around. Birds eat
me.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Peregrine Falcon
I am a bird of prey and
the fastest bird in the
world. I can dive at
speeds of up to 200
miles per hour to catch
small birds to eat. We
are endangered because
of being having been
harmed by pesticides (chemicals used to kill
pests). Some of these chemicals are now
illegal, so we are making a comeback.
Ohlone Person
I am the original human inhabitant of the
San Francisco Bay Area. My current lifestyle
is modern like yours, but 250 years ago my
ancestors lived in houses made of tule reeds,
ate many native plants and animals, and drank
water from freshwater creeks.
Soil
Sun
I am very
important to all
living things.
Plants use the
nutrients in
me to grow.
Animals get their
nutrients from plants. When living things die,
they decompose and return their nutrients to
me for other living things to use.
I am the closest
star to the earth.
Everything on
earth depends on
me for life, and in
my hands I hold
the web of life.
Tule Elk
I am a native
mammal that
once lived in San
Francisco. I lived in
the grasslands and
ate bunchgrasses. I
have long horns and
travel in herds. I am
hunted by packs of
wolves for food.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Water
All living things – plants and animals – depend
on me to survive. In the upland, water comes
from the rain, the ground, the rivers, and the
streams.
29
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
WEBBING ROLES — WETLANDS
American Avocet
I am a shorebird that
uses my long legs and
an upturned beak to find
invertebrates (like worms)
in the shallow waters of
wetlands.
Air
I am made up of a lot of different gases, mainly
nitrogen and oxygen. I am very important to all
living things. Even fish breathe in oxygen that is
dissolved in water. Living things can be harmed
when I am polluted.
Brown
Pelican
Double-Crested
Cormorant
I am a migratory bird
that has been harmed by
pesticides (chemicals
used to kill pests) that
had been used in my
environment. The chemicals are
now banned, and we are making a comeback.
I dive into the ocean and the bay to catch fish
in the pouch that is connected to my beak.
I am a diving bird that is
native to North America.
I live along coasts,
lakes, and estuaries.
My feathers are black
and my neck is long and
curved. I dive into the
water to catch food.
Grizzly Bear
I am a bear that can be found on the California
state flag. I can no longer be found in San
Francisco or the rest of California. When I was
still here over 200
years ago, I ate
beached whales,
salmon, berries and
acorn. Spanish
settlers shot me to
protect their cattle
and sheep ranches.
Great Blue Heron
I am one of the largest
wading birds that can be
found in California. I can
grow up to four feet tall.
I live in fresh and salt water marshes and tidal
areas where I eat frogs, mice, and fish.
CALLING NATURE HOME
30
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Leopard Shark
I am a gray shark with black spots and
crossbars on my back and sides. I live in the
San Francisco Bay’s open water and tidal
ponds. I eat a variety of fish and invertebrates.
I am not aggressive toward humans, but
humans eat me.
Harbor Seal
I am a marine mammal that lives in mudflats,
shallow water, bay waters, and sandy beaches.
I eat fish, shellfish and squid, and am eaten by
large sharks and killer whales.
Marsh Wren
Mussels
I am a bird that is
native to western
North America. I have
a brown crown, white
eye line, black triangle
on my upper back,
white streaks, and a
white belly. I live in
freshwater marshes with reeds and in brackish
marshes. I eat seeds and insects, and get
eaten by peregrine falcons.
I am a type of
shellfish that attach
to rocks along the
shoreline by strong
threads that are made
within my shell. I eat
detritus (dead things)
and plankton (very tiny floating plants and
animals) by filtering water. I am eaten by sea
stars and sea birds.
Peregrine Falcon
I am a bird of prey and
the fastest bird in the
world. I can dive at
speeds of up to 200
miles per hour to catch
small birds to eat. We
are endangered because
of being having been
harmed by pesticides (chemicals used to kill
pests). Some of these chemicals are now
illegal, so we are making a comeback.
Ohlone Person
I am the original human inhabitant of the
San Francisco Bay Area. My current lifestyle
is modern like yours, but 250 years ago my
ancestors lived in houses made of tule reeds,
ate many native plants and animals, and drank
water from freshwater creeks.
CALLING NATURE HOME
31
NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Purple Shore Crab
Pickleweed
I am a crab that is native to the Pacific coast
of North America. I live in the rocky shoreline
habitat. I use my claws to eat algae that grow
on rocks. I also eat detritus (dead matter) and
plankton (small
floating plants and
animals). I am
eaten by gulls and
shorebirds.
I am a marsh plant.
I take up salt water
through my roots and
store the excess salt in
my pickle-like leaves. I
use the air, sun, water,
and nutrients from the
Salt Marsh
Harvest
Mouse
Salt Grass
I am an upper marsh
plant. After absorbing salt
water through my roots,
I push the salt crystals
out of my leaves. I use
the air, sun, water, and
nutrients from the soil to
make my food.
I am an
endangered native
mammal. My
habitat, the marshes of the San Francisco
Bay, is disappearing due to development.
I eat and live in pickleweed that grows in
the marshes. Owls, northern harriers,
red-tailed hawks, herons, egrets and clapper
rails eat me.
Soil
Sea Lavender
I am very
important to all
living things.
Plants use the
nutrients in
me to grow.
Animals get their
nutrients from plants. When living things die,
they decompose and return their nutrients to
me for other living things to use.
I am a native plant
that grows in the
upper marsh habitat.
I have wide oval
leaves at the base of
my stems and small
lavender flowers
bunched at the tip where insects hang out. I
use the air, sun, water, and nutrients from the
CALLING NATURE HOME
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Tule Elk
I am a native
mammal that
once lived in San
Francisco. I lived in
the grasslands and
ate bunchgrasses. I
have long horns and
travel in herds. I am
hunted by packs of
wolves for food.
Sun
I am the closest
star to the earth.
Everything on
earth depends on
me for life, and in
my hands I hold
the web of life.
Water
All living things – plants and animals – depend
on me to survive. In the upland, water comes
from the rain, the ground, the rivers, and the
streams.
CALLING NATURE HOME
33
WATERSHED IN YOUR HAND
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Watershed
in Your Hand
GRADES: 3-12
Overview: Students create a landscape from a crumpled sheet of
paper. They identify features such as ridges and waterways, as well as
human settlements and sources of pollution, then model the effect of a
rainstorm on the world they have created.
(Adapted with permission from The Watershed Project.)
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
• The world is shaped by the flow of water over the landscape.
• A watershed is an area of land connected by the body of water it
drains into.
• Watersheds are the natural boundaries of ecosystems.
• Students will be able to define a watershed and to name a watershed
of which they are a part.
• Students will be able to see how humans impact watershed health.
• Students will also see how watershed health is an environmental
justice issue.
Grade
Grade
Grade
Grade
3:
4:
5:
6:
Investigation and Experimentation 5d
Earth Sciences 5ac
Earth Sciences 3de
Shaping Earth’s Surface 2ab
• Ideally, big raised relief maps of both the state of California or of the
San Francisco Bay Area with raised features that are color coded to
identify landscape features and elevation
• If relief maps are not available, then use topographic maps that show
elevation changes through lines or color (www.california-map.org/
california-map.jpg)
• San Francisco map
• One sheet of white paper (preferably used on one side from the
recycle bin) per student
• One large sheet of white butcher paper per group
• Water-based marker: blue, brown, and red for first activity, any
markers for second activity
• Permanent black and green markers
34
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
30 minutes
A watershed is an area of land that drains into a larger body of water.
Water drains from higher to lower elevation based on gravity. Watersheds
often get their name from the creek or river into which they flow, and
can be as small as the Islais Creek watershed in San Francisco, or as
large as the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed, which drains 40% of
California and ends up in the San Francisco Bay. Watersheds are the
basic ecological units of the landscape. Ridges from the boundaries
of watersheds sometimes act as barriers to plants and animals. Thus,
ecological communities can be different from one watershed to the next.
Because similar plants and animals often inhabit the same watershed,
natural areas and parks that are upstream of Heron’s Head Park or
Candlestick Point can provide restoration ecologists with seeds to be
planted at these parks and other natural areas that are being restored.
In urban areas, watersheds are often defined by sewersheds – areas of
land that drain into storm drains and sewer pipes – when creeks are put
into channels or culverts (underground tunnels). The concept of watersheds
is important in urban habitat restoration, since our homes and schools
can directly affect the ecosystems that are downstream of us.
On the other hand, people who pollute the watershed upstream of us –
industries, auto shops, businesses and households – can affect our health
as well. Environmental justice issues come into play when residents of
particular communities (especially low-income communities of color) are
disproportionately affected by their upstream industrial neighbors.
Introduction
Show students a three-dimensional map of California and/or the Bay Area.
(Or show a two-dimensional map with contour lines.) Ask a student to
come up and point out the mountains, rivers and Bay. For older students,
ask them to explain the water cycle and name specific landmarks (Sierra
Nevada Mountains, Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, Delta, San
Francisco Bay) that are part of the regional water cycle. You can also point
out Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the source of very clean drinking water from
Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Explain that an area of land that drains into a body of water is called
a watershed. Point out small and large watersheds on the map. Ask a
student to point out the watershed where your school is located.
CALLING NATURE HOME
35
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Activity
PART 1
Before beginning this activity, make sure that students can define the
terms ridge, valley, lake, creek and river.
Pass out one sheet of butcher paper and watercolor markers (blue,
brown, and red) and permanent (green and black) to each groups of five
students. Explain to the students that they will do an activity that helps
them understand how water shapes the landscape through erosion, or
the wearing away of rock and soil, and that the landscape dictates the
watershed.
Tell students to pick up their sheet of paper. Then tell them to crumple
it into a ball, and carefully open the paper so that the creases remain,
and the paper looks like a landscape with ridges that point upward, and
valleys that point downward. Tell them not to open and flatten their sheets
of paper too much. The students get to be the creators of their own
landscapes.
Each student will get one marker to create each part of the landscape.
With a brown marker, one student can trace a line along the tops of
the ridges. This represents the mountains. Next, with a blue marker,
another student can trace the valley lines. This represents the rivers and
streams. Ask your students to think about where they would want to put
their towns and cities, and have them draw in human settlements with a
black marker. Ask the students to draw in postage stamp-sized squares
to represent their homes, businesses, schools, etc. With the green
marker, they can draw in parks, forests, and open spaces. Then, with the
red marker, draw in sources of pollution: a factory, a landfill, a sewage
treatment plant.
After everyone has drawn their lines, tell everyone that it is going to rain.
Go around with the spray bottle and spray onto the landscapes until the
water-based marker ink bleeds, the rivers run, and the other colors streak
into the rivers. (Note: Too much water will flatten the landscapes.)
Ask students to report the results of their activity to the class. Did the
water flow where you thought it would? What happened to your towns
– did your homes get flooded, or did pollutants flow toward your homes?
Ask students to identify the watersheds on their landscapes.
PART 2
BIOREGIONAL MAPPING
CALLING NATURE HOME
Explain that this activity will help students understand their watershed,
and how human activities have affected the natural habitats that once
existed there.
36
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Model the activity beforehand for the students on the board by drawing a
big “X” where the school is. Then ask the students to imagine standing on
the big “X.” Where are the hills in relation to the school? Draw them on
the board. Where does the water flow? Draw any creeks or storm drains
around the school. Where are the trees and other plants? Draw them.
Where might the animals live? Draw animals and insects where there
are clusters of plants. What have humans built in this once-natural area?
Draw streets, houses, storefronts and factories.
Ask the students: What impact can humans have on the watershed? What
impact can humans have on plants and animals in the watershed? Also,
how can the health of the watershed affect our own health?
Pass out a second sheet of paper to each student. Distribute markers of
other colors as well. Explain that they are going to draw their own watershed
of where their home is, and that they can draw the picture in one of two
ways: 1) a sideways view, like a regular landscape picture, or 2) a top-down
view, like a map. Model these two types of drawings on the board before
the students begin. Students will write their name on the top or back of
their sheet, and draw a big “X” in the middle of their paper. The “X”
represents their house. Ask them to imagine they are standing on the X.
Write these guiding questions on the board as they draw one step at a time:
Where are the hills around your house? Have them draw hills or
mountains on their paper.
Where does the water flow? Have them draw any ponds, creeks, sewers
and storm drains.
Where is the San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean located from here?
What plants are growing in this area? Have students draw plants they
see in the place where they live.
What animals live here? Have them draw any animals, as well as places
where animals can live.
Ask the students to imagine what their neighborhood looked like before it
was a city. What did it look like when the only human inhabitants were the
Ohlone? What about after the Europeans arrived? How did the landscape
evolve? What have humans built over the natural areas? Have students
draw houses, buildings, roads, freeways, railroad tracks, etc.
Ask students about what impact they think human activity has had on
CALLING NATURE HOME
37
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
the watershed. Then have them write a few words (up to a sentence) with
a pencil next to the human-made creations on their map.
Ask students also about how other humans can affect us in our own
households. Show with a pencil how people upstream can contribute
inadvertently to the polluting of people who are downstream. How is this
a justice issue? Do you think that the placement of the human-made
creations within a landscape is planned? Do neighborhoods look the way
they do by chance or by design?
OUTCOME
Students will understand the concept of a watershed, and also begin to
understand the watershed where they reside on multiple levels.
In a group discussion, ask these questions as a way to debrief what was
just explored:
How is the idea of a watershed different from how we divide the land
into neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, and countries?
What impact does urbanization (turning natural areas into cities) have
on watersheds?
What are some ways that we can improve the health of our local
watershed?
By improving the health of our watershed, who benefits?
Find the creek closest to your school. If you can, trace the creek to the
San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean by foot. If you cannot, then trace it
by map to see where it enters the bay or ocean. If your local creek is
underground, find where it used to flow, and where in your neighborhood
it flows underground now. Trace the creek’s path back to the bay or ocean
– either by foot if it is possible, or with a map if it is not.
Discuss the difference between point source pollution and non-point
source pollution. Point source pollution is pollution from a single
identifiable discharge source, such as power plants, factories, auto
shops and sewage treatment plants. Non-point source pollution is all
other sources of pollution, coming from diverse sources, entering the
environment from multiple venues, often mobile, and hard to trace.
Examples include leaky cars and used motor oil that gets poured down
storm drains. Rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation can run over land or through
the ground, pick up pollutants, and deposit them into bodies of water
such as the Bay or introduce them into groundwater.
CALLING NATURE HOME
38
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Think of all of the point source and non-point source pollution culprits
in the school’s vicinity. Think of potential sources of pollution at the
students’ school sites and at their homes. Brainstorm ways that we as
individuals can hold ourselves accountable to minimize the impact of nonpoint source pollution.
Take on a storm drain stenciling program in the neighborhood to deter
would-be polluters:
• Bureau of Street Environmental Services
Department of Public Works
2323 Cesar Chavez Street
[email protected]
www.sfgov.org/site/sfdpw_page.asp?id=32453
• City of Oakland Storm Drain Stencilling Program
(510) 238-6600
www.oaklandpw.com/Page293.aspx
• US Environmental Protection Agency Storm Drain Stenciling Project
Guidelines: www.epa.gov/adopt/patch/html/guidelines.html
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
1155 Market St., 11th floor
San Francisco CA, 94103
(415) 554-3155
http://sfwater.org/
Save the Bay
350 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
US EPA Surf Your Watershed
http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm
CALLING NATURE HOME
39
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Wild
in the City
GRADES: 3-12
Overview: San Francisco’s environment has been dramatically altered
over the past 200 years. But some natural areas remain in the midst
of the urban landscape. This is a standard pre-trip activity for a field
trip to Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point. This activity can also be
conducted prior to a trip to any natural area in San Francisco.
Developed in collaboration with the Stewardship and Environmental Education Collaboration
(SEEC-SF).
LAND USE &
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
• San Francisco’s environment has drastically changed in the last 200
years since European arrival.
• Wetlands are a type of habitat that has been almost completely wiped
out because their benefits were not valued.
• Habitat restoration allows the community to reclaim the wetlands as
a renewal space so it can benefit from the functions of wetlands to
help maintain and improve environmental health.
• Students will learn about native San Francisco habitats with a focus
on wetland ecology.
• Students will learn the importance of stewardship, sustainable living,
and how open spaces and clean communities are an environmental
right that everyone should have.
CONTENT STANDARDS
Grade 3: Physical Sciences 1a; Life Sciences 3bcd
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2abc, 3abc; Earth Sciences 5c
Grade 5: Earth Sciences 3a
Grade 6: Earth Sciences (Shaping Earth’s Surface) 2b
Grade 7: Life Sciences (Evolution) 3ae
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6a, Life Sciences (Evolution) 8b
MATERIALS
• Wild in the City maps, one for every 4-6 students (Nancy Morita, 6
Cypress Road, San Anselmo, CA 94960)
• Wild in the City worksheets for each group or student
• Large photographs of Third Street in the Bayview circa early 1900s
and the present day (HANC Recycling Center, 780 Frederick Street,
SF CA 94117, or The Presidio Trust (415) 561-4449)
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
30 minutes
This activity will be conducted by the classroom teacher, LEJ staff, or
another environmental educator.
40
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
The historical events of the past 200 years have drastically altered
the native habitats of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco once
teemed with wildlife in the air, on land, and in the water. Grizzly bears
roamed the land in search of salmon from the rivers, sea otters and
whales swam into the Bay. Tule elk roamed the vast marshes. There were
so many birds that European explorers who came to this area noted that
when a person shot a rifle into the air, millions of birds darkened the sky
in response. There were once 100,000 Ohlone indigenous people from 35
different tribes who lived around the edge of the Bay, making this region
the most populated north of Mexico. The Ohlone used fire to manage their
land intensively for acorn crops as well as for seeds and hunting.
Europeans first arrived at the end of the 1700s. There were only a few at
first, but they brought disease and slavery that almost completely destroyed
the Ohlone population and their way of life. The Gold Rush brought more
than 25,000 settlers, mostly European American men from farther east,
starting in 1849. Thousands more arrived in subsequent years as they
yearned to strike it rich through gold mining. They had a huge, often
destructive, impact on the wildlife and the land. In the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, hydraulic miners used high-pressure hoses to blast away
entire mountainsides. This “hydraulicking” produced hundreds of tons of
mercury-laced sediments, which filled in and changed the shape of the
San Francisco Bay. Wetlands along the Bay were filled for agriculture, ports,
and industry. Development and grading caused creeks to erode. These
creeks were channelized, culverted, or incorporated into sewer systems.
Today, 90% of the Bay shoreline is not natural but is composed of bay fill.
Because of this, San Francisco Bay is now two-thirds its original size.
As populations increased, more than half the flow of the San Joaquin
and Sacramento Rivers were diverted for Central Valley agriculture
and thirsty urban populations in Northern and Southern California.
These water transfers altered the water flows and salinity of the San
Francisco Bay estuary. Sewage and industry have released toxins that
have contaminated sediments and entered the food web, which is also
threatened by non-native plant and animal species. A major source of
pollution in the Bay is urban runoff, the water that flows off of paved
surfaces that are contaminated with motor oil, heavy metals, silt,
pesticide residue, animal waste, and garbage.
The San Francisco Region ranges from San Bruno Mountain in the south
to the Marin Headlands in the north. It contains a unique combination of
soils and climatic factors that make it home to several rare and endemic
plant and animal species and populations. Endemic means that a specific
kind of plant comes from one place and is found nowhere else. Prior
to European contact, San Francisco was a mosaic of grasslands, sand
dunes, riparian habitats, wetlands, and scant numbers of trees.
CALLING NATURE HOME
41
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
HERON’S HEAD PARK
HISTORY
THE VALUE OF WETLANDS
What is now Heron’s Head Park was created in the 1970s when the Port
of San Francisco filled part of the Bay to build Pier 98. They dumped
sand, boulders, and construction debris on top of bay mud, then covered
it over with sand and fill dirt. The project was never completed, and the
fill area became a site for illegal dumping. Over time, some of the fill
subsided, and wetlands plants colonized the marsh plain. In the 1980s,
the Audubon Society noticed that some wildlife, including migratory
birds, had made the dump site their home. After a series of community
meetings in the 1990s, the Port began a major remediation of the Pier.
They brought in earth-moving machines to remove debris and re-grade
the site, capped part of the upland area with a clay liner, and dug a tidal
channel to bring Bay water into five acres of newly constructed tidal
marsh. For the past decade, the Port has contracted with Literacy for
Environmental Justice (LEJ) to maintain the park and conduct education
and community programs. Most restoration work relies upon volunteers.
Thousands of students and volunteers have come through the park over
the years.
Wetlands serve a number of functions:
• Wetlands can store floodwater and slowly release it into downstream
areas, lessening the severity of floods.
• Wetlands can recharge groundwater basins.
• Wetlands dissipate the energy of waves, protecting the coastline
against erosion.
• Since wetlands can reduce the velocity of floodwaters, wetlands can
cause sediments to settle. This sediment would otherwise enter lakes
and streams, and reduce their water quality.
• Wetland plants filter pollutants from the water, while microorganisms
take up dissolved nutrients and decomposed organic matter. The
complex biological processes that take place in wetland soils can bind
heavy metals, phenols and other toxic chemicals, which as a result,
detoxifies water systems.
• Wetlands contain large amounts of nutrients in the form of detritus
(decaying organic matter) from the breakdown of dead plant material
by bacteria and fungi. This makes wetlands extremely productive food
webs. Many fish and shellfish depend on detritus as a food source, and
these creatures, in turn, are important food sources for consumers
higher up the food chain.
• Wetlands are an important breeding, nesting, and feeding refuge for
migratory waterfowl and other wildlife.
• Fifty-five percent of California’s threatened and endangered species
partially or totally depend on wetlands for their survival.
• Wetlands are an important site for carbon dioxide/oxygen exchange, for
CALLING NATURE HOME
42
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
nutrient cycling that allows excess nitrogen back into the atmosphere,
for reduction and recycling of atmospheric sulfates, and for absorption
of airborne pollutants. The air over wetlands is typically 25% cleaner
than the air over surrounding areas.
Introduction
Activity
Show an archival photograph of a westward view of the Bayview’s Third
Street circa early 1900s, and have the students guess where it is. Once
students have had an opportunity to guess, show a picture of what it
looks like now. Give a narrative of how before the 1700s, the area was
inhabited by Ohlone native people, as well as a biodiversity of plant and
animal life. Biodiversity means that there is a wide range of animal and
plant species that inhabit a particular habitat. The Ohlone relied on the
diverse offerings of the land and water for sustenance and survival. Who
came into the picture in the 1700s to change the landscape?
Give each group of 4 to 6 a copy of the Wild in the City map. Have them
guess where their school is on both the 1750 side and the present day
(1990s) side of the map. Have the class identify what type of habitat was
found in this neighborhood in pre-colonial times by looking at the left side
of the map.
Distribute worksheets to each group, and have them answer collectively.
Give the students about ten minutes to complete the worksheet.
Have each group give an answer to 1 or 2 questions out loud. Write the
responses on the board and query the class to get a consensus on the
answers.
OUTCOME
Students will discover through an analysis of the map that the landscape
has changed significantly over the course of the past few hundred years.
Sadly, many of the natural areas that once covered the landscape are
now gone. Ninety percent of the wetlands surrounding the San Francisco
Bay have been filled in and many parts of the city have been paved over.
The green areas on the present-day side of the map represent a slightly
outdated (the poster was created in 1992) but still relatively accurate
depiction of the colorful natural areas that we have now. Crissy Field’s
tidal marsh in San Francisco has been restored, and other restoration
projects such as Yosemite Slough and Rock City are in the works.
Why is this important? Environmental justice is a concept that asserts
that all people deserve equal access to basic necessities, which include:
CALLING NATURE HOME
43
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
•
•
•
•
•
•
Healthy food
Clean water
Non-polluting energy
Non-toxic communities
Open space
Equitable educational and work opportunities
Write these principles on the board.
Have a class discussion: How is habitat restoration an environmental
justice issue? In what ways do our communities stand to benefit from
restored open spaces?
Ask the students to think about green spaces within their communities:
parks, community or school gardens, yards, etc. Have the students write
about or draw their own habitat including both natural and human-made
features and describe the interface between the features.
Have the students visit the green spaces within their communities,
including Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Crissy Field Center
(415) 561-7690
www.crissyfield.org
Kids for the Bay
1771 Alcatraz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 985-1602
[email protected]
www.kidsforthebay.org
Greenbelt Alliance
631 Howard Street, Suite 510
(415) 543-6771
[email protected]
www.greenbelt.org
Nature in the City
PO Box 170088
(415) 564-4107
[email protected]
natureinthecity.org
(415) 561-4700
www.nps.gov/goga/
Neighborhood Parks Council
451 Hayes Street, 2nd Floor
www.sfnpc.org
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Presidio Trust
PO Box 29052
(415) 561-5300
[email protected]
www.presidio.gov
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
501 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-2700
Stewardship and Environmental Education
Collaborative (SEEC-SF)
www.seecsf.org
San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance
135 Van Ness Avenue, Room 408
[email protected]
www.sfgreenschools.org
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Wild in the City: Elementary School
Names:___________________________________
Look at the Wild in the City maps. Look at both sides – the left side, which shows San Francisco before
1750, and the right side, which shows San Francisco in the 1990s.
1. Find your neighborhood on the 1990s map. How do you think your neighborhood looked in 1750? What
types of people, plants, and animals would have been here?
2. What do the black and white areas of the 1990s map represent?
3. How have the green areas on the Before 1750 map and the 1990s map changed? What may have
caused that change over time?
4. Which map has more creeks and salt marshes? What do you think happened to the creeks and salt
marshes?
5. The dotted line on the left map shows where the bay has been filled in to look like the map on the right.
What are the effects of the Bay getting filled in?
6. On the pre-1750 map, all of the Ohlone seasonal camps and villages can be found near what?
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Wild in the City: Middle School
Names:___________________________________
1750, and the right side, which shows San Francisco now.
1.
What kinds of habitats were found in San Francisco in 1750? How much of these habitats are still exist
today?
2.
Who lived in San Francisco in 1750? Describe how each habitat provided for their needs to live.
3.
Who lives in San Francisco now? How have people’s relationships with the environment changed from
1750 to now?
4.
Urbanization means that cities are getting bigger, and the surrounding natural areas are getting smaller.
What has been the effect of urbanization on our landscape and on how humans live?
5.
The dotted line on the left map shows where the bay has been filled in to look like the map on the right.
What are the effects of the Bay getting filled in?
6.
On the pre-1750 map, all of the Ohlone seasonal camps and villages can be found near what? What
happened to the creeks?
CALLING NATURE HOME
47
WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Wild in the City: High School
Names:___________________________________
1750, and the right side, which shows San Francisco now.
1.
What kinds of habitats were found in San Francisco in 1750? How much of these habitats are still
around today?
2.
Who lived in San Francisco in 1750? Describe how each habitat provided for their needs to live.
3.
What has been the effect of colonization on the San Francisco Bay Area’s landscape, plants and
animals, and people? How have people’s relationships with the environment changed from 1750 to
now?
4.
Urbanization means that cities are getting bigger, and the surrounding natural areas are getting
smaller. What has been the effect of urbanization on our landscape, on how we as humans live, and on
biodiversity?
5.
What is a watershed? Find the watershed that your school is in. What has happened to watershed areas
because of urbanization?
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WILD IN THE CITY
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
6.
The dotted line on the left map shows where the bay has been filled in to look like the map on the right.
Ninety percent of the wetlands around the San Francisco Bay have been filled in. What could be some of
the effects of the disappearance of wetlands from the landscape?
7.
On the pre-1750 map, all of the Ohlone seasonal camps and villages can be found near what? What
happened to the creeks?
8.
What is the difference between native and non-native species?
9.
What do you think living sustainably means? What can we do to gain back a sustainable urban
environment?
CALLING NATURE HOME
49
BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Beaks and
Feet
GRADES: 3-8
Overview: In this activity, students will play a game that will visually and
kinesthetically demonstrate that different bird beaks are adapted for
different types of food.
BIRDS
KEY CONCEPTS
• Birds have behavioral and physical adaptations that enable them to
eat certain types of food and to live in certain habitats.
• Two important adaptations that offer clues to a bird’s lifestyle are the
morphologies of the beak and feet.
OBJECTIVE
• To understand that different species (whether animals or plants) have
adaptations that allow them to live efficiently in their habitat.
• To be able to describe how birds’ beaks and feet are adapted to
capture and eat certain types of food, and to live in certain habitats.
• To come up with ideas for protecting birds’ habitats.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade
Grade
Grade
Grade
3:
4:
6:
7:
Life
Life
Life
Life
Sciences 3abcd
Sciences 2abc, 3abcd
Sciences (Ecology) 5abcde
Sciences (Structure and Function in Living Systems) 5a
• A Field Guide to 100 Birds of Heron’s Head Park (Golden Gate
Audubon Society, www.goldengateaudubon.org
• Bird Migration in the Americas Thematic Map (National Geographic
–shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/maps/wall-maps/
specialty-maps/bird-migration-in-the-americas-thematic-map)
• Large photographs of birds’ beaks and feet, as well as full photos of
these birds: great blue heron, sandpiper, mallard, pelican, peregrine
falcon, cormorant, gull, avocet, clapper rail
• White board and dry erase markers
• Bird Beak Game data collection sheets, pencils and clipboards
• Timer
• Bird Beak Game materials (one set for each group of 6 to 9)
3 sets of tweezers
3 sets of wooden clothes pins
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
3 spoons
9 clear cups (stomachs) – with permanent marker hash marks
on the side for each quarter inch increment
Bowls of water filled with loose tea – bag labeled “tea leaf
aquatic plants”
Bag filled with short pipe cleaner lengths (worms) – bag labeled
“pipe cleaner worms”
Bag filled with short wire lengths such as produce twist ties
Bag labeled “wire shrimp”
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
30 minutes to 1 hour
The San Francisco Bay provides a variety of habitats for many species of
birds, both those endemic to California, as well as the birds that stop by
en route to farther reaches north or south. The migratory birds are flying
along what is known as the Pacific Flyway, which is essentially a bird
highway along the west coast of the United States in which the migratory
birds make “pit stops” in bodies of water such as the San Francisco Bay
for food and rest. Wetland habitats such as those at Heron’s Head Park
and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area are especially vital to the
survival of the migratory bird species that fly along the Pacific Flyway.
Some birds fly from their breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle in Canada
or Alaska all the way to their wintering grounds in Baja California or South
America. Birds have specialized beaks and feet that determine the types
of food they eat and the type of habitat they live in.
Birds often serve as bioindicators: live animals and plants that serve to
indicate levels of environmental health. Populations fluctuate based on
the health of the water and the marsh. The more pollutants and the less
available food and shelter, the less birds are to be found. Using birds
as a bioindicator has environmental justice implications for us, because
the industrial pollutants that affect the health of the birds around the
Bay also affect the low-income communities of color sharing the same
environment.
Introduction
CALLING NATURE HOME
This lesson may serve as a great introduction to the “Bird Survey” activity
for students to gain a broader understanding of birds’ feeding adaptations
which will help in bird identification, as well as recognition of birds’
habitats based on their physical attributes.
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Pose this question to the entire class: What is an adaptation? Write this
question on the white board using dry erase markers. If students have
not learned this word, explain that to adapt is to go through evolutionary
physical and behavioral alterations over long periods of time to be better
suited to live in its particular habitat.
What types of adaptations do humans have that are particular to our
species? We walk on two feet (bipedal locomotion), we have dexterous
fingers with opposable thumbs, and we have sharper teeth for tearing and
flatter teeth for grinding to aid in our survival as omnivores.
What types of adaptations can you think of that birds have?
Birds in general have hollow bones and are covered in feathers to enable
flight. Beaks and feet often serve different functions depending on the
bird’s physiology – its shape. What do beaks and feet indicate about a
bird’s diet and lifestyle? Show images of birds’ beaks, feet, and bodies
as students name the birds that have similar attributes to the birds in
the large photographs (great blue heron, sandpiper, mallard, pelican,
peregrine falcon, cormorant, gull, avocet, clapper rail). Acknowledge
the students if their answers are correct or otherwise well thought out.
Otherwise, hold off on a discussion of specific adaptations until after the
Bird Beak Game is played.
Activity
We will now play a game in which all students become a certain type of
bird with a certain beak. Some beaks are better adapted to eat certain
foods than others. This game will show kinesthetically and visually which
types of foods are best eaten by which beaks.
Groups of six to nine students will sit in a circle on the ground or stand
around a table. Groups play simultaneously so that all students in the
class can participate in the game at once. Distribute beaks (tweezers,
clothes pins, spoons) alternately to every child. There may possibly be an
unequal number of bird species within each group. The objects represent
the physical forms that various beaks take.
Introduce the first food type: wire shrimp. Have each group of students
put the food in the center but with their beaks on the tables in front
of them, untouched. A timer will be set by the facilitator (LEJ staff or
classroom teacher), and during the allotted time of thirty seconds, the
students will be able to feed – food will be gathered using their beaks (but
not their fingers) into their cups, which are their stomachs. After the thirty
seconds are up, the beaks have to be set down, and the number of wire
shrimp eaten by each beak type (tweezer beak, clothes pin beak, spoon
beak) are tallied within each group on data sheets, to be collectively
CALLING NATURE HOME
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bird Beaks
long, slender beak for
probing mud (shorebirds)
sharp, hooked beak
for tearing meat
(hawks and owls)
slim, sharp beak for
catching flying insects
(swallows and flycatchers)
short, thick beak for
crushing seeds (finches
and sparrows)
long, hooked
beak for catching
fish (cormorants and pelicans)
long, broad beak for
spearing prey (egrets
and herons)
broad beak
for scooping
plants and
small animals and straining water
(ducks, grebes, coots)
Bird Feet
two toes in front
and one in back
for climbing
(woodpeckers)
webbed feet for
swimming (ducks,
grebes, coots)
long-toed feet for wading
and walking on mud
(egrets and shorebirds)
three toes in front and
one in back for perching
(sparrows and terns)
sharp-clawed feet for
grasping (hawks and
owls)
counted as an entire class at the end. After this round is completed, put
the wires back in the shrimp Ziploc bag.
Continue onto round two with the pipe cleaner worms, and go through the
same process.
Round three will involve bowls with the water and the loose tea. For this
round, instead of counting objects to achieve a tally, see how much water
can be scooped and make tick marks on the sides of the clear plastic
cups to get a number to record.
Once all three rounds have been conducted and the materials have been
cleaned up, then the total tallies will be called out by each group, and the
total numbers of the consumed food by each beak type will be graphically
represented on the white board (see sample bar graph).
Which beak type did the best with getting which type of food?
Do these beaks remind you of any real life birds? How can the shapes of
the beaks, as well as the feet, provide clues for what a bird feeds on?
Show images of different types of bird beaks and feet, and talk about
CALLING NATURE HOME
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
adaptations. Which beaks would be good for catching fish? Tearing flesh?
Straining plant matter from water? Probing for invertebrates in the mud?
Which feet would be good for wading in shallow water? Paddling in the
water? Grasping its prey?
Talk about ecological niches. Since the different birds who live in the Park
often occupy different niches where some feed off of the mud while others
feed off of the water, the birds do not all have to compete with one another
for food. Each species has its own specialized place within the ecosystem.
Which photographs remind you of the beaks from the game?
OUTCOME
Students should be able to identify beak and foot types associated with
different kinds of birds and be able to predict what type of habitat a bird
lives in based on the appearance of the beaks and feet.
Use the following questions for oral or written evaluation of students’
knowledge:
What happens to migrating birds when habitats around the San
Francisco Bay are destroyed? Migratory birds lose places to feed, rest,
and nest as they fly along the Pacific Flyway. Show map of Pacific Flyway
and point out birds’ migratory paths.
Can the birds that are adapted to live in the marshes move into the
forests? No, because their beaks are not adapted to feed off of what is
found in a forest.
Can birds that usually feed on mud creatures start to eat grasses? No,
because their beaks and their digestive systems are adapted to eat what
is in their own habitat.
How does trash harm birds? Birds may eat or become entangled in trash,
such as fishing lines, Styrofoam peanuts, or balloons. This can cause
either grave injury or illness, which can lead to premature death.
How would observable drops in bird populations affect humans?
Birds and other animals often serve as bioindicators that show us
when the environment is in poor health. In industrial areas such as the
neighborhoods in southeast San Francisco, animals, plants and humans
can all be affected adversely by pollution and habitat loss.
How can you help the Park staff protect birds in this habitat? Do not
pollute and help pick up trash. Participate in the annual Coastal Cleanup
Days. Further educate yourself and others about our local habitats and
their bird inhabitants.
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
1.
Study the birds of Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point by
conducting the “Bird Survey” activity in Calling Nature Home.
2.
Conduct an art project in which students (or groups of students)
invent their own bird. Have the students take into account the bird’s
size, the shapes and sizes of the beaks, feet, wings, coloration, and
any other physical attributes. The students must be able to describe
the physical traits and use them to justify its feeding and nesting
habits, its habitat, its protection from predators, its mating habits, etc.
3.
Take part in Coastal Cleanup Day to remove trash from the shoreline
or conduct habitat restoration projects at Heron’s Head Park or
Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (contact LEJ).
4.
Make signs that describe the harmful effects of trash on birds and
other wildlife. Students can also opt to make signs to educate fishers
about the need to remove fishing line from beaches and waterways.
Disseminate information at local parks or at public events.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Bolinas Lagoon Preserve
4900 Highway One
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
(415) 868-9244
[email protected]
www.egret.org
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 843-2222
[email protected]
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO)
Fort Mason
Building 201, San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 331-0730
www.ggro.org
Fisher, Chris C. and Morlan, Joseph, Birds of San
Francisco and the Bay Area. (Auburn, WA: Lone Pine
Publishing, 1996).
Christmas Bird Count, Audubon
www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/
Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO)
3820 Cypress Drive, #11
Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 781-2555
www.prbo.org
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
(800) 843-BIRD
www.birds.cornell.edu
[email protected]
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612-2016
(510) 452-9261
www.savesfbay.org
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
www.epa.gov/owow/birds
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bird Beak Buffet Tally Sheet
Tweezer Beak
Clothes Pin Beak
Spoon Beak
Wire Shrimp
Pipe Cleaner Worms
Floating Tea Leaf
Aquatic Plants
1. Number of participants in this group who participated as:
Tweezer Beaks _______, Clothes Pin Beaks _______, Spoon Beaks _______
2. Fill in the blanks to describe how the birds in the game remind you of real birds:
The tweezer beak is most like ____________________________________________________________________
because _______________________________________________________________________________________ .
The clothes pin beak is most like__________________________________________________________________
because _______________________________________________________________________________________ .
The spoon beak is most like _____________________________________________________________________
because _______________________________________________________________________________________ .
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BEAKS AND FEET
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bird Beak Game Results
30
25
20
NUMBER
EATEN
15
10
5
0
Wire Shrimp
Pipe Cleaner Worms
Aquatic Plants
FOOD TYPES
Tweezer Beaks
Clothes Pin Beaks
Spoon Beak
Sample of how to draw white board bar graph of Bird Beak Game results.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Assessment
GRADES: K-12
Overview: In this activity, students will evaluate their knowledge of
environmental justice issues and ecological concepts related to the San
Francisco Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay estuary.
LAND USE &
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
• A bioregion is composed of complex interactions between flora,
fauna, and environmental conditions.
• Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick Point, and the San Francisco Bay are
affected by both natural phenomena and human actions.
• Issues that affect the environment can have an effect on human life.
• The principles of environmental justice assert that all people should
live and work in equitably clean, safe and just conditions. However,
inequities based upon income level and race still persist.
OBJECTIVES
• Students will reflect on their knowledge of the San Francisco Bay and
its natural habitats, as well as its environmental justice issues.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
Kindergarten: Investigation and Experimentation 4e
Grade 1: Investigation and Experimentation 4ab
• Bioregional Quiz – high school, middle school, and elementary school
versions (photocopies for each student for high school, middle school,
and upper elementary)
• KWL chart on butcher paper
• Pencils and markers
30 minutes
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
This learning assessment is used at the beginning of a field trip unit to
determine what students know about San Francisco Bay ecosystems, and
about the environmental justice issues of San Francisco. At the end of the
unit, an identical post-assessment will help students reflect on what they
have learned through field trip activities and community investigations.
A bioregion is defined as “an area constituting a natural ecological
community with characteristic flora, fauna, and environmental conditions
and bounded by natural rather than artificial borders” (American Heritage
Dictionary). Thinking in terms of their bioregions can help students
understand the importance of Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point
State Recreation Area and the complex interactions between humans and
the natural world.
Introduction
This is an in-class activity that will kick off a field study of their local
environment. The class as a whole can discuss answers for:
What things make up your environment? Please note student responses
on the board, and make sure that both natural and human-made factors
are acknowledged.
Name a wild animal that you have seen recently, and share where you
saw it. Have students seen many animals? Why or why not? In what
locations are students more likely to see animals, and what types of
animals can be seen?
Write the word “bioregion” on the board. Break down the word into its
roots: “bio” is Greek for “life,” and “region” is an area of land. How can
students define “region of life”?
Activity
Students will complete a bioregional quiz that measures how much they
know about their environment. Since this is a pre-assessment to measure
how much the students already know, and the same test will be taken at
the end to see how much they learned over the course of the in-class and
field studies, it is okay if the students cannot answer all of the questions.
Older students can fill out the Learning Assessment worksheets, while
teachers can read aloud the assessment questions for younger students,
and record their responses on butcher paper.
After the students fill out the assessments, the teacher can create a
KWL chart on a piece of butcher paper from what the students share as
a class about they Know about the San Francisco Bay bioregion and what
they Want to learn, leaving a column for what students have Learned after
CALLING NATURE HOME
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
the field trip. This sheet can be posted until the students go on the field
trip.
Students can keep journals of their experiences on the field trip. Things
that can be recorded: questions that arise, revelations and thoughts,
observational sketches, etc.
OUTCOME
Teachers will gain an idea of what students already know, and would like
to learn, which can inform the unit planning process. Students will begin
to think about issues that affect them, as well as their environment.
After exploring the Park through field trips and action projects, the
students will get a chance to revisit the bioregional quiz, and the KWL
chart, to determine what type of knowledge has been gained through the
course of the unit.
Have the students’ responses to the quiz changed? Did they get an
opportunity to learn what they said they wanted to learn? What was
learned during the course of the unit? Teachers can ask students about
whether learning about the Park and the San Francisco Bay has changed
their behavior, or inspired them to take action around community or
environmental issues. Inspire students to draw, write or discuss what they
have learned, and how they can share the knowledge and insight they
gained with their community.
These questions can be asked to generate a class discussion to reflect
on the unit:
What did you think about the San Francisco Bay and about
environmental issues at the beginning of the unit, compared to what
you think now?
What prompted the changes in thinking to occur?
Before you visited the Park, what kinds of things did you do to take
care of the environment?
What are you doing, or what are you considering, now?
Based on what you know now, what types of actions can people make
toward environmental justice?
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
The students can reflect on their own actions and consider what they can
do to be more environmentally friendly in manageable ways. Students can
create a plan of action (recycling and composting at home and at school,
using less water, etc.) and share the results of their answers with their
class.
Students can also think of the big picture and think of ways to contribute
to a more environmentally just society. What injustices are occurring in
their own neighborhoods? What types of actions can be taken? Students
can create and execute an action plan and share their findings and
reflections to their school and their community. How can community
members be effectively educated on important environmental justice
issues? How can students collaborate with community members in
effective ways to bring about sustainable change?
Students can also get involved with local habitat restoration projects
through Literacy for Environmental Justice, the San Francisco Recreation
and Parks Department, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy,
Save the Bay, and many other groups.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
www.parksconservancy.org
San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
501 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-2700
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bioregional Quiz: High School
1. Where does your drinking water come from?
2. Who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area 250 years ago? How did they make a living off of the land?
3. What has changed in the past two hundred fifty years? Who lives here now, how many people live here
now, and how do they live off the land?
4. How would you define the term “urbanization”?
5. What is a watershed? Bonus: name the body of water that defines your watershed.
6. Name five edible plants that grow in your area.
7. Where do your garbage and your sewage go?
8. From where you are sitting now, draw an arrow indicating which way is north.
9. Name three resident and three migratory birds that live in your area.
10. Name five pollutants that can be found in your watershed. Who is responsible for putting the pollutants
there?
11. What species have become extinct within this bioregion?
12. Did you see stars last night? Why or why not?
13. Is it safe to eat fish from the San Francisco Bay? Why or why not?
14. In your own words, define the term “environmental justice.”
15. Why is it important to protect native plants and animals? How can they be protected?
CALLING NATURE HOME
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bioregional Quiz: Middle School
1. Who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area 250 years ago? How did they make a living off of the land?
2. Name three edible plants that grow in your area.
3. Where do your garbage and your sewage go?
4. From where you are sitting now, draw an arrow indicating which way is north.
5. Name three birds that you see in your area. Do any of them migrate?
6. Name two sources of air and water pollution in your area.
7. Who is affected by pollution the most?
8. What plants or animals have become extinct in your area?
9. Did you see stars last night? Why or why not?
10. What place has a special meaning for you, and why?
11. Why might it be important to protect native plants and animals?
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ASSESSMENT
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Bioregional Quiz: Elementary School
1. Who lived around the San Francisco Bay long before we did? How did they live off the land?
2. What happens to your garbage after the trucks take it away?
3. Name three birds that you see in your area.
4. What is pollution? What causes pollution?
5. Who is affected by pollution the most?
6. Where do your garbage and sewage go?
7. What types of native plants and animals live in the San Francisco Bay Area?
8. Did you see the stars last night? Why or why not?
9. What place has a special meaning for you and why?
10. Why might it be important to protect native plants and animals?
CALLING NATURE HOME
64
WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Wetland
Metaphors
GRADES: 4-12
Overview: Students learn about the important functions that are served
by wetlands. Salt marshes are important wetlands that can be found
around the San Francisco Bay Estuary.
(Adapted with permission from Environmental Concern Inc. PO Box P, St. Michaels, MD
21663 www.wetland.org (410)745-9620. This material may not be reproduced without
permission from Environmental Concern, the copyright owner.)
WETLANDS
KEY CONCEPTS
• Wetlands are a valuable and necessary resource.
• Wetland depletion is taking away many of the natural functions that
wetlands fulfill, which has been detrimental to the health of our
ecosystem.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will be able to describe the characteristics of wetlands.
• Students will demonstrate their understanding of the importance of
wetlands to wildlife and humans.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade
Grade
Grade
Grade
3:
4:
5:
6:
Investigation and Experimentation 5d
Earth Sciences 5ac
Earth Sciences 3de
Shaping Earth’s Surface 2ab
• Wild in the City map (Nancy Morita, 6 Cypress Road, San Anselmo,
CA 94960)
• Nature in the City map (www.natureinthecity.org)
• Photographic images of different types of wetlands (salt marshes,
freshwater marshes, swamps, bogs)
• White boards and markers for each group
• Bag that contains:
• Sponge, small pillow, egg beater, doll cradle, strainer, paper coffee
filter, box of cereal (empty and taped shut), magnifying glass
30 to 40 minutes
This class can be led by either LEJ staff or the classroom teacher.
65
WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Wetlands, areas with water-saturated soil and plants adapted to wet
conditions, are a type of habitat that serves as an interface between
terrestrial and aquatic habitats. They are important because they provide
critical habitats for a wide range of wildlife. Coastal and inland marshes
provide breeding, resting, and overwintering habitats for many types of
migratory birds, including ducks, geese, swans, herons, and other types
of wading birds and shorebirds. The San Francisco Bay is an important
stopping point along the Pacific Flyway migratory path, and millions of
birds descend upon the Bay every year. Many species of fish and shellfish
spend part or all of their life cycles in wetlands that are adjacent to large
bodies of water. The marshes that ring the San Francisco Bay Estuary
serve as a home for many of these animals. A wide variety of reptiles,
amphibians, insects and crustaceans breed and live in wetlands. Many
mammals, including the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, also
depend on wetlands for food and shelter.
The wetlands of the San Francisco Bay are known as salt marshes, or
tidal marshes. The salt water that comes in from the ocean mixes with
the fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to form
brackish (higher salinity than fresh water, but less salty than ocean water)
water. These marshes are influenced by the tides and go through cycles of
inundation and exposure.
Wetlands have the ability to purify toxins that enter the waterways. Salt
marsh plants act as a filter as they take up excess nutrients such as
nitrogen and phosphorus. They even absorb some heavy metals. The
plants can trap and neutralize pollutants in sewage, allow silt to settle,
and promote the breakdown and neutralization of some toxic substances.
Wetland vegetation also helps keep nutrient levels in the water in
check. When excess nutrients from chemical fertilizers leach into
the environment, lakes and streams can experience eutrophication.
This means that the abundance of nutrients cause algae to bloom
in abundance, and reduces available dissolved oxygen for aquatic
organisms, killing them off. The plants absorb the nutrients and help to
cycle them through the food web. Through photosynthesis, they make
dissolved oxygen available to organisms in the water.
Wetlands serve an important function for flood control. Wetlands absorb
excess runoff, which gets released slowly into rivers, streams, estuaries,
and groundwater. Wetlands act as buffers between the land and the
waterways to prevent flooding and erosion during times of heavy rains.
As remarkable and resilient as wetlands are, they do have limits. Their
destruction through draining and filling to make way for agriculture, roads,
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
housing developments and airports, and their contamination through
pollution have had devastating effects on wildlife and on humans who
live in the vicinity of wetlands. Although many wetlands are protected by
federal and state law, 95% of the wetlands that have historically ringed
the San Francisco Bay are now gone. The remaining wetlands, including
Heron’s Head Park and the Yosemite Slough area of Candlestick Point
SRA, are critical habitats that need to be protected.
Introduction
WHAT IS A WETLAND?
Discuss how a wetland is an area that serves as a transitional zone
between land and water, in which the soil is saturated with water and
specially adapted plants grow. An ecological margin between two adjacent
ecosystems is known as an ecotone. The class can contrast wetlands with
other land/water ecotones that get inundated periodically, such as beaches
(covered with sand and not covered with vegetation) and tidepools (rocky
cover). Students can look at images of different types of wetlands. The
wetlands that ring the San Francisco Bay Estuary consist of marshes that
are inundated by brackish water, or water that is somewhat salty. An
estuary is a semi-enclosed body of water that connects to the open sea,
into which fresh water rivers or streams flow in. The San Francisco Bay is
one of the largest estuarine habitats on the Pacific Coast of North America.
The brackish marshes provide habitats for numerous types of aquatic
plants, shorebirds and migratory birds, crabs and other invertebrates, and
endangered species such as the salt marsh harvest mouse.
A poem/chant that could help the students to remember the definition of
an estuary:
“Where the river meets the sea…it’s an estuary!”
Students can look at the Nature in the City map to see where restored
wetlands in San Francisco can currently be found: Heron’s Head Park in
southeast San Francisco, and Crissy Field near the Bay’s opening into the
Pacific Ocean where the Golden Gate Bridge sits. Students can contrast
this with the pre-1750s image of San Francisco from the Wild in the City map.
Where were the wetlands prior to 1750? How did the wetlands
disappear?
Students can discuss the different types of development (roadways,
industrial and residential areas, San Francisco Airport) that have filled in
the wetland areas and the sources of pollution that have contaminated
our wetlands.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Activity
Students will learn about the various functions of a wetland through a
game. The instructor will prepare the “Mystery Marsh Metaphor Bag,” a
bag filled with common objects. There should be enough items in the bag
for each group to have an object.
Each object serves as a metaphor for a function that is served by the
marsh. Students can think about what the literal function of the object
itself is, and think of a comparable function that is served by a wetland.
The class should be divided into groups of four or five. A member from each
group will put her/his hand into the bag to grab one item. The group will
come up with ideas for what the object represents and how the function
of the object relates to the function of a wetland. Ideas can be written on
the whiteboard. All groups will have a chance to share out their ideas to
the class. Students may come up with similar or different ideas than what
is given on the chart. If their ideas are different from what is on the chart,
but make sense, the ideas should still be validated. The teacher can then
allow other students to speculate about the functions of each object and
share with the class the functions that are written on the chart that have
not been discussed as additional roles for what a wetland does.
OBJECT
FUNCTION OF METAPHORICAL OBJECT
Sponge
A sponge absorbs water. A wetland absorbs excess runoff water (water than runs
off of the land after it rains) to prevent flooding. A salt marsh also retains moisture
during dry periods while other bodies of water can dry up.
Pillow
A pillow is a place to rest your head. A wetland serves as a resting place for
migratory birds.
Egg beater
An egg beater mixes together ingredients. A wetland mixes dissolved oxygen and
nutrients into the water to allow organisms to survive.
Cradle
A cradle is a place where a baby rests. A wetland serves as a nursery that shelters,
protects, and feeds a variety of young wildlife.
Strainer
A strainer is used to strain large particles out of a liquid. A wetland strains silt and
debris out of the water.
Coffee filter
A coffee filter strains out coffee grounds while filtering water through to make coffee.
A wetland filters toxins (excess nutrients and heavy metals) out of the water with its
aquatic plants.
Magnifying glass
A magnifying glass is used to get a closer look at items that one wishes to study
carefully. A wetland allows people to better observe, understand, and connect with
our environment.
Box of cereal
A box of cereal provides food for hungry humans. A wetland provides food for wildlife
as well as for humans who fish in the Bay.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
OUTCOME
Students will come to an understanding of what the functions of a wetland
are, and should gain an appreciation for their value to animals, humans,
and the landscape.
At the end, students can summarize what was shared to paint an overall
picture of how a wetland functions. The ideas can be written on the board.
The students can be asked:
Has your opinion of the importance of wetlands changed over the course
of this activity?
In what ways have the depletion of wetlands been detrimental for the
environment and for humans?
Students can also begin to think about what to do with the small area
of wetlands that remain in the Bay. If 95% of the salt marshes that used
to exist in the San Francisco Bay are now gone, how do we treat the
remaining 5%? Are restoration and stewardship projects such as Heron’s
Head Park, Crissy Field, and Yosemite Slough worthwhile?
Students can think of ways to participate in the restoration and
preservation of salt marsh habitats in the San Francisco Bay. The class
can participate in lessons and volunteer opportunities at Heron’s Head
Park and LEJ’s Native Plant Nursery to participate in the restoration of a
brackish marsh habitat.
During science lessons, students can learn about the importance of
the flora and fauna of a wetland habitat. Students can research the life
cycles, adaptations, and the ecological significance of the plants and
animals of the salt marsh habitat.
Students can brainstorm ideas to publicize the importance of wetlands.
Students can work on a photojournalism or video project to share with the
school or community.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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WETLAND METAPHORS
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Crissy Field Center
603 Mason Street at Halleck Street, Presidio
(415) 561-7690
www.parksconservancy.org/our_work/crissy/
Environmental Concern
PO Box P
St. Michaels, MD 21663
(410) 745-9620
www.wetland.org
San Francisco Estuary Project (SFEP)
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-2465
sfep.abag.ca.gov
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
CALLING NATURE HOME
70
WHO DIRTIED THE WATER?
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Who Dirtied
the Water?
GRADES: 2-6
Overview: Everyone contributes to pollution in the San Francisco Bay in
a variety of ways. In this activity, students help act out a story about the
history of pollution in the San Francisco Bay. Students play the polluters
and pour “pollutants” into a jar of water that represent the Bay.
(Adapted with permission from The Salt Marsh Manual, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife
Refuge, 1990)
WATER QUALITY
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
Calling Nature Home © 2010
• Every person is responsible for water pollution and should take
responsibility for cleaning up our waters.
• If we notice that other people (power plants along the water,
members of our community) are not acting responsibly, we can learn
how to take other people to task in responsible ways.
• Students will be able to identify at least five sources of water
pollution, and describe who is responsible for polluting and cleaning
up our waters.
Grade 2: Investigation and Experimentation 4g
Grade 3: Life Sciences 3cd
Grade 4: Investigation and Experimentation 6c
Grade 6: Shaping Earth’s Surface 2b; Life Sciences (Ecology) 5 be;
Investigation and Experimentation 7a
• Clear, wide-mouth one gallon container (cleaned out juice container or
plastic aquarium) filled ¾ full with clear tap water
• Stir stick
• 19 labeled film canisters (contents listed in “through” section)
– make a few extras for classes with more than 16 students (some of
the items can be doubled up)
• Photo images of the San Francisco Bay
• Large raised relief map of the San Francisco Bay Area
40 minutes
This class can be led by either LEJ staff or the classroom teacher.
71
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
San Francisco Bay looked very different before the arrival of Europeans at
the end of the 1700s. The Bay teemed with wildlife: mussels, sea otters,
whales, seals, and millions of birds that would “blacken the sky” with
their dense flocks. The Ohlone, native inhabitants of the region, had a
symbiotic relationship with the land; their food, water, and shelter needs
were met directly by the water and land.
Habitat destruction has altered the landscape beyond recognition.
Colonization led to the filling of the margins of the Bay, development
of the land, and degradation of the water. A reliance on the functions
of nature was left behind in favor of a mentality of efficiency through
dominion over nature.
Introduction
If possible at the school site, find a place either within the school or
in the school yard where the San Francisco Bay is visible. If not, then
show large photographs of the San Francisco Bay. Ask the students their
opinion about the Bay (with a thumbs-up for yes, a thumbs-down for a
no; a sideways for a somewhat or don’t know): Do you think the Bay is
polluted? Call on some of the students to justify their answer; why or
why not? Have them give evidence (such as garbage or urban runoff) to
support their argument.
Explain that the Bay looked very different only 300 years ago. The water
was clean, and there was a lot of wildlife to see as well as to hunt. What
happened?
Tell them that the activity will narrate a story that will put into historical
context the cumulative pollution that has entered the Bay. Every time you
read the chorus, they should answer the question with a thumbs-up or a
thumbs-down based on the water quality they observe in the jar.
Prepare the film canisters in advance. Make sure to label the canisters.
Activity
The following will be listed as “label [content of canister]”:
1. River [sand]
2. Salt marshes [dry grass]
3. Shellfish beds [crushed shells]
4. Ohlone [crushed shells]
5. Colonists [organic garbage, i.e., food scraps]
6. Gold rush [potting soil]
7. Farmers [potting soil]
8. Houses [toilet paper]
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Power plants [vinegar]
Laundromats [dish washing detergent]
Port [soy sauce]
Factories [vinegar]
Industry [vegetable oil]
Fishing industry [nylon fishing line]
Boaters [pieces of plastic or polystyrene]
Storm water and sewage treatment facility [toilet paper]
Cleaning powder [baking soda]
Car owners [dish washing detergent]
Used oil [soy sauce]
Place the water container where everyone can see and get to it easily.
Explain that this is San Francisco Bay. Pass out film canisters to each
student, while explaining that they cannot open the canister until their role
in the story is mentioned. When their scene arrives, the student(s) should
come forward and pour the contents of the canister into the Bay in the
container.
Read about how the San Francisco Bay looked a long time ago:
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Bay. Fresh water from rivers
came into the Bay, and ocean water came through a small opening in
the land. (Point to the relief map to indicate where the fresh water input
from the Delta, and the salt water input from the Pacific at the Golden
Gate, are as you narrate.) The fresh and salt water mixed to become
brackish water, forming an estuary that teemed with wildlife. The tides
came in and out. Fish swam in the bay; thousands of mud creatures
burrowed in the mud; birds fed on the fish and mud creatures; people
also fed on the fish and shellfish; grizzly bears and tule elk waded in the
wetlands that surrounded the Bay.
Chorus:
Would you want to swim in this Bay?
Would you eat fish caught in this Bay?
Is this the Bay that you and I deserve?
Make sure students are affirming or negating with a thumbs-up or thumbsdown. Continue to narrate:
1. A river flowed into the bay from the mountains, carrying
sediment. (Deposit contents of river.)
2. Salt marshes grew alongside the edges of the Bay. Decomposing
plants from the salt marshes washed into the bay and became
food for the fish and mud creatures. (Deposit contents of salt
marshes.)
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3.
4.
In the shallow water, shellfish such as clams and oysters grew in
shellfish beds. (Deposit contents of shellfish beds.)
Small tribes of people lived around the Bay. The people were
called the Ohlone. The Ohlone people ate shellfish from the Bay.
They left the shell pieces near the Bay. (Deposit contents of
Ohlone.)
Chorus:
5.
6.
7.
After many years, Spanish colonists came to live on the Bay. The
Spaniards built communities. Some of the communities’ garbage
was dumped into the Bay. (Deposit contents of colonists.)
In 1848, gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, and a gold rush began. Mining in the
mountains caused sediment to be washed down rivers into the
Bay. (Deposit contents of gold rush.)
The towns around the bay grew, and farmers planted crops
around the Bay. Soil from the fields ran into the bay with the
rains. (Deposit contents of farmers.)
Chorus:
More and more houses and shops were built. Towns grew into
cities. Sewer pipes were constructed to remove waste from
kitchens and bathrooms from homes. The sewage flowed
through the pipes and into the Bay. (Deposit contents of houses.)
9. The Hunters Point and Potrero Hill power plants were built
to generate the electricity that the city needed. At the same
time, the power plants polluted the air and water around it. The
Hunters Point plant is gone, but the Potrero Hill plant is still
going strong. (Deposit contents of power plants.)
10. The city built laundromats where people could wash their
clothes. The detergents went down the pipes with the sewage
into the Bay. (Deposit contents of laundromats.)
11. As the bay grew into a major sea port, large oil tanker and ships
came to unload their cargo. Sometimes the ships spilled oil into
the Bay. (Deposit contents of port.)
8.
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Chorus:
12. Factories along the water’s edge dumped their waste and
chemicals into the water. (Deposit contents of factories.)
13. Industries did the same. (Deposit contents of industries.)
14. The fishing industry found that nets made of plastic were
stronger than those made of rope. Sometimes, these nets got
lost in the water. (Deposit contents of fishing industry.)
15. Boaters who cruise around the Bay on their boats sometimes
threw garbage overboard. (Deposit contents of boaters.)
16. Every time there was a huge storm, the combined storm water
and sewage treatment facility would overflow, and raw sewage
would enter the Bay. (Deposit contents of storm water and
sewage treatment facility.)
17. People cleaning their houses used toxic drain and tile cleaning
powder, which flowed into the sewage system. Even after
being processed, the heavy metals from the cleaning powder
eventually went to the Bay. (Deposit contents of cleaning powder.)
18. Many car owners washed their cars with soapy water, which
ran down their streets or driveways and flowed into the storm
drain system, which emptied into a creek and then into the Bay.
(Deposit contents of car owners.)
19. People who change the oil in their cars at home sometimes
poured the used oil down the storm drain, which flowed directly
into a creek and then into the Bay. (Deposit contents of used oil.)
Chorus:
OUTCOME:
Students should be able to identify many sources of water pollution, and
be able to describe who the polluters are. Students should also be able to
assess whether or not the level of pollution in the Bay is acceptable.
Discuss the human impact on water quality over time.
Who dirtied the Bay? There have been a long line of culprits over the years.
Are we responsible for cleaning it up? As consumers and as agents
within our worlds, we definitely have the capacity to choose to act
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responsibly. We also have the agency to pressure those who are choosing
not to act responsibly.
Refer to the case studies in the “Principles of Environmental Justice”
module in the Pre-Trip Activities section to see how concerned community
members have been holding big, powerful entities accountable for their
actions.
How is this an environmental justice issue? Environmental justice
tenets hold that we all deserve the same basic human rights to clean
air and water, safe unpolluted communities, healthy food, open space,
and equitable educational and employment opportunities. When certain
people have access while others do not, then an injustice is being
committed. Some of the dirtiest polluters of the Bay are within close
proximity to the Bayview Hunters Point community. The health of the
residents of this community, mostly low-income and working-class people
of color, is disproportionately compromised compared to the rest of San
Francisco. Also, low-income people are often the ones who fish in the Bay
to put food on their tables.
Why is it important to keep the Bay clean? The plants and animals that
live in and around the Bay need a clean home to live in. The people who
live around the Bay deserve a clean Bay for their health and well-being. A
toxic Bay does not provide that opportunity.
What types of actions can we take? Some ideas: participating in coastal
and bay clean-up activities, picking up trash when we see it, not littering,
minimizing disposable products, reusing and recycling when we can,
reusing shopping bags, reducing the amount of garbage we generate, not
dumping toxic things down the drain (i.e., cleaning products, used motor
oil, pesticides), as well as joining community activist groups, signing
petitions and calling local politicians to make big changes.
Take on a storm drain stenciling program in the neighborhood to deter
would-be polluters from dumping toxic products down storm drains. US
Environmental Protection Agency website: www.epa.gov/adopt/patch/
html/guidelines.html (Also see module “Watershed in Your Hand”)
See the Reflection section for some ideas.
Students can research an action project they can adopt in their
communities: who is a major polluter of the Bay within their community?
What actions have already been taken by other community members, and
how can the students link in? If people have not mobilized yet, how can
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the word go out, and how can effective action be taken?
Think of persuasive neighborhood educational campaigns (noncondescending ones that people would want to listen to) that would get
local residents to become better stewards of our environment – put on a
school play, create posters for the neighborhood, etc.
Students can also think of what changes they can make within their
households and their schools to reduce waste.
Take a field trip to the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Facility, which
processes 85% of the city’s wastewater. Learn about what happens when
we pour toxic substances down our drains.
Our roof water is a source of run-off. Learn different ways to catch roof
run-off to prevent stormwater system overflows.
Students can research the cleaning products they have in their homes.
Look at the ingredients, and find out what those chemicals do to people
and wildlife.
Community Resources
Marine Science Institute
500 Discovery Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 364-2760
www.sfbaymsi.org
Alliance for a Clean Waterfront
www.sfcleanwaterfront.org
Clean Water Action
111 New Montgomery Street #600
www.cleanwateraction.org
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
1155 Market St., 11th floor
San Francisco CA, 94103
(415) 554-3155
http://sfwater.org/
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 286-8400
www.ejcw.org
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
Environmental Protection Agency
Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
www.epa.gov/region09
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Scorecard: Pollution in Your Community
www.scorecard.org
77
PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
PRE-TRIP ACTIVITY
Principles of
Environmental
Justice
Overview: The Principles of Environmental Justice assert that all
people have a right to their basic needs, which are currently distributed
inequitably. This lesson introduces students to these principles through
case studies and a class discussion.
GRADES: 7-12
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH & JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
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• The Principles of Environmental Justice assert that all people have
a right to satisfy their basic needs: a safe, healthy, and equitable
environment.
• Although we all have the right to environmental justice, not all of us
currently have equal access to those resources that are often based
upon income level and race.
• Communities have been fighting to assert those rights and to ensure
that everyone has access to the same quality of life.
• Students will be presented with case studies of local struggles for
environmental justice.
• Based on reading and analyzing the case studies, and through a
class discussion, the class will come to an understanding of our
environmental justice rights.
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6acde
• 2 different case studies (4 to 6 people per group, with half of the
groups receiving one case study, and half of the groups receiving the
other) – bring enough for each student to receive a case study
• Principles of Environmental Justice Questionnaire – one copy for each
group
• Copy of “Principles of Environmental Justice” adopted by the First
National People of Color Environmental Leadership Conference in
1991
• Pencils/pens for each group
45 minutes
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
The environmental justice movement has emerged within the past few
decades as awareness grew regarding the disproportionate impact that
toxic sites had on marginalized communities without much economic or
political clout, namely low-income communities of color.
The earliest known government record of environmental racism can be
found in a 1971 report by the United States Council on Environmental
Quality, which noted that low income people and people of color were
disproportionately exposed to environmentally hazardous conditions.
Warren County, North Carolina became a catalyst for the movement in
1982. With a predominantly African American population, Warren County
was already saddled with more industry than any other county in the
state. A landfill was built in the county to dispose of PCB- (polychlorinated
biphenyls, a carcinogenic industrial by-product) contaminated soil from
fourteen counties from around the state. Civil rights and environmental
activists sought to disrupt transportation of the contaminated soil to the
landfill through civil disobedience, lying down in front of the trucks. More
than five hundred people were arrested; the landfill was not closed, but
this action gave the issue of environmental racism some effective media
exposure.
In 1983, Robert Bullard published an article entitled, “Solid Waste Sites
and the Black Houston Community” (Sociological Inquiry Vol. 53, (Spring
1983): 273-288). His research found that landfills were not randomly
situated around the city, but were concentrated in African American
communities, particularly around schools. Bullard found that housing
discrimination and zoning issues that have culminated from decades of
discriminatory policies had led to the inequitable outcome.
The United States General Accounting Office conducted a survey of
Southern states, and in 1983 found that three out of four landfills were
located near communities of color. In 1987, the United Church of Christ
Commission on Racial Justice published the results of a nationwide
survey as “Toxic Wastes and Race,” concluding that the most significant
factor in determining the locating of hazardous waste facilities was not
income but race. The same study found that three out of five African
American and Latino United States residents live in proximity to a toxic
waste site.
In response to these revelations, actions were taken toward remedying
the reality of environmental racism in the United States. In 1991, the First
National People of Color Leadership Summit met in Washington DC, and
forged the Principles of Environmental Justice. In 1992, the National Law
Journal reported on the discovery that the EPA was more stringent about
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toxic site cleanup (faster clean up times and stricter fines) in wealthier
white communities than they were in lower income communities of color.
The EPA established the Office of Environmental Justice in 1992. In
1994, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, which stated
that federal agencies were now accountable for correcting environmental
injustices within their jurisdictions. Around the same time, the Interagency
Group on Environmental Justice was established.
Even today, the environmental justice movement is still going strong
across the nation and around the world because environmental inequities
based on race and income are still being perpetuated. To mark the
twentieth anniversary of their groundbreaking study, the United Church
of Christ commissioned “Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007:
Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism.” Using 2000
census data, a current national database of commercial hazardous waste
facilities, and Geographic Information Systems, the authors concluded
that 20 years after the original study, disproportionately large numbers
of people of color still live in hazardous waste host communities,
and that they are not equally protected by environmental laws. Their
research found that in California, the proportion of people of color in
neighborhoods hosting hazardous waste facilities was 30% higher than
those living in non-host neighborhoods (81 vs 51%). Host neighborhoods
are typically economically depressed, with poverty rates 1.5 times that of
non-host communities.
Introduction
Ask the students to name their basic needs. You can state it as: What
do we need to survive? Write all of the answers on the board. Look at
the list and discuss with the class which items are necessary, grouping
together by type. Refine the list if necessary.
The list can be categorized based on the environmental justice principles
that posit that all people have equal rights to their basic needs of:
1. Healthy food
2. Clean water
3. Non-polluting energy
4. Non-toxic communities
5. Open space
6. Equitable educational and work opportunities
Now ask the class to respond with a thumbs-up if in agreement, thumbsdown if in disagreement, and thumbs-sideways if unsure:
1. Do all of us deserve equal access to these basic necessities?
2. Do all of us have access to these basic necessities?
3. Are the disparities in access based on luck?
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4.
5.
6.
Activity
Are the disparities in access based on income?
Are the disparities in access based on race?
Have you seen disparities within your own community?
Tell the students that many studies over the years have shown that low
income communities and communities of color have disproportionately
shouldered the burden of environmental impacts, which has meant
that not all people have had equal access to our necessities. The
movement that has emerged out of this recognition has been called
the environmental justice movement. There have been times in recent
history when people in positions of power have tried to change things
so that basic needs are met more equitably. Former President Bill
Clinton signed Executive Order 12898 in 1994 to hold federal agencies
accountable to the tenets of environmental justice; however, injustices
still exist internationally, around the country, in the San Francisco Bay
Area, and locally within the Bayview Hunters Point community. Many
community activists continue to push for justice.
Tell the class that they will be divided into (up to) six groups and that each
group will be responsible for becoming experts on a certain environmental
justice case study. Both cases are local. Pass out two different case
studies, with each group member given the same case. Each person can
read the case study silently. You can count off the groups one through
four (or one through six depending on the number of students per group).
Person #1 will be the facilitator who makes sure that each member of the
group is given an equal opportunity to share answers. #2 will read the
questionnaire to the group. #3 is the notetaker who will record student
responses on the questionnaire. #4 (or 4 and 5) can be the presenter(s),
and #6, if necessary, can be the timekeeper. Give the students about ten
minutes to answer the questions on the board.
OUTCOME:
Students will learn about what has happened within the environmental
justice movement.
During the introductory activity, students may have noted that they have
witnessed disparities within their own communities. Are there active
environmental justice or other activist community-based organizations
that are working toward justice? If not, individuals can become agents of
change to push for what are essentially human rights and human dignity.
What can we do to mobilize for change? Come up with a list on the board
of issues that the students perceive within their own communities.
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Ask the students to do some follow-up research on the disparities that
have been occurring within their own communities.
Look for environmental justice cases that have affected people in
other demographic groups (farm workers, indigenous peoples, Latino
and Southeast Asian immigrants, etc.) in urban and rural areas. Both
domestic and international cases can be examined.
Also think about environmental justice through the lens of access to
healthy food options, safe and secure jobs, educational opportunities,
and affordable and safe housing opportunities.
The students can research local environmental justice organizations and
the work that they are doing and come up with ideas for actions they can
take.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Greenaction
1095 Market Street, Suite 712
(415) 248-5010
[email protected]
www.greenaction.org
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
310 8th St. #309
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 834-8920
www.apen4ej.org
History of environmental justice information:
www.geology.wisc.edu/~wang/EJBaldwin/PCR/
pcrwhatispcrEJhistory.htm
Chinese Progressive Association
1042 Grant Avenue, 5th Floor
(415) 391-6986
[email protected]
www.cpasf.org
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007
www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTFinal.htm
Youth United for Community Action
2135 Clarke Ave.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 322-9165
www.youthunited.net
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE)
1440 Broadway, Suite 701
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 302-0430
www.cbecal.org
West County Toxics Coalition
305 Chesley Ave.
Richmond, CA 94801
(510) 232-3427
www.westcountytoxicscoalition.org
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Names: __________________________________________________________ Date: ________________________
Principles of Environmental Justice Questionnaire
Case Study #___
1.
What is the environmental injustice that has been perpetrated?
2.
Who are the stakeholders (the people involved on all sides of the issue)?
3.
Where and when did the case take place?
4.
What actions were taken based on the injustices?
5.
Is the case still ongoing, and has it been successful or unsuccessful?
6.
What led to its outcome? Or, what needs to happen to lead to a better outcome?
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Principles of Environmental Justice
Preamble:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, gathered together at this
multinational People of Color Environmental Leadership
Summit, to begin to build a national and international
movement of all peoples of color to fight the destruction
and taking of our lands and communities, do hereby
re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother Earth; to respect and celebrate each
of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural
world and our roles in healing ourselves; to insure
environmental justice; to promote economic alternatives
which would contribute to the development of environmentally safe livelihoods; and, to secure our political,
economic and cultural liberation that has been denied
for over 500 years of colonization and oppression,
resulting in the poisoning of our communities and land
and the genocide of our peoples, do affirm and adopt
these Principles of Environmental Justice:
1. Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness
of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the
interdependence of all species, and the right to
be free from ecological destruction.
2. Environmental Justice demands that public
policy be based on mutual respect and
justice for all peoples, free from any form of
discrimination or bias.
3. Environmental Justice mandates the right to
ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land
and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.
4. Environmental Justice calls for universal
protection from nuclear testing, extraction,
production and disposal of toxic/hazardous
wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that
threaten the fundamental right to clean air,
land, water, and food.
5. Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental
right to political, economic, cultural and
environmental self-determination of all peoples.
6. Environmental Justice demands the cessation
of the production of all toxins, hazardous
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7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
84
wastes, and radioactive materials, and that
all past and current producers be held strictly
accountable to the people for detoxification and
the containment at the point of production.
Environmental Justice demands the right to
participate as equal partners at every level of
decision-making, including needs assessment,
planning, implementation, enforcement and
evaluation.
Environmental Justice affirms the right of all
workers to a safe and healthy work environment
without being forced to choose between an
unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also
affirms the right of those who work at home to
be free from environmental hazards.
Environmental Justice protects the right of
victims of environmental injustice to receive full
compensation and reparations for damages as
well as quality health care.
Environmental Justice considers governmental
acts of environmental injustice a violation of
international law, the Universal Declaration
On Human Rights, and the United Nations
Convention on Genocide.
Environmental Justice must recognize a special
legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples
to the U.S. government through treaties,
agreements, compacts, and covenants affirming
sovereignty and self-determination.
Environmental Justice affirms the need for
urban and rural ecological policies to clean up
and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance
with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all
our communities, and provided fair access for
all to the full range of resources.
Environmental Justice calls for the strict
enforcement of principles of informed consent,
and a halt to the testing of experimental
reproductive and medical procedures and
vaccinations on people of color.
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14. Environmental Justice opposes the destructive
operations of multi-national corporations.
17. Environmental Justice requires that we, as
individuals, make personal and consumer choices
to consume as little of Mother Earth’s resources
and to produce as little waste as possible; and
make the conscious decision to challenge and
reprioritize our lifestyles to insure the health of the
natural world for present and future generations.
15. Environmental Justice opposes military occupation,
repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and
cultures, and other life forms.
16. Environmental Justice calls for the education of
present and future generations which emphasizes
social and environmental issues, based on our
experience and an appreciation of our diverse
cultural perspectives.
Adopted October 27, 1991 in Washington D.C.
First National People of Color Environmental Leadership
Conference
(Accessed from www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html)
Environmental Justice Case Study #1: Hunters Point PG&E power plant
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) power plant
in Hunters Point was opened in 1929. It became one
of the longest running power plants in operation, and
because of its outdated technology, it also became one
of the dirtiest. It became the largest source of point
source pollution (a stationary source of pollution that
can be pinpointed) in San Francisco.
Pollutants emitted by the plant included “nitrogen
oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate
matter and volatile organic compounds that can cause
respiratory problems, cancer, dizziness, fatigue and
other illnesses,” according to Greenaction’s fact
sheet on the power plant. The Bayview Hunters Point
community bears the burden of most of San Francisco’s
pollution, with congested freeways, more than three
hundred toxic sites, and a sewage treatment plant in
addition to the power plant. Low-income, predominantly
African American residents of the surrounding area
have been disproportionately affected by the pollutants.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has
noted that this area has unusually high levels of heart
disease, breast cancer, strokes, and childhood asthma.
A 1997 study by the San Francisco Department of
Health has shown that chronic illnesses, including
asthma, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and
emphysema were much more prevalent in Bayview
Hunters Point than elsewhere (Aragón, 1997).
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Bayview Hunters Point residents, with the cooperation
of organizations such as Literacy for Environmental
Justice, Greenaction for Health and Environmental
Justice, and the Huntersview Mothers Committee,
among other community groups, pushed for many
years for the plant’s closure. Many people participated
in protests, including students at Gloria R. Davis
Elementary School, who wrote to the mayor about
the high rate of asthma at their school. After years of
protests and appeals to the city government and to
PG&E, in 1998 the company agreed to close the plant
once they found a suitable alternative energy source.
The plant was finally closed in 2006.
Aragón, T. et al. (1997). Community Health Profile, Summary
of Preliminary Results from Community Health Profiles
Research. Bayview Hunters Point Health and Environmental
Assessment Project, San Francisco Department of Health.
Katz, MH. (2006). Health Programs in Bayview Hunter’s Point
& Recommendations for Improving the Health of Bayview
Hunter’s Point Residents. San Francisco Department of Public
Health.
Information from Greenaction for Health and Environmental
Justice on the PG&E power plant:
www.greenaction.org/hunterspoint/factsheet.shtml
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Environmental Justice Case Study #2: Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
The Hunters Point shipyard was first built as a
commercial (non-military) shipyard in 1869. In 1940 to
prepare for U.S. participation in World War II, the U.S.
Navy gained ownership to build, repair, and maintain
their ships. In July 1945, key components of the atomic
bomb were loaded onto the USS Indianapolis at the
Hunters Point shipyard. The materials were shipped to
Tinian, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands that
served as the base from which the atomic bombs were
deployed for detonation in Japan. The shipyard was
used in later years to repair and maintain submarines.
In 1987, the site was found to have been contaminated
by toxic substances such as (polychlorinated biphenyls,
a carcinogenic industrial by-product), pesticides, and
heavy metals such as lead. The shipyard’s proximity to
an underground source of drinking water source gave
the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) a reason to place the site on the National
Priorities List of contaminated sites for the federal
government to investigate further. The shipyard is a
Superfund site, which means that the owner or operator
of the site is responsible for cleanup of the site.
The EPA signed a Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) with
the Navy and the State of California “to better coordinate
the environmental investigation and cleanup.” To
organize the process of investigation and cleanup, the
site was sectioned into six parcels, Parcel A through
Parcel F. To date, only Parcel A has been deemed clean
enough to be transferred back to the city, while cleanup
of Parcel B has only just begun. In 2000, a fire broke
out in Parcel E’s landfill. After weeks of smoke, the
landfill was covered with concrete. Cleanup has been
projected to cost up to $300 million dollars, but the
Navy has proposed a clean-up cost of $105 million
which would leave the ground in a toxic state.
Many African Americans started moving to San Francisco
in the 1940s from the South because of all of the jobs
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the shipyards had to offer. Because of housing
discrimination, the areas in San Francisco where they
could live were limited to a few neighborhoods,
including the Bayview and Hunters Point. Today, San
Franciscans who live in the 94124 zip code have been
disproportionately affected by the pollutants. The San
Francisco Department of Public Health has noted that
this area has unusually high levels of heart disease,
breast cancer, strokes, and asthma among children. A
1997 study by the San Francisco Department of Health
has shown that chronic illnesses, including asthma,
heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and emphysema,
were much more prevalent in Bayview Hunters Point
than elsewhere (Aragón, 1997).
Community groups that have fought with local residents
to clean up the shipyard include Literacy for
Environmental Justice, Bayview Action, Arc Ecology,
Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates,
Communities for a Better Environment, Greenaction,
India Basin Neighborhood Association, San Francisco
Tomorrow, and Young Community Developers.
Aragón, T. et al. (1997). Community Health Profile, Summary
of Preliminary Results from Community Health Profiles
Research. Bayview-Hunters Point Health and Environmental
Assessment Project, San Francisco Department of Health.
Katz, MH. (2006). Health Programs in Bayview Hunter’s Point
& Recommendations for Improving the Health of Bayview
Hunter’s Point Residents. San Francisco Department of Public
Health.
Information about the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard cleanup
from the EPA:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/
ViewByEPAID/CA1170090087?OpenDocument
Information from Arc Ecology on the Hunters Point Shipyard:
www.arcecology.org/HuntersPoint.shtml
Information from Greenaction on the Hunters Point Shipyard:
www.greenaction.org/hunterspoint/index.shtml
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MAPPING HABITATS
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Mapping
Habitats
GRADES: K-12
Overview: This activity allows students to take a closer look at differences
between habitats. Physical differences shape the various resources that
are available to wildlife in the park. Animals have adapted to particular
ecological niches that can be found around the park. Reflection activities
investigate ecosystem functions common to different habitats.
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
• Habitats have similarities and differences in terms of the sources of
food, water, and shelter that they have to offer.
• Different animals have adapted to a diverse range of habitats.
• Students will enhance their observation and mapping skills.
• Students will learn about the food web system in the San Francisco
Bay ecosystem.
CONTENT STANDARDS
Kindergarten: Physical Science 1a; Life Sciences 2abc; Earth Sciences
3abc; Investigation and Experimentation 4abcde
Grade 1: Life Sciences 2abcde; Investigation and Experimentation 4abd
Grade 2: Life Sciences 2abcde; Earth Sciences 3e; Investigation and
Experimentation 4cfg
Grade 3: Life Science 3abcde
Grade 4: SCIENCE: Life Sciences 2abc, 3abcd
Grade 5: SCIENCE: Life Sciences 2afg; Investigation and
Experimentation 6af
Grade 6: SCIENCE: Shaping Earth’s Surface 2ab; Life Sciences
(Ecology) 5abcde
Grade 7: SCIENCE: Structure and Function in Living Systems 5ab
Grades 9-12: SCIENCE: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ade; Earth Sciences
(California Geology) 9a
MATERIALS
• Laminated map of Heron’s Head Park (Contact LEJ)
• Example of a map with a legend that shows a range of habitats (San
Francisco Estuary Institute www.sfei.org/ecoatlas/Habitat/index.html)
• Plant and animal field guides (Contact LEJ)
• Diagrams of major food webs of the different habitats (coastal
prairie, coastal scrub, rocky shoreline, mudflats, salt marsh) (Bayland
Ecosystems Species and Community Profile, San Francisco Estuary
Project (510) 622-2465)
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• Worksheets: Heron’s Head Park map on one side, questionnaire
(lower elementary, upper elementary, middle, and high school
versions) on the other side
• Clipboards, pencils (enough for each student, or pair of students)
• Crayons (one big box)
• Field microscopes
• Field magnifiers
• Rubber boots
• Mud creature identification sheet
• Invertebrate identification sheet
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
45 minutes
This activity will be led by the classroom teacher or LEJ staff.
All living things have basic needs: food, water, shelter, and a place to
nurture their young. A habitat is defined as a place that can provide
these needs for an organism. Heron’s Head Park has five distinct types
of habitats: two upland habitats – the coastal prairie (or grassland)
and coastal scrub; and three wetland habitats – the rocky shoreline,
mudflats, and salt marsh.
The coastal prairie and coastal scrub are in the upland areas, which are
high enough in elevation that even at high tide, salt water cannot reach
these habitats. On the map of Heron’s Head Park, the upland ranges from
the entrance to the park, around the barbeque area, and along the path
toward the end of the peninsula. In the coastal prairie and scrub, fresh
water comes from the rain, groundwater, or a river or creek. In the present
day, since a freshwater creek does not flow into the park, the diversity of
mammals, reptiles, amphibians and songbirds in the uplands is limited.
As with all plants, plants that inhabit the uplands require atmospheric
carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce their own food. Bees,
wasps, and other insects collect nectar and pollen from plants for their
own use and help to pollinate those plants in the process. Spiders make
webs in the shrubs and grasses to catch flies and other insects for a
tasty meal. Smaller birds eat seeds, berries and insects, and use shrubs
and tall grasses for shelter. Small rodents feed on plants and seeds and
hide in shrubs and holes in the ground to escape predatory birds. With a
source of fresh water and the cover provided by riparian (fresh water) and
coastal scrub plants, a variety of mammals, birds and reptiles are able to
make their home in Heron’s Head Park.
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The rocky shoreline is a harsh environment because of constant tidal
disturbance that leads to submersion by brackish water during high tide,
and sun exposure during low tide. On the map, it is located along the
lower and upper ends of the ‘heron’s beak.’ The types of animals that
live in this ecological niche – crabs, barnacles and mussels – are well
adapted to this harsh environment. Crabs hide from predators underneath
rocks, and have a hard shell and claws as added protection from birds
or fish. They can follow the movements of the tide by scurrying along the
rocks. Barnacles and mussels will attach themselves to a rocky substrate
to withstand the forces of the waves. They have hard shells for protection,
which can be closed off to avoid predation and desiccation. They eat
plankton, which are tiny drifting aquatic plants and animals. Plankton are
an important food source for many fish and shellfish that consume them
by filtering bay water.
At least two kinds of crabs can be found in Heron’s Head Park. The purple
shoreline crab, a native species, is usually found under large rocks.
They can grow up to three inches in length and have a striped purple and
green carapace. The European green crab, a non-native species, is much
smaller and has a gray-green coloring. At high tide, the habitat of both
types of crabs is under water.
Near the high tide line, many invertebrates such as beach hoppers and
sand fleas live under the rocks. Egrets and long billed curlews often feed
in the rocky shoreline habitat at high tide, while sandpipers, sanderlings,
whimbrels and other shorebirds feed in the habitat at lower tides.
The salt marsh wetland is also subject to constant tidal disturbances. On
the map, it connects the rocky shoreline to the coastal prairie and runs
along the top of the ‘heron’s head.’ The part that looks like the ‘eye’
are intertidal ponds. The marsh plain slopes from the transitional zone
between the upland and wetland down to the mudflats, which are exposed
only at low tides. This zonation allows plants with different adaptations
to live at different zones on the plain. Plants that tolerate more saltwater
inundation grow lower on the slope. Here they are submerged more
frequently and for longer periods of time. Cordgrass, which grows in the
low marsh, can tolerate inundation for up to 18 hours a day.
The salt marsh is a very productive ecosystem because it contains a lot
of nutrient-rich detritus (organic matter from dead plants and animals that
gets broken down by microorganisms). Detritus feeds small creatures
living in the mud. Mud creatures and aquatic plants serve as food for the
native and migratory birds that make their home in the salt marsh.
Channels and tidal ponds on the marsh plain serve as habitats for leopard
sharks, bat rays, and other fish that feed on detritus and mud creatures.
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The habitats found within this 24-acre park are very diverse. Differences
in the types of food, water, and shelter sources that can be found within
the different habitats mean that animals that inhabit a range of ecological
niches – specialized roles within the web of life – can live in close
proximity to one another. Each species finds their niche and adapts to
their environment.
Introduction
Please refer to the Field Trip Preparation module in the Pre-Trip Activities
section prior to arriving at Heron’s Head Park for park guidelines.
• Note: The visit to the rocky shoreline must be conducted
at low tide. Consult a tide table when planning this activity.
Other activities in this lesson can be conducted at any time.
Tidal information for Heron’s Head Park can be found at
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/.
Ask students to define the word “habitat” and to name the components
of a habitat that would allow an organism to survive. Animals need food,
water, shelter (places to sleep, hide, and raise their young), air (oxygen),
and space in order to survive. The habitats at Heron’s Head Park are
homes for many types of animals, and during the tour of the park, the
variety of habitats will be explored.
Ask the students about how they conduct themselves when they go to
other people’s homes. Have the students answer this question, and then
brainstorm ways to visit the animals’ homes respectfully: soft voices, and
walking, leaving as small of a footprint as possible.
Activity
Begin the tour in the grassland at the top of the hill where students can
get a good view of the park in its entirety. Pass out copies of the Heron’s
Head Park habitat maps to individuals or pairs of students on clipboards
with pencils. Help the students orient themselves to the park by pointing
out where the entrance, picnic area, and the ‘beak’ of the heron are in
relation to this location.
Ask students to describe the habitat that they are in. Ask them to
give the habitat a descriptive name and to observe animals that are
living there. Explain that the habitat is called coastal prairie and point
out where animals could live. Point out the light poles, which serve as
perches for raptors – predatory birds with sharp talons and meat-tearing
hooked beaks. From here, walk over to the coastal scrub. The students
should be asked again to give the habitat a descriptive name and to
describe how it is different than the coastal prairie. As the students
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travel to the various habitats, they should answer the questions on the
back of the map.
After the students observe differences between the habitats, they can,
as a class, look at a larger map with clearly demarcated habitats and a
legend to show how habitats can be differentiated on a map. On their own
maps of Heron’s Head Park, the students can clearly note the habitat
types and mark boundaries using either symbols or different colors.
Ask the students: what is a food chain and what is a food web? A food
chain shows a linear relationship between plants and animals in terms of
the succession of what gets eaten by what organism. Since many animal
species eat more than one type of food, and since many plants and
animals are eaten by multiple predators, the intersections of food chains
becomes an interconnected food web. What food chains and food webs
can the students observe? Give the students the opportunity to spot food
webs in action. In the mudflats, they may get to observe an American
Avocet using its long, upturned beak to seek insects and worms in the
mud. If food webs are difficult to observe, show diagrams of food webs for
the various habitats visited.
When the students get to the edge of the rocky shoreline habitat, the
students can be asked to speculate on what animals may live there.
Introduce or review the concept of tides (see the Fit to be Tide lesson),
and ask them what they think a tide is. On what are the birds feeding?
Where within this habitat do all of the animals live, and what do they eat?
Guiding questions that can be asked:
• Why do crabs live under the rocks? For protection from predators.
• What do crabs eat? They eat algae that grow on the rocks.
• What are some predators of rocky shoreline invertebrates? Seagulls
and other shorebirds, such as whimbrels, curlews, sanderlings, and
sandpipers.
• Why is it important to replace rocks exactly where we found them?
Algae growing on top of rocks need sunlight and would not survive if
flipped over. These rocks serve as homes for many organisms, so care
should be taken to be as non-disruptive as possible.
• How do rocky shoreline organisms adapt to the constant changes in
tide levels? Crabs move throughout the tidal zone and can survive both
under water and on land. Barnacles, which are locked into a certain
position, open their shells to feed during high tide and close their shells
to prevent moisture loss during low tide.
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The students will observe and handle invertebrates in the rocky shoreline
habitat. While walking along this habitat, students have to take care not
to slip on the algae, especially when wet and slippery. The invertebrates
should be handled gently with respect, and all items should be returned
exactly where found. However, trash should be collected and removed
from the habitat. The teachers should model the correct way to handle
the creatures. Crabs can be picked up by gently grasping the back of
their carapace or by gently pinning their claws to the underside of the
carapace. Purple shoreline crabs should not be picked up by their legs, as
their legs could break off. When placing the crabs back under the rocks,
care must be taken not to crush their bodies. Then magnifiers and field
scopes will help with observing the animals up close. To differentiate the
crabs by sex, crab undersides can be examined. Males have a triangular
shape, while females have an oval which sometimes contains orange or
black dots when they are carrying eggs.
OUTCOME
The students should be able to observe ecological differences between
various habitat types, and be able to use maps as a tool.
The students should examine the concept of native plants. Native
plants are plants that have evolved with its surrounding habitat over
the course of many years. How do invasive plants have an impact on
habitats? When non-native plants are introduced, they have the potential
to become invasive. Often, plants that have evolved in different habitats
(often brought by humans) do not have the same natural predators that
keep their populations in check, so they outcompete the native plants for
resources. When native plant populations decrease, then its associated
food webs are also affected.
Another question to explore: in what other ways do humans impact the
food webs of Heron’s Head Park? Some negative impacts include pollution,
overfishing, habitat destruction that comes from filling in the San Francisco
Bay. Students can achieve positive impacts through habitat restoration
work, trash pick-up, and getting there by bicycle or taking public transit
instead of by car. Brainstorm other ways in which students can decrease
their ecological footprint: each individual’s impact on the Earth.
These actions can affect people who live around the San Francisco Bay
as well. A decrease in pollution and an increase in clean open spaces
mean better health and well-being for lower income residents of color who
live around the San Francisco Bay in the Bayview Hunters Point community,
who are often disproportionately affected by industrial pollution. Since
cleaning up these areas help humans in addition to the plants and animals
of the Bay, creating positive environmental change is also an action for
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environmental justice, a means to make the inequities of environmental
impacts on different groups of people more equitable and just.
The students can come up with either small individual action plans, or a
larger group plan to decrease their ecological footprint: what the action
will be, how the action will be carried out, what resources/support are
needed to follow through on the action, timeline, impact of action.
Praxis is defined as the concept of using theory and research to
inform action, which is then reflected upon to drive further research
and action; praxis is an ongoing cycle. Paulo Freire views praxis and
“conscientization” as necessary components of education, in which
“problem-posing” as opposed to rote memorization serves as the central
educational paradigm. This idea can be reinforced with the students to
guide meaningful actions that will hopefully be sustainable.
Potential student projects can include trash pick-up within their schools
and communities, starting a recycling or composting program at their
school, and habitat restoration with LEJ or another group such as the San
Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. Students can also conduct
research into the impacts of pollution on biodiversity and human health,
and can come up with appropriate action plans to decrease that pollution
(letters to the editor, meeting with city government officials, petitions).
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 843-2222
[email protected]
Crissy Field Center
(415) 561-7690
www.crissyfield.org
(415) 561-3000
parksconservancy.org
Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York:
Continuum, 1970.
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(415) 561-4700
www.nps.gov/goga/
501 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-2700
Kids for the Bay
Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 985-1602
[email protected]
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
Nature in the City
PO Box 170088
(415) 564-4107
[email protected]
www.natureinthecity.org
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)
Tides and Currents
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/
Arboretum
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Heron’s Head Park - Contour Map with Estimated Transition Zone
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Heron’s Head Park Ecosystem Study – High School
Grassland/Coastal Scrub Habitat:
1. Name five plants that grow in this habitat. What are their adaptations for living in this environment?
2. Name three animals (which can also include insects) that live in the upland. What is the relationship
between these animals and their habitat, e.g., what do they eat, what are they eaten by, and what other
role do they play within this ecosystem?
3. What are the three best methods for improving the upland habitat?
Salt Marsh Habitat:
4. Name five plants that grow in this habitat. What are their adaptations for living in this environment?
5. Why are wetlands such productive environments?
6. Name some birds that live in the salt marsh. What are their adaptations for living in the salt marsh and
for their feeding habits?
7. How would pollution in the Bay affect the biodiversity of the intertidal ponds?
Rocky Shoreline Habitat:
8. Name four animals who live in this habitat and describe their homes.
9. How have these organisms adapted to living in the intertidal zone?
10. Describe three different defense mechanisms that prey organisms who live in the rocky shoreline use to
avoid being eaten by predators.
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Heron’s Head Park Ecosystem Study – Middle School
Grassland/Coastal Scrub Habitat:
1. Name three plants that grow in this habitat.
2. Name three animals (which can also include insects) that live in the upland.
3. What plants do these animals depend on for their survival?
Salt Marsh Habitat:
4. Name three plants that grow in this habitat.
5. Name three birds that live in the salt marsh. How have they adapted to living in this environment?
6. Why are wetlands important for birds that migrate?
Rocky Shoreline Habitat:
7. Name four animals that live in the rocky shoreline and describe where within this habitat they live.
8. Describe three ways that animals in the rocky shoreline protect themselves from predators.
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Heron’s Head Park Ecosystem Study – Elementary School (3rd-5th grade)
What kind of organisms live in the SALT MARSH and POND habitats?
Observe
Write the name, describe in words,
and draw a picture
What do you notice about it?
A bird
Something
floating in the
water
A plant
What do the ponds and salt marshes have that plants and animals need to survive in this habitat?
What kind of organisms live in the UPLAND habitat?
Observe
and draw a picture
A bird
A building
A plant
What do all living things need to survive?
How are these three things in this habitat connected to each other?
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Heron’s Head Park Ecosystem Study – Elementary School (3rd-5th grade)
continued
What kind of organisms live in the ROCKY SHORELINE habitat?
Observe
and draw a picture
Something made
by humans
An animal with
an outer shell,
such as a
crustacean
Something that
is no longer alive
Name some ways in which the organisms and things in this habitat depend on one another.
Explain how you might be connected to all of these things. Hint: think about things that you may eat (like
seaweed or clams).
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Heron’s Head Park Ecosystem Study – Elementary School (1st/2nd grade)
Draw pictures of food chains for:
The salt marsh habitat:
Plant
Animal (eats plant)
Animal (eats animal)
Animal (eats plant)
Animal (eats plant)
Animal (eats plant)
The pond habitat:
Plant
The upland habitat:
Plant
The rocky shoreline habitat:
Plant
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MUD CREATURE AND PLANKTON STUDY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Mud Creature
and Plankton
Study
GRADES: 4-8
Overview: The mudflats support a tremendous amount of life. In this
activity, students will search for and study the creatures that live in
the mudflats of the San Francisco Bay. Students will also examine the
phytoplankton and zooplankton in the open water.
Refuge, 1990)
KEY CONCEPTS
• Mud creatures live in high abundance in the mudflats, providing food
for migratory ducks and shorebirds.
• Plankton are small, drifting plants and animals in the open water that
are important components of the food web.
• Phytoplankton are the primary producers, and zooplankton are the
dominant primary consumers of the open water.
• Surveying plankton is a means to gauge water quality.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will be able to name key mud creatures that live in the San
Francisco Bay.
• Students will be able to describe the mudflat food pyramid.
• Students will be able to explain the importance of the mudflat habitat
for migratory birds and endangered species.
• Students will practice using a plankton tow and microscope and will
learn to identify different types of plankton.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 5: Life Sciences 2afg; Life Sciences (Ecology) 5abcde;
Investigation and Experimentation 6a
Grade 6: Investigation and Experimentation 7ab
• Baggy blue t-shirt to represent the earth
• Small ball that can serve as the moon
• Pacific Flyway map (National Geographic –shop.nationalgeographic.
com/ngs/product/maps/wall-maps/specialty-maps/bird-migration-inthe-americas-thematic-map)
• Shorebird images (sandpipers, willets, plovers, etc.)
• Rubber boots
• Mud creature/plankton identification sheets (laminated if possible)
• Mudflat food pyramid poster
101
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Four layer sieve set
Dish of mud
Trowel
Bucket of Bay water
Petri dishes
Eye droppers
Hand lenses
Magnifying discovery scopes
Microspatulas
Plastic tub
Plankton tow
Microscopes (1 for every 3 students)
Mud creature/plankton data sheets
Clipboards and pencils
1 hour
This class will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
Point SRA.
Mudflats are low-lying plains of mud that serve as the boundary for the
Bay and the salt marsh areas. Mudflats can also be found lining the
bottoms of sloughs, or channels of water that wind through a salt marsh.
They are exposed by the two low tides and covered by the two high tides
that come each day.
Despite the appearance of scarce vegetation and animal life, mudflats are
actually biodiverse. About 40,000 organisms can be found in two handsfull of mud. Many of these organisms are microscopic such as ostracods,
copepods and worms. Additionally there are larger creatures such as
clams, mussels, snails, and crabs.
When the mudflats are exposed at low tide, hundreds of shorebirds and
waterbirds of various shapes and sizes arrive to feast on the mud flat’s
offerings. The birds search above and within the mud for invertebrates to
eat. Many of these birds use the Pacific Flyway as a migratory path, and
stop in the San Francisco Bay, a major stopping point along the Flyway, to
feed and rest.
The diverse flora and fauna form a dynamic food pyramid, which shows
the relationship between producers and consumers as energy travels up
the food chain. Upper levels depend upon lower levels for energy, and the
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respective population sizes along the various pyramid tiers are roughly
proportional to the width of the tiers.
• Cordgrass, a salt marsh plant, and phytoplankton (tiny plants that drift
in the water) are the primary producers of the pyramid. Plants use
sunlight to produce their own food via a process called photosynthesis
and are thus called producers to acknowledge their role in supporting
the entire pyramid.
• Zooplankton (tiny animals that drift in the water) form the first level
of consumers in the Bay ecosystem. They are the dominant primary
consumers of the pelagic (open water) environment and are in
fact the most numerous animals in the sea. They feed on detritus,
or dead organic matter (in this case, decomposing cordgrass)
and phytoplankton. Since plankton are defined by their lack of, or
limited mobility, and are largely moved by the force of the currents,
phytoplankton come in a range of sizes. Jellyfish are on the larger end
of the zooplankton size scale.
• The third tier of consumers is represented by migratory birds such as
water birds (such as ducks) and shorebirds (such as sandpipers and
the endangered California Clapper Rail). Many of these birds feed on
mud creatures.
• The top of the food pyramid is occupied by consumers that have no
other natural predators. Humans definitely fall into this tier. Within this
pyramid, raptors (predatory birds with hooked beaks and talons) such
as the red-tailed hawk, peregrine falcon, and northern harrier represent
the top-tier consumers. Many of these raptors feed on smaller birds
and mammals that occupy this ecosystem.
The instructor will lead the students to the mudflats at the Park.
Introduction
Note: This activity must
be conducted at low tide.
Consult a tide table when
planning this activity. Tidal
information can be found at
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/.
The students can be asked: What are tides? The level of the ocean’s
water is affected by the gravity of the moon, sun and earth. As the moon
rotates around the earth, the ocean’s water is pulled by the moon’s
gravitational pull.
This can be demonstrated in a simple way with a few student volunteers.
Have one student wear a baggy blue t-shirt, and for the other student to
hold a ball. The student in blue represents the earth, while the student
with the ball represents the moon.
The student volunteers can show what happens over the course of a twentyfour hour period. The side of the earth that is closest to the moon experiences high tide, as well as the side opposite from the location of the moon.
The water bulges out at these points, while at the sides that are 90 degrees
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away, the water recedes, and the water levels are lower as they get
pushed out into the high tide areas. Two more students – the high tide
students – can come up, and tug on the t-shirt of the earth on both sides.
As the moon rotates around the sun, the high tide and low tide areas
will shift. The moon can rotate slowly around the earth, and the high tide
students can walk in a coordinated orbit around the earth with the moon,
tugging on the shirt as they walk along; the earth stays stationary, so the
location of the tides shift with the moon’s orbit.
After the moon and the tides make a full revolution, the students will
learn that the earth’s belly button indicates where on our planet San
Francisco is. How many times during the day did the location experience
high and low tides? Twice.
The sun and the earth, as well as the moon’s phases, have an effect
in terms of how much the tides can fluctuate in terms of differences in
height. Spring tides happen when the sun, moon and earth are lined up
straight, and the tides are at their highest and lowest points. Neap tides
happen when the sun, moon and earth are at right angles in relation to
one another, and the high and low tides have a smaller height difference.
The students can be asked: Is it currently high or low tide? Thumbs up
for high, thumbs down for low. The students can share with the class
how they came to their answer. The fact that they can see the mudflats
indicates that it is low tide. During high tide, these mudflats would
be under water. The instructor can point to the birds that are in the
mudflats, show pictures of some of the shorebirds (sandpipers, willets,
plovers, etc.) and lead a short discussion on adaptations – physical and
behavioral traits – that allow a bird to live and feed in this type of habitat.
The birds’ legs and toes should be pointed out to show how these birds
are well-suited to walk in the mud.
These shorebirds feed on creatures in the mud. They feed during low tide
so that they can walk on the mud, and catch mud creatures that are on or
under the surface of the mud.
What do you think lives in the mud? Two hands-full of mud can yield up
to 40,000 organisms. Many are microorganisms that are hard to find,
but in the mud, many small organisms that are visible to the eye – mostly
invertebrates such as worms, clams, and insects, as well as algae and
other plant matter – can be found.
The students can examine the food pyramid poster to talk about the
different tiers. The producers are the plants that make their own food.
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This correlates with the cordgrass, pickleweed, and other salt marsh
plants that can be found on the edges of the Bay. Phytoplankton are
small, free-floating plants in the water. Zooplankton (small, free-floating
animals) eat the phytoplankton and detritus (dead plant matter, most
of which comes from the dying salt marsh plants) that float in the
water. The invertebrates in the mud eat the zooplankton, as well as the
phytoplankton and detritus. Shorebirds eat the invertebrates, and raptors
often hunt for smaller birds.
The students will have an opportunity to examine the mud creatures and
the plankton that live in the San Francisco Bay.
Activity
PART 1
MUD CREATURES
Two student volunteers will put on rubber boots. They can use the trowel
to scoop some mud, which will be poured into the sieve set.
The sieve set has four tiers with the coarsest screen (biggest holes) on
top, and the finest screen (smallest holes) at the bottom.
One student can hold the sieve while the other scoops.
1. Have the pair place a trowel-full of mud onto the top sieve.
2. Pour water from the Bay over the mud to wash it through the sieves.
Have the students use their fingers to loosen the mud and channel it
through.
3. Divide the class into 4 groups, and have each group investigate the
different screens for animals that the sieve has caught. Pass out
laminated mud creature identification sheets for the students to
identify the creatures. Have the students put creatures that are big
enough to detect with the naked eye in discovery scopes.
4. For smaller creatures, have the students take a microspatula to
scrape a very small amount of mud off a sieve, and have them
place that mud into a Petri dish. Add a small amount of Bay water,
and stir it with the spatula. Use the field microscopes to look for
microorganisms, and have the students identify those with the
mud creature ID sheets. Go over how to use the field microscopes
responsibly. The parts of the microscope should be introduced so
that students know where to look (the eyepiece), how to focus (by
retracting and elongating the objective with the knob), and where the
sample goes (the sample table).
5. Rotate the sieves among the groups so that all groups can see
everything, and have them record their findings on their data sheets.
6. When the activity is completed, have students help with clean-up.
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PART 2
PLANKTON
The class will walk out to an area where there is water in close proximity,
where they will be introduced to the Bay’s pelagic (open water) habitat.
The students will be asked questions that reveal that life in the water is
similar to life on land. Is there oxygen in the water? Yes: plankton and
fish are sensitive to dissolved oxygen levels and can die if there is not
enough present. Is there carbon dioxide? Are the animals “breathing”
under water? Yes; aquatic animals have a variety of mechanisms for
exchanging gases. Are there plants in the water? Yes; phytoplankton are
small, floating photosynthesizing unicellular and multicellular organisms.
Kelp and other algae are other examples of plants that can be found in
pelagic habitats. Does ocean life need sunlight? Yes; sunlight provides
energy for phytoplankton and algae that are at the bottom of the pelagic
food chain.
Students can then explore concepts of an aquatic food web. Who
eats the plants in the water? Zooplankton eat phytoplankton. Larger
organisms graze on other types of aquatic plants. Who eats the
zooplankton? Larger plankton, fish, and filter feeders such as mussels
and baleen whales, the largest animals in the world, eat zooplankton.
What happens to the plants and animals if toxic chemicals are dumped
into the San Francisco Bay? Plankton are especially sensitive to toxic
chemicals in the water. Plankton scarcity triggers a chain reaction that
affects the entire food chain.
Background info
on plankton
Plankton are organisms that cannot resist ocean currents, while nekton
can swim against the ambient flow of the water currents. Plankton are
the most abundant life form in the pelagic ecosystem. Phytoplankton
drift near the surface of the water where the light is more intense for
efficient photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are small in size which reduces
sinking and facilitates faster diffusion rates for the removal of wastes
and the absorption of nutrients. Phytoplankton either maintain a disk
shape or congregate in chains to increase frictional drag and slow sinking.
Storing oils allows phytoplankton to be less dense and float better in
surface waters. The dominant groups of phytoplankton in open water
marine environments are diatoms and dinoflagellates (see the plankton
identification sheet).
Zooplankton consist of two groups: the holoplankton, which spend
their entire life cycle as free floating plankton, and the meroplankton,
which are plankton during their larval (juvenile) stages and in later
stages become either nekton or benthic (sea floor) organisms. Like
phytoplankton, holoplankton have adapted ways to keep from sinking.
Copepods, which make up 95% of the entire plankton population, and krill
have droplets of oil and wax on their appendages, have a high surface
area, and tread water to stay afloat. Jellyfish have a thick jelly layer, which
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reduces their density, and contract their dome-shaped body for mobility.
Other types have a gas-filled float. The majority of invertebrates and
many vertebrates begin their lives as meroplankton, floating as eggs and
larvae. Spending their early developmental stages as plankton is a means
to disperse their young for a variety of animals, including fish, crabs,
barnacles, worms, clams, snails and other organisms. One adaptation
for survival that copepods practice is vertical migration in which they
move up the water column in the evening and down in the morning to
successfully feed on phytoplankton during the night and avoid predation
during the day.
Getting plankton samples
A plankton tow is a traditional way to sample plankton. It consists of a
tow rope and a bridle, which holds a metal ring attached to a fine mesh
net. The clamp holds the test tube where the final sample will be collected.
Three students are needed to operate the tow. One student should swing
it horizontally as far as they can into deeper water. When the test tube
submerges, one student will pull the rope in at a rate that allows the tow
to skim the water column without dragging in the mud or reaching the
surface. This may take a few tries. Haul the tow up slowly and repeat
several times to obtain a more concentrated sample. One student should
remove the test tube sample and carry it to the microscope area.
The eyedropper will be used to transfer a few drops of water containing
plankton onto a Petri dish or slide which can be viewed with a microscope.
The Petri dishes can be placed at the sample table. Students can use the
plankton identification guide to identify different types of plankton. Three
types should be identified, and drawn onto their plankton data sheet.
OUTCOME
Students should be able to identify the mud creatures’ role in the food
pyramid and identify some of those creatures. Students should also be
able to define what a plankton is, to differentiate between the two main
types of plankton, and to identify the difference between the two main
types when examining a sample of Bay water.
The following questions can be used to initiate a class discussion:
Why are mud creatures important? All tiers of the mudflat food pyramid
are crucial for the functioning of this ecosystem, so the creatures in the
mud support the consumers that are higher up in the food pyramid.
What role do plankton play in a pelagic ecosystem? Plankton are an
abundant food source that serves as a foundation for the entire pelagic
ecosystem.
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What would happen if plankton populations dip? If the plankton
disappear, so does every other tier of the food chain that depends on
this food source. Since plankton are sensitive to toxic chemicals, humans
need to prevent the pollution of open water.
Are mudflats important to preserve? Migratory birds rely on mudflats to
offer food and a place to rest during their journey. Show a picture of the
California clapper rail – explain that this is an endangered species that
relies on this habitat. Many birds would be affected by the loss of this
habitat.
In what ways can mudflats become polluted? How can we protect it?
Pollution that runs into storm drains and streams can make its way
into this habitat and affect the food chains. People can make sure not
to dump pollutants into storm drains and be responsible about waste
management.
How does this affect humans? Birds often serve as bioindicators – living
indicators of the health of a habitat. If birds are affected by polluted
ecosystems, humans can be affected as well. The people most likely
to be affected are the people who live close to the industrial sites that
affect the mud flat creatures and birds. Protecting the habitat helps to
protect us as well.
Students can look into how important plankton are for the pelagic
ecosystem. Some of the largest animals in the world, including the blue
whale and the whale shark, subsist on plankton species such as krill. A
display board or a photographic journal can be made using illustrations or
photographs of plankton.
Have your students research introduced mud creatures that have become
invasive such as the Asian clam or the Tiger mussel. Have them find out
where they came from, how they got to the San Francisco Bay, and how
they are affecting the local ecology. Also have them research population
control methods.
Many invasive species come from ballast water from large ships. Species
have also been introduced for different purposes, such as control of
another species, or for recreational fishing and fish farming.
Draw analogies between the introduction of invasive mud creatures and
their effect on native flora and fauna, and the arrival of Europeans to the
Bay Area and their effect on the Ohlone population in the Bay Area. How
are the effects similar?
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Crissy Field Center
(415) 561-7695
www.crissyfield.org
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge
9500 Thornton Avenue
Newark, CA 94560
(510) 792-0222
www.fws.gov/DESFBAY/index.htm
Dr. Wayne Lanier, PhD
250 Ashbury Street
(415) 346-4940
www.hikingwithafieldmicroscope.com
Lerman, Matthew. 1986. Marine Biology:
Environmental Diversity and Ecology.
Menlo Park, CA: the Benjamin/Cummings
Publishing Company, Inc.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Marine Science Institute (MSI)
www.sfbaymsi.org
(NOAA)
Tides and Currents
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
(F) (510) 452-9266
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Biology – Invasive Species Program
biology.usgs.gov/invasive/
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Mud Creature Data Sheet
Name:
Date:
Write the name of the mud creatures you found, and draw pictures of up to 4 of them.
Name _______________________________________
Name _______________________________________
Name _______________________________________
Name _______________________________________
What is the most abundant mud creature you found today? How many did you find?
Answer this question: In what ways do you think that mud creatures are important?
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Mud Creature Identification Sheet
Ostracod
Brine Shrimp
Isopod
Amphipod
Copepod
Crab
Polychaete
Oligochaete
Nematode
Clam
Mussel
Snail
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Plankton Data Sheet
Name:
Date:
Write the name of the plankton you found, identify whether they are phytoplankton or zooplankton, and
describe what some of their possible adaptations might be, and why.
Name _______________________________________
Name _______________________________________
Circle one: phytoplankton or zooplankton
Name _______________________________________
Name _______________________________________
What is the most abundant type of plankton that you found today?
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Phytoplankton
Dinoflagellates
Diatoms
Zooplankton
Ostracod
Rotifer
Worm Larva
CALLING NATURE HOME
Fish Larva
Snail Larva
Crab Larva
Jellyfish
Fish Egg
Copepod Larva
Clam Larva
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Discovering
Plants
GRADES: 4-12
Overview: Plants are an important component of the food web, and
provide many beneficial functions. This activity allows students to identify
plants, and learn about their adaptations.
PLANTS AND
HORTICULTURE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Plants are primary producers that many species of wildlife depend on.
• Plants have certain adaptations that allow them to survive in their
habitats.
• Plants serve an important role of cleaning the air and water.
• Students will gain an appreciation for native plants, and learn the
importance of stewardship.
Grade 5: Life Sciences 2aefg; Earth Sciences 3abcd; Investigation and
Experimentation 6a
Grade 7: Life Sciences (Structure and Function in Living Systems) 5abf
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ad
• Multiple copies of plant field guides
• Plant study sheets
• Clipboards and pencils
1 hour
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park or the
Candlestick Point SRA Native Plant Nursery.
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Plants form the foundation of food webs. Through photosynthesis, plants
harness the sun’s energy to convert water, carbon dioxide and nutrients
from the soil into food that fuels the growth of plants, as well as oxygen.
Roots absorb water and nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium. These elements that are dissolved in the water get carried
through the xylem – the cells in plants that transport water – to the
leaves. Photosynthesis occurs in the leaves with the help of chlorophyll
molecules whose green pigment gives leaves its green appearance.
Plants allow consumers that are higher up in the food chain, such as
herbivores and omnivores, to access the nutrients that are captured in
the soil. Omnivores and carnivores that eat those animals in turn tap into
that nutrient source as it travels up the food chain.
Upland plants have adapted to dry summers and rainy winters. Many
upland plants have thin leaves and silvery green coloration – adaptations
that reduce water loss. Grasses have fibrous roots that are adapted to
thrive in nutrient-poor rocky soils, and help to bind soil particles together
to prevent erosion. Annual grasses produce many seeds before the
summer, at which point they wither. Perennial native bunch grasses send
out fewer seeds than annual grasses, and stay green into the summer.
Wildflowers appear after the winter rains have dropped their seeds by
early summer. Coyote brush, toyon and other coastal scrub species grow
during the winter rains and are dormant during the summer months.
Gophers and ground squirrels feed on the roots and rhizomes of grasses
and wildflowers. Small birds, such as sparrows, feed on seeds, berries,
or insects. Birds of prey, such as hawks, feed on either smaller birds,
mammals, reptiles or amphibians.
Plants in the salt marsh are adapted to the tidal disturbance and salt
water. Some plants, such as salt grass, cordgrass, and marsh rosemary,
excrete salt. Pickleweed stores salt in its succulent tips, which fall off in
the fall. Salt marsh plants contribute to cleaning the water: they act as a
filter as they take up excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus,
and they even absorb heavy metals. Cordgrass brings oxygen from its
leaves to its roots to oxygenate and neutralize iron in the soil. Wetlands
are a vital habitat for shore and migratory birds. The San Francisco Bay is
an important stopping point for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway,
and many birds pay visits to Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point.
Some birds travel from Alaska to the tip of South America and back in the
course of a year.
Many of these plants have ethnobotanical uses as well. The Ohlone,
original inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area, have used yarrow,
gumplant, willow, elderberry and sagebrush for medicine; California lilac
and soaproot for soap; grass and wildflower seeds, bulbs and berries for
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food; and a wide variety of plants for tools, fiber, construction materials,
and ceremonial purposes.
There are a number of non-native plant species that have traveled to
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA by birds, wind, water,
and through human actions. Some non-native plants are referred to as
invasive species because they are especially competitive, and inhibit the
growth of native plants. They compete for water, nutrients, sunlight and
space. Invasives can be harmful for native wildlife by reducing the amount
of suitable shelter, excluding their food source, or through direct harm.
For example, the blue gum, which is the most abundant type of eucalyptus
that is found in California, was brought from Australia and Tasmania to
provide windbreaks and timber. The leaf litter inhibits California native
plant growth, so eucalyptus groves tend to have little biodiversity.
Tasmanian and Australian birds have adapted to drink the nectar of
eucalyptus blossoms without suffocating, but North American species
have not, so their nostrils can get clogged with a sticky tar-like substance,
which causes suffocation. Identifying invasive species and knowing
methods of removal is important for restoration. However, ecologists are
also mindful that non-native plant species that have become “naturalized”
often play important roles within their current habitats. The anise
swallowtail butterfly now almost exclusively uses fennel— a non-native
invasive species—as a larval host plant and food source.
Introduction
Plants are important food and habitat sources for many types of animals.
Each plant has evolved certain adaptations to survive within its particular
habitat. Students can be engaged in a class discussion:
What are a plant’s basic needs, and how do they acquire those needs in
their respective habitats?
Students should also think about how the various plants and animals of
an entire ecosystem are interconnected. Many animals depend on the
plants that grow in Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA.
Which animals might depend on these plants for food? Which animals
might depend on these plants for shelter?
Activity
CALLING NATURE HOME
Each student can either work as individuals (for small class sizes) or in
pairs or small groups. Each working individual or group needs to have
a clipboard with a worksheet, and a field guide. Each group should be
assigned a plant to seek out in the upland or salt marsh habitat. Both
areas should have adult supervision. The image and text in the field guide
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should help the student in finding the plant.
If this activity is being conducted at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
Point SRA, the students should first figure out which habitat their plant
is in, and then go to that habitat to seek their plants out. If this activity
is being conducted at the Native Plants Nursery, the students will be
seeking out seedlings that are growing in flats or pots. The students
should first identify their plants based on their physical attributes, and
then verify that they have found their correct plants by looking at the tags
on the flats.
Once they identify their plant, they should draw the different parts of their
plant, and answer the questions on the back of the worksheet related
to the plant’s physiology, ecology, and human uses. If students have
a difficult time finding their plants, LEJ staff can help the students find
the plants. Students who complete their task early can get a second
worksheet, and be assigned a different plant to find.
OUTCOME
Students will be able to identify plants by using a field guide, and reflect
on the plant’s ecological significance.
Once the students have completed their worksheets, the class can form
a circle, and each student or group can share out what plant they were
assigned, which habitat the plant grows in, and one fact related to the
plant’s ecological significance (i.e., who eats it, what animals it shelters,
etc.)
Students can conduct further research on the plants that were found in
the activity. Were the plants historically used by the Ohlone? Students
can either create display boards, reports, or video documentaries on their
plants, and give presentations within their schools or communities on the
importance of protecting native plant species.
If there is space within a school, and classes receive permission from
school administrators, students can create a native plant garden. If there
is not a small plot of land that can be used, classes can explore the
idea of having a small garden in wine barrels. With permission from the
Park staff, seeds can be collected in the field, or native plants can be
purchased at local nurseries that sell native plants. Students can make
interpretive signs to identify the plants, and to provide its ecological and
ethnobotanical information.
If this activity has been conducted at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
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Point State Recreation Area, classes can consider a visit to the Native
Plant Nursery managed by Literacy for Environmental Justice with the
California State Parks Foundation to see how plants are propagated for a
habitat restoration project. The “Growing Native Plants” module in Calling
Nature Home features a variety of activities that can be conducted at the
nursery.
Students can also participate in habitat restoration efforts at Heron’s
Head Park or Candlestick Point SRA by planting natives, or by removing
invasives. Participating in local restoration efforts and enjoying local open
spaces is a great way to foster stewardship in the land. How are habitat
restoration, and the preservation of open space, an environmental justice
issue?
Students can hold a native plant sale at their school. Posters can be
made to advertise the appeal of native plants: they look great; they
require little to no irrigation; they have adapted to the soils of San
Francisco and do not need chemical fertilizer inputs; and they provide
habitat for native insects, birds and animals.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
California Native Plant Society
Yerba Buena Chapter
California State Parks Foundation
50 Francisco Street, Suite 110
(415) 262-4400
www.calparks.org
CalPhotos
[email protected]
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/
CALLING NATURE HOME
Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Tilden Regional Park
Berkeley, CA 94708-2396
(510) 544-3169
www.nativeplants.org
San Francisco Botanical Garden
at Strybing Arboretum
9th Avenue and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park
(415) 661-1316
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Plant Study Sheet
Name:
Date:
Common name of plant:
Latin name of plant:
What type of habitat/plant community does your plant inhabit?
Draw your plant in its habitat.
Draw its flowers or seeds.
Draw its roots, if visible.
Draw its leaves.
Draw its stem.
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Plant Questions
1. Describe your plant. How tall and wide is it? What color and texture are the stems, and how do the
stems branch out?
2. Describe the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the plant. What colors, shapes and textures do they have?
Can you describe the smell of the flowers?
3. Where is your plant growing? How would you describe its habitat? Is it in the sun or shade? What
direction(s) does it face?
4. Look in the plant field guide to identify other plants that are growing near your plant.
5. How would you describe the soil? Is it wet or dry? Hard or soft? Is it rocky? What colors, textures, and
smells does it have?
6. What animals do you see on or around the plant that use the plant for food or shelter? What are they
doing?
7. Do you see any insects or spiders on or around your plant? What are they doing?
8. What do you think, or know, that people can do with this plant?
9. What role does this plant play in its habitat, and why is it important to protect the native plants of this
habitat?
10. How old or young is the plant? Is it short-lived or long-lived? Why?
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Ethnobotany
GRADES: 3-12
Overview: Students will learn the concept of ethnobotany. The historical
uses of native plants by the Ohlone Native Americans will be contrasted
with modern products that people now use. This is an activity that can
be conducted at Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick Point State Recreation
Area, or the Native Plant Nursery.
PLANTS AND
HORTICULTURE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Ethnobotany is the study of plants in a cultural context.
• The Ohlone used native plants for various purposes to aid in their
lifestyles.
• Students will learn specifically about native plants that grow in
Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point SRA, and their relationship
with the Ohlone who inhabited this area.
• Students will see how native plants have been historically used.
• Students will see modern equivalents of ethnobotanical uses of native
plants.
Grade 3: Life Sciences 3b; Investigation and Experimentation 5b
Grade 4: Life Sciences 3ab; Investigation and Experimentation 6f
Grade 5: Investigation and Experimentation 6a
Grade 6: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6cd; Resources 6c
Grade 7: Investigation and Experimentation 7be
Grades 9-12: Ecology 6ab; Investigation and Experimentation 1m
• Wild in the City map (Wild in the City, Nancy Morita 6 Cypress Road
San Anselmo, CA 94960)
• Map of California tribal affiliations
(library.humboldt.edu/~rls/geospatial/calmaps.htm#cultural)
• Informational sheets on native plants’ ecological significance and
historical uses – for yarrow, California sagebrush, coyote brush,
pickleweed, California lilac, California poppy, blue wild rye, gumplant
and willow
• Paper cut in halves for students for tallying
• Clip boards and pencils for each pair/trio of students
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• Laminated cards with numbers:
1 – aspirin
2 – antibiotic cream
3 – cough syrup
4 – bismuth subsalicylate (pink stomach medicine)
5 – soap
6 – salt
7 – cereal
8 – lice shampoo
9 – hydrocortisone (anti-itch cream)
A – yarrow
B – California sage
C – coyote brush
D – pickleweed
E – California lilac
F – California poppy
G – gum plant
H – blue wild rye
I – willow
• Antibiotic cream
• Bag or box of cereal or oatmeal
• Bar of soap
• Bismuth subsalicylate oral digestive medication (pink medicine)
• Bottle of aspirin
• Cough syrup
• Hydrocortisone (anti-itch cream)
• Lice shampoo
• Salt shaker
• Insulated water bottle filled with hot water and yerba buena
• Compostable small paper cups
• Plant specimens (either potted plants or stems of plants):
Yarrow
California sage
Coyote brush
Pickleweed
California lilac
California poppy
Blue wild rye
Gum plant
Willow (arroyo or red)
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the number of players
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick
Point SRA, or the Candlestick Point Native Plant Nursery.
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1700s, the only humans that
inhabited the San Francisco Bay Area were Native Americans, namely the
Ohlone Native Americans. The Ohlone who inhabited the San Francisco
Bay Area are known as the Muwekma Ohlone.
Ethnobotany is the study of plants in a cultural context. Plants had many
uses – for food, for medicine, for shelter, for transportation and for
ceremonies – around the Bay Area by the Muwekma Ohlone, as well as
by the Coast Miwok to the north in what is now Marin County. Many of the
functions served by products produced by native plants have now been
replaced in large part by modern products such as bar and liquid soaps,
and medicine in the form of pills and syrups.
Today, certain native plants can be found in small, isolated protected
urban islands found throughout San Francisco including at Heron’s Head
Park and Candlestick Point. Some of the plants used for ethnobotanical
uses can be found in these habitats.
Introduction
Pass around small cups of yerba buena tea. Instead of letting the
students know the type of tea, just let them know that it is an herbal tea
that they will be tasting. After students get a taste, let the students know
that they are tasting a tea that the Muwekma Ohlone used to drink.
San Francisco was once called Yerba Buena by the Spanish colonists who
arrived in the 1700s. The area was named after a plant that was found in
the region. Yerba buena (Satureja douglasii), which is a type of mint, is a
Spanish phrase meaning “good herb.” This is one example of how native
plants had been used historically. This is not a plant that we find at Heron’s
Head Park, but it grows along the Pacific Coast from Alaska down to Mexico.
The study of plants within its cultural context, and the examination of the
cultural uses of the plant, is called ethnobotany. “Ethno” means cultural,
and “botany” is the study of plants.
The Ohlone are a cultural and linguistic tribe that occupied the San
Francisco Bay Area and other areas extending south into the Salinas
Valley. There were over 50 distinct groups who spoke diverse variations
of the Penutian language family of Western North America. The California
tribal map can be examined to show the distribution of where the Ohlone
lived, and where other local tribal groups such as the Pomo and Coast
Miwok lived. Before the arrival of Spanish colonists in the 1700s and
1800s, the Ohlone groups did not see themselves as one unified group.
The groups’ hunter-gatherer lifestyles experienced severe upheaval with
the arrival of the Spanish missions when language, culture and religion
were forced upon the native people.
CALLING NATURE HOME
123
ETHNOBOTANY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Prior to Spanish colonization, the Ohlone people used many plants native
to the area for various purposes, including food, medicine and shelter.
Activity
The class will be looking at plants that grow in Heron’s Head Park and
Candlestick Point as well as elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area
and discover their uses. The students will examine modern products that
serve equivalent purposes and make educated guesses about which
products correlate with the native plants that are presented.
The objects will be spread out and placed next to their corresponding
numerical or letter card either on the ground or on tables. The students
will break into groups of two or three and will receive a clipboard with a
half sheet of paper and a pencil. The students can write their names on
the sheets, and fold the sheet in half. The numbered items represent
modern products, and the lettered items represent Bay Area native plants
that serve equivalent purposes. The students can be given a few minutes
to guess which number correlates with the letters and to write their
answers on the top half of the sheet. One of the plants has more than
one use and will correlate with more than one modern product.
After regrouping, each group will receive a data sheet that details the plants’
ecological and ethnobotanical significance. Have the students alternately
read out loud information about each plant. After they finish reading the
sheet, they can look at the Wild in the City map that shows where different
types of habitats (sand dune, chaparral, salt marsh, etc.) have been
historically situated, and are currently situated around San Francisco. The
students can make a second guess as to which plants serve which
purposes, and then write their guesses on the bottom half of their data
sheets.
(Answers: A-4, B-3, C-2, D-6, E-5, F-8, G-9 and 2, H-7, I-1)
The class can discuss how various native plants played important roles in
the lives of the Ohlone. What resources do modern Ohlone people as well
as the rest of us who live in modern American society use instead?
The class can on a short walk around Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick
Point SRA, or the Native Plant Nursery to see these and other native
plants and their uses by local Muwekma Ohlone groups.
OUTCOME
CALLING NATURE HOME
Students will be able to identify California native plants that were used by
the Ohlone and name the various uses.
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ETHNOBOTANY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
The instructor can lead the class in a discussion on how Ohlone lifestyles
may have changed with the arrival of the Spanish missionaries. What
significant shifts have happened as a result?
The class can also reflect on different products that people in modern
society use – in terms of natural versus artificial, the carbon footprints of
different types of products, accessibility (in terms of price and availability)
of natural products to the general populace. How is it an environmental
justice issue that not everyone has access to natural, non-toxic products?
The class can go on a field trip to Coyote Hills Regional Park to learn
about Ohlone life at the interpretive center, observe a freshwater wetland
habitat, and visit a 2,000 year old Tuibun Ohlone shellmound as well as
a recreated Ohlone village. According to the Native American Cultural
Center, this is a site that is well-respected by local Native peoples.
The students can conduct research projects on what current medicinal
products (natural and pharmaceutical) have their roots in ethnobotany.
For example, as the students have explored in the module, aspirin has
its roots in salicylic acid that is found in willow bark. Students can also
research plants’ traditional uses in their home cultures. The culminating
project can take the form of an essay, a panel board, a mini documentary
film to present to other classmates and other students at the school, or a
mini-demonstration garden.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
(415) 262-4400
www.calparks.org
Coyote Hills Regional Park
8000 Patterson Ranch Road
Fremont, CA 94555
www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills
CALLING NATURE HOME
Ohlone Education Project
Native American Cultural Center (NACC)
www.nativecc.com/OhloneEd.html
Friends of the Regional Park Botanic Garden
Tilden Regional Park
Wildcat Canyon Road and South Park Drive
Berkeley, CA
1-888-327-2757 option 3, ext. 4507
www.ebparks.org
San Francisco Botanical Garden
9th Ave & Lincoln Way
Golden Gate Park
(415) 661-1316
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ETHNOBOTANY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Native plants of the San Francisco Bay that were used by the Ohlone:
YARROW
(Acchilea millefolium)
Yarrow is a plant that is
native throughout the
Northern Hemisphere. A
native California yarrow, as
well as a Eurasian varietal
that had been introduced by
European colonists, have
been used by the Ohlone for
stomach aches, skin sores, swelling prevention, and
toothaches.
PICKLEWEED
(Salicornia virginica)
Pickleweed is a succulent (waxy
on the outside, watery on the
inside) plant that grows in the
low to mid-tide zones of brackish
marshes. To excrete the salt, the
plant pushes the salt to the tips
of the leaves, which break off. It
is the primary food source for the
endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. The Ohlone
used pickleweed to flavor their food, and some
markets still sell pickleweed as a vegetable that has
been labeled as the “sea bean.”
CALIFORNIA SAGEBRUSH
(Artemisia californica)
California sagebrush is not
a true sage, but the smell
of the crushed leaves is
similar to that of true sages
in the Salvia family. It is a
common shrub of the coastal
sage scrub communities of
California and Baja California
in Mexico. It serves as
important habitat for the California gnatcatcher,
an endangered bird. This plant has been used
historically to fight coughs and colds.
COYOTE BRUSH
(Baccharis pilularis)
Coyote Brush is a chaparral
shrub that is found from
southwestern Oregon down
to Baja California. It can
lie low along the ground,
or grow upright into a tall
shrub. The Ohlone washed
their cuts with the powdered
stems of leaves of coyote
brush to aid in healing.
CALLING NATURE HOME
CALIFORNIA LILAC
(Ceanothus spp.)
California lilac is the common
name for a genus of over
50 evergreen species that
grow mainly in California.
Most species are shrubs, but
some grow as small trees.
Ceanothus americanus is one
of a few California lilac species
that can fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil to
provide more nutrients for neighboring plants. The
dried leaves were used as a tea, and the branches
were used to make baskets. The flowers have been
used for cleansing when bathing.
CALIFORNIA POPPY/
GOLDEN POPPY
(Eschscholzia californica)
The California poppy is the official
California state flower. It is a
drought-tolerant, self-seeding
plant that grows well in many
types of habitats. The Ohlone
used extracts from the petals to
rid their hair of lice.
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ETHNOBOTANY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
GUMWEED/GIANT GUM PLANT
(Grindelia stricta
var. angustifolia)
Gumweed is a perennial
plant that is endemic to
California. It is a drought
tolerant plant that needs
full sunlight. Gumweed has
been used to treat skin
rashes, boils and cuts.
BLUE WILD RYE
(Elymus glaucus)
Blue wild rye is a bunch grass
that grows in chaparral and
forest habitats throughout
North America. The grains
have been eaten by many
indigenous North Americans
as a cereal grain.
CALLING NATURE HOME
WILLOW (Salix spp.)
Willows are riparian plants
that require a lot of fresh
water. The Ohlone used
several species of willow
for medicinal purposes,
including Arroyo willow and
red willow. The salicylic
acid in willow bark has
chemical properties that
are similar to aspirin and has been used to treat
aches and fevers.
Sources:
• Cabrillo College, “Ohlone Medicine”,
www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/OhloneMed.html
• Las Pilatas Nursery, “California Native Herbs used
for their medicinal, savory or aromatic qualities in
Gardens,”
www.laspilitas.com/classes/herbs.htm
• Save the Bay, The Bay Classroom, “Plants of the
San Francisco Bay”, www.savesfbay.org/site/pp.as
p?c=dgKLLSOwEnH&b=886397
• Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org
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GROWING NATIVE PLANTS
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Growing
Native Plants
Overview: Students learn how to prepare seeds for planting, how to
transplant seedlings, and how to monitor the growth of native plants at
the LEJ Native Plant Nursery at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
GRADES: 2-8
PLANTS AND
HORTICULTURE
KEY CONCEPTS
• Seeds grow into plants.
• Different types of seeds need different types of conditions in order to
grow optimally.
• Composting mimics natural processes that add nutrients to the soil,
which are available for plants to absorb.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will understand the life cycle of plants.
• Students will learn how to propagate native plant seeds, and learn
about other nursery tasks for habitat restoration.
• Students will have an opportunity to use the nursery as a space to
think about how many human hours it takes to nurture a plant, and
how much water a plant takes while it is at the nursery; students can
use math to calculate these figures.
CONTENT STANDARDS
Grade 2: Life Sciences 2abcdef; Earth Sciences 3ce; Investigation and
Experimentation 4abcdg
Grade 3: Life Sciences abcde; Investigation and Experimentation 5ce
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2abc, 3abc; Investigation and Experimentation
6bcf
Grade 5: Life Sciences 2aefg
Grade 6: Life Sciences (Ecology) 5abcde; Investigation and
Experimentation 6abcfh
Grade 7: Life Sciences (Structure and Function in Living Systems) 5abf;
Investigation and Experimentation 7abcde
Grade 8: Life Sciences (Chemistry of Living Systems) 6ab; Investigation
and Experimentation 9abc
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcdef; Investigation and
Experimentation 1adilm
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
• Native seeds collected from Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick Point
SRA, or another local natural area (only with permission from land
manager)
• Dibbles or chopsticks
• Perlite and zipper plastic bags
• Planting flats
• Racks of planting tubes
• Seedlings ready for transplanting
• Potting soil
• Nursery work space with planting tables
• Pitch forks
• Plant scraps
• Food scraps
• Worksheets with restoration cycle on back (for each student) on
clipboards
• Pencils
Introduction – 20 minutes,
Activities – 20 to 30 minutes each,
Cleanup – 10 minutes
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at the Candlestick Point Native Plant
Nursery.
Native San Francisco Bay Area plants are uniquely adapted to their
various habitats, and have been used by Native Americans of the Ohlone
tribe for thousands of years for food, tools, shelter, boats and medicine.
At Heron’s Head Park, for example, different plant communities are found
in the upland – the higher elevation grassland and coastal scrub habitats
away from the water – and salt marsh habitats. A riparian habitat, a fresh
water habitat along a river or creek, is also being restored at the Park.
San Francisco upland plants have adapted to dry summers and rainy
winters. Many upland plants have thin leaves and silvery green coloration
– adaptations that reduce water loss. Grasses have fibrous roots that
are adapted to thrive in nutrient-poor rocky soils and help to bind soil
particles together to prevent erosion. Annual grasses produce many
seeds before the summer, at which point they wither. Perennial native
bunch grasses send out fewer seeds than annual grasses and stay green
into the summer. Wildflowers that appear after the winter rains drop their
seeds by early summer. Coyote brush, toyon and other coastal scrub
species grow during the winter rains and are dormant during the summer
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
months. Gophers and ground squirrels feed on the roots and rhizomes of
grasses and wildflowers. Small birds, such as sparrows, feed on seeds,
berries, or insects. Birds of prey, such as hawks, feed on either smaller
birds, mammals, reptiles or amphibians.
Plants in the salt marsh are adapted to the tidal disturbance and salt
water. Some plants, such as salt grass, cordgrass and marsh rosemary,
excrete salt. Pickleweed stores salt in its succulent tips, which fall off
in the fall. Salt marsh plants are important for cleaning the water. They
act as a filter as they take up excess nutrients such as nitrogen and
phosphorus; they even absorb heavy metals. Cordgrass brings oxygen
from its leaves to its roots to oxygenate and neutralize iron in the soil.
Wetlands are an important habitat for shore and migratory birds. The
San Francisco Bay is an important stopping point for migratory birds
along the Pacific Flyway, and many birds pay visits to Heron’s Head Park
and Candlestick Point. Some birds travel from Alaska to the tip of South
America and back in the course of a year. Some migratory birds such as
killdeer and black oystercatchers even stop long enough to breed and
fledge young at the Park.
Many of these plants have ethnobotanical uses as well. The Ohlone,
original inhabitants of the Bay Area, have used yarrow, gumplant, willow,
elderberry and sagebrush for medicine; California lilac and soaproot for
soap; grass and wildflower seeds, bulbs and berries for food; and a wide
variety of plants for tools, fiber, construction materials, and ceremonial
purposes.
There are a number of Background/Context/Connection plant species
that have traveled to Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA
by birds wind, water, and through human actions. Some non-native
plants are referred to as invasive species because they are especially
competitive and inhibit the growth of native plants. They often have very
few if any natural predators or competitors. They compete for water,
nutrients, sunlight and space. Invasives can be harmful for native wildlife
by reducing the amount of suitable shelter, excluding their food source,
or through direct harm. For example, the blue gum, which is the most
abundant type of eucalyptus that is found in California, was brought
from Australia and Tasmania to provide windbreaks and timber. The leaf
litter inhibits California native plant growth, so eucalyptus groves tend to
have little biodiversity. Tasmanian and Australian birds have adapted to
drink the nectar of eucalyptus blossoms without suffocating, but North
American species have not, so their nostrils can get clogged with a sticky
tar-like substance, which causes suffocation. Identifying invasive species
and knowing methods of removal is important for restoration.
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Students and adult volunteers involve themselves in the restoration
cycle when they visit the Native Plant Nursery, Candlestick Point SRA, or
Heron’s Head Park to restore native habitats through a cyclical series of
activities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Collecting seeds or cuttings of native plants in the late spring,
summer, and fall
Sowing the seeds in a nursery in the fall or early spring
Growing seedlings until they are large enough to plant at the park
Removing invasive species and planting natives in their place
Monitoring and documenting the re-establishment of native plants
Composting serves an important function in a nursery setting. In nature,
when organic matter from plants and animals decay, nutrients are cycled
back into the soil, and are available for plants to absorb through their
roots. The act of composting with compost piles that balance carbon and
nitrogen with plant matter into nutrient-rich soil, and with worm bins that
convert food scraps into compost, mimic this natural process. Composting
allows the nursery to recycle all of its dead plant material and use it to
benefit crop growth in the community garden and native plant production
in the nursery. This reduces the plant material’s potential impact on the
landfills. Composting serves as a more ecologically friendly alternative to
using chemical fertilizers. When excess nutrients from chemical fertilizers
leach into the environment, lakes and streams can experience
eutrophication. This means that the abundance of nutrients cause algae
to bloom in abundance, and reduces available dissolved oxygen for
aquatic organisms, which can kill them. Mimicking natural processes
through composting serves to maintain a balance of nutrients in the soil.
This activity starts with an all-class discussion:
Introduction
What is a seed? How do plants make seeds? Explain the life cycles of
annual and perennial plants, and with the students’ assistance, draw
pictures of the cycle on the board.
What do most plants need in order to grow? Water, nutrients, sunlight,
carbon dioxide, soil and a sufficient amount of space to grow.
What will happen if plants do not have these things? If a plant’s needs
are insufficiently met, then plants may either grow poorly or die.
A plant nursery, like a baby nursery, is a place where the young
are nurtured. LEJ’s Native Plant Nursery at Candlestick Point State
Recreation Area is a place where seeds are germinated and cared for in
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
an environment that allows them to thrive. For many habitat restoration
projects to be successful, healthy and viable native plants are necessary,
and in order for the native plants to outcompete the invasive plants
successfully, it is a good strategy to start them off in an environment
where they are given an opportunity to thrive.
The nursery manager can give a quick tour around the Native Plant
Nursery so that students can get a sense of what types of activities occur
at a nursery.
Activity
ACTIVITY 1:
SOWING SEEDS INTO FLATS,
AND STRATIFYING SEEDS
The class will be growing seeds at the nursery to help with the restoration
projects at Candlestick Point SRA, Heron’s Head Park, and elsewhere.
Propagating seeds is an important part of the restoration cycle. Distribute
the clipboards with the student worksheets with the restoration cycle on
the back to introduce the concept of the restoration cycle. Depending
on available time, one or more of the activities can be conducted at the
nursery:
Advance preparation: Soak seeds that need to be stratified overnight
in tap water, and keep the seeds refrigerated for a few days in a sealed
plastic bag filled with perlite, until the seeds germinate.
As a rule of thumb, seeds should be planted at a depth of about twice the
diameter. Very small seeds do not have to be buried in the soil, but can
be sprinkled on the surface and lightly pressed in to mimic what happens
in nature when a lightweight seed lands on the ground. With larger seeds,
a hole of the appropriate depth can be poked into the soil, and after
the seed is dropped in, soil can be sprinkled on top of the hole. The
students can brainstorm how to scatter the seeds evenly. The instructor
can demonstrate for the students how to assess depth of planting, how
to scatter the seeds, and how to cover the seeds appropriately. Then the
flats should be labeled with the name of the plant, as well as the planting
date. Students will also fill out the Nursery Production Work Log.
The students can answer these discussion questions: How do you think
these seeds will germinate in the wild? What steps have we taken to
mimic the process of breaking seed dormancy? What is your prediction
for when these seeds will germinate? What will the plants look like?
How long will it take before the plants are big enough to plant at
Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point SRA?
Stratification mimics natural processes such as wetting and chilling that
seeds in the San Francisco Bay Area experience during the winter rains.
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Many seeds, such as acorns, berries, and grasses, germinate better if
they are stratified first.
Ask the students to imagine that they are a grass seed at Candlestick
Point. They ripen and fall to the ground in July, and then lie on the surface
of the soil for the rest of the summer. Around October, the temperatures
drop, and the rains arrive. As the seeds sit in the cold, damp soil, they
begin to germinate, or sprout, when the rainy season begins in December
or January.
We can mimic this process by putting the damp seeds that have been
soaked overnight in the refrigerator until they germinate.
If there are stratified grass seeds that have been prepared, this part of the
activity can be conducted. The seeds will be spread on the surface of a flat
of soil, spaced about ½” apart, and then covered with ¼” of soil. The
flats should be labeled with the name of the plant and the planting date.
ACTIVITY 2
TRANSPLANTING
This activity can be conducted either a few weeks after activities 1 and
2, or with a flat that has seedlings that are 1” to 2” tall.
Plants need to be transplanted when the plants have gotten so big that
they are beginning to crowd each other out both above and below the
surface of the soil. Some of the students can be chosen to separate
the seedlings carefully. The students should be mindful of the roots,
since exposing them to the air for too long can hurt the plant. During
the transplanting process, the roots should point straight down instead
of bending or curving. Students can fill up a tube most of the way with
potting soil, and then poke a vertical hole in the soil with their finger or
a dibble; a chopstick may also be used. The seedling should be held
gently while the roots are carefully lowered into the hole. Soil should be
sprinkled around the roots until the hole is filled, and then the surface
of the soil can be gently patted down and leveled with a finger. It is
important to make sure that there are no roots exposed and that the
main leader of the stem is not buried. The line of demarcation between
the root and the stem is called the union, and this should be flush with
the surrounding topsoil. The seedlings should then be lightly misted and
placed in the greenhouse or shadehouse.
ACTIVITY 3
COMPOSTING
CALLING NATURE HOME
Compost is healthy soil produced through the decomposition of organic
material. Plants in nature absorb nutrients through soil that is built when
leaf litter and other plant and animal matter on the ground breaks down into
humus, the top organic layer of soil. Composting mimics this natural process.
133
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
1. Compost Piles
For efficient decomposition, a good formula for compost production
is: greens + browns + moisture + air. Green materials, which provide
a nitrogen input for the soil, include green weeds, scraps from green
crops, and vegetable trimmings. Young plants that are still green tend to
have the highest nitrogen content. As plants mature, plants start to lose
nitrogen as they use the nutrient for seed production. Brown materials are
dry items such as straw and leaves, as well as sawdust; these provide
carbon for the compost pile. In general, a pile is most efficient when it
consists of 50% browns and 50% greens. Each layer should be a few
inches deep. The smaller the particles, the quicker the decomposers
– bacteria, earthworms and insects – can break it down, so large pieces
should be broken down into smaller pieces.
A compost pile should ideally be as wet as a wrung out sponge, so it
should consist of about 40% to 60% moisture. As a pile is built, each
brown layer can be watered. Piles should be watered evenly to ensure that
decomposition occurs; however, winter rains can leach away nutrients, so
it may be a good idea to cover the pile with a tarp.
Compost piles need to be oxygenated to attract aerobic bacteria, which
need oxygen to survive. Anaerobic bacteria, which do not need oxygen,
can take over otherwise, and can give the pile a rotten smell. There are
several ways to add oxygen to a pile: place bulky, non-dense items to the
bottom of the pile, such as twigs and corn stalks, to let air in, and turn
the pile with a pitchfork to aerate the particles.
Students can help to add layers to the pile and to turn the pile. Finished
compost can be used to add nutrients to the soil that is used in seed
propagation and transplanting projects.
2. Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting, or worm composting, utilizes worms to process food
waste into a rich soil loaded with nutrients. Worms serve as decomposers
in nature, and are efficient at converting food scraps into soil. Worm
feces, also called castings, are full of beneficial bacteria and nutrients,
and serve as great natural fertilizer.
Worms that are most efficient for vermicomposting are red wigglers (Eisenia foetida). A pound of worms can process about a pound of food daily.
Wet newspaper that is torn into one-inch strips serve as effective bedding
for worms. The bedding provides moisture and shelter for a worm. Water
can be added to the shredded newspaper until it is as wet as a wrung out
sponge. Bedding that is too wet or too dry can hurt the worms. Materials
such as shredded office paper and coir (coconut fiber) are also often used
for bedding.
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Students can help to feed the worms. If students eat lunch at the nursery,
they can dump their food onto a table and seek out what they can feed
to the nursery’s worms. Food should be broken into small pieces so that
they begin to break down quickly. Worms can theoretically eat anything
that is organic, including fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and
teabags. Citrus can be harmful for worms, and should be avoided. Meat,
dairy and oil should be avoided because their odors can attract raccoons,
cats, and other animals.
The castings, as well as the compost tea, the excess liquid that can
come out from a worm bin, can be used as a nutrient-rich natural fertilizer.
The LEJ Nursery uses compost tea as a way to nourish the native plant
stock that is being grown.
ACTIVITY 4
NURSERY MATH
1. Average height of
plants in flats
Students can use rulers to measure the height of each plant in a flat, and
get the average height by adding all of the heights together, and dividing
by the number of individual plants in a flat.
Students can look at the date of seed planting on a tag in the flat. How
long ago did this occur? How can the average growth rate of the plants
be calculated? If the plants have been growing for x days, and have
an average height of y number of inches, then y can be divided by x to
estimate approximately how much a plant has grown on a daily basis.
2. Average human work
hours per plant
Students can get an idea about how much effort goes into nurturing a
plant for a restoration project. Students can count how many people have
worked on putting seeds into one flat, and how long it takes to complete
the task. How long does it take to transplant seedlings into pots? How
much watering needs to occur during the time that the plants are cared
for at the nursery? If the plants need to be transplanted into larger pots,
how many people, and how long, does it take? How long does it take to
clean and fill the pots? How long does it take to transport the plants into
the field, and how much effort does it take to plant the seedlings at the
restoration site? Also, students should inquire about how much effort it
takes to collect native plant seeds in the field. Students can calculate
approximately how many human hours is needed to care for one plant
from seed to planting.
3. Calculating water use
How much water is used for each seedling at the nursery? The students
will estimate the rate of flow in gallons per minute, and then they will time
how long it takes to water a given area/quantity of plants. The price of
water comes out to about $2.50 per 100 cubic feet. How can cubic feet
be converted to gallons, if 1 cubic foot is about 7.48 gallons?
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NATIVE SPECIES WEB
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY 5
NURSERY MAINTENANCE
OUTCOME:
Managing a nursery is hard but meditative work. Many chores are
involved, and depending on the needs of the nursery manager, any of
these activities may be requested: pot washing, watering of plants,
weeding the pots with seedlings, pulling out sick or dead plants,
fertilizing, tracking plant inventory for restoration projects, sweeping and
cleaning the growing areas, pruning and shaping growing plants, other
plant care, and having fun!
The students will learn that LEJ’s Native Plant Nursery is a crucial
component of the restoration cycle for plants at Candlestick Point and
Heron’s Head Park.
The students and instructors can gather in a circle, and everyone can
share one thing about why the Nursery is an important step within the
restoration cycle. Some prompts that can be used: What role does the
nursery play in the restoration cycle? How often do the plants need
to be watered? What is the purpose of the shade structure and the
greenhouse? Why do the seedlings need to be transplanted from flats
into pots? Why is composting important?
When the students return to class, they can do research on the plants
that they helped to propagate. What ethnobotanical purposes did they
serve; what relationship did the Ohlone have with this plant? What role
does the plant play in its habitat? Why is it important to restore the
habitat that this plant inhabits?
The students can visit other native plant nurseries, and get involved with
various habitat restoration projects.
Classrooms can have their own worm bins in their classrooms.
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive
Gold Gate Park
(415) 379-8000
http://www.calacademy.org/
(415) 561-3000
parksconservancy.org
Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC) Native
Plant Nursery
PO Box 170518
www.hanc-sf.org/native-plant-nursery
[email protected]
(415) 262-4400
www.calparks.org
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Plants in Candlestick Point SRA
SCIENTIFIC NAME
COMMON NAME
SCIENTIFIC NAME
COMMON NAME
Achillea millefolium
Yarrow
Jaumea carnosa
Fleshy jaumea
Aesculus californica
California buckeye
Juncus balticus
Wire rush
Ambrosia chamissonis
Silvery beachweed
Juncus bofonius var.
bofonius
Common toad rush
Juncus effesus var.
pacificus
Pacific bog rush
Juncus patens
Spreading rush
Leymous tricoides
Creeping wildrye
Limonium californicum
Marsh rosemary,
Sea Lavender
Arctostaphylos manzanita Common manzanita
Artemesia californica
California sagebrush
Artemesia pycnocephla
Dune sagebrush
Artiplex triangularis
Fat-hen, spear scale
Aster chilensis
Common California Aster
Atriplex californica
California saltbush
Atriplex lentiformis ssp
breweri
Big Saltbush
Lupinus arboreus
Yellow bush lupine
Baccaharis piluraris
Coyote bush
Lupinus microcarpus
densiflorus
Gully lupine
Baccaharis piluraris ssp
dwarf
Dwarf coyote bush
“Twin Peaks”
Mimulus aurantiacus
Bush monkey flower
Carex obnupta
Slough sedge
Mimulus guttatus
Seep monkey flower
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
Blue blossum
Nassella pulchra
Purple needlegrass
Danthonia california
California oatgrass
Phacelia californica
California phacelia
Deschampsia caespitosa
Tufted Hair Grass
Plantago maritime
Marsh plantain
Distichilis spicata
Salt grass
Prunus ilicifolia
Hollyleaf cherry
Elymus glaucus
Blue wildrye grass
Quercus agrifolia
Coast live oak
Eriogonum arborencus
Giant buckwheat
Ranunuculus californicus
California Ranunculus
Eriogonum latifolium
Coast Buckwheat
Rhamnus californica
California Coffeeberry
Rosa californica
California wild rose
Salix lasiolepis
Arroyo willow
Satureja douglasii
Yerba buena
Eriophyllum confertiflorum Seaside Daisy
Eriophyllum
staechadifolium
Lizardtail
Fankenia salina
Alkali health
Scrophularia californica
Bee plant
Festuca rubra
Red fescue
Sidalcea malvaeflora
Checkerbloom
Fragaria chiloensis
Beach strawberry
Sisyrinchium bellum
Blue eyed grass
Fragaria vesca
Woodland strawberry
Spergularia macrotheca
Sand spurrey
Grindelia stricta var.
agustifolio
Gumplant
Suaeda Californica
Sea blite
Heteromeles arbutifolia
Toyon
Tanacetum camphoratum Dune tansy
Seaside Arrowgrass
Hordeum brachyantherum Meadow barley
Triglochin Concina var.
concina
Iris douglasiana
Triglochin maritima
Seaside Arrowgrass
CALLING NATURE HOME
Douglas Iris
138
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Literacy for Environmental Justice
Name:
Native Plant Nursery
Date:
What role does the LEJ Nursery play in the restoration cycle?
Which activities did you participate in at the nursery today? Mark with an x:
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
Activity 1:
What did you do at this station?
How are you providing for a plant’s needs?
Activity 2:
Why does transplanting need to happen?
Activity 3:
What are the necessary components of a successful compost pile?
Activity 4:
1. Which plant did you measure?
When were the seeds planted?
How many plants were in the flat, and what is the average height of the plants?
How did you calculate this?
Approximately how much have the plants grown daily on average?
2. How much effort does it take to grow one plant from seed to field? How many human hours does it take
to nurture a plant?
Activity 5:
In what ways did you help the nursery with crucial tasks today?
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
The Restoration Cycle begins after ecologists evaluate the present conditions of the site, research the
historical conditions of the site and establish realistic site specific goals for what a “restored” habitat
should be. From here the cycle begins until the site is able to reach these goals and naturally sustain
itself without the support of humans.
1.
COLLECT
seeds of
native plants in
spring, summer,
and fall.
5.
MONITOR
and document the
reestablishment of the
native plants to assess
the success of the
restoration effort.
2.
PROPAGATE
seeds in a native
plant nursery in the
fall or spring.
3.
GROW
seedlings at the
nursery until they are
large enough to grow
on their own in
the field.
4.
REMOVE
invasive plants and
plant natives in their
place.
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140
PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Plant Survey
GRADES: 8-12
Overview: Quadrats and transects are methods of scientific surveying
that can be used to explore biological diversity. This activity teaches
students how to conduct surveys using a quadrat and introduces them to
the scientific method. Students will compare levels of diversity of plant
species under different ecological conditions.
(Methods adapted from Heron’s Head Park Monitoring and Maintenance Plan, Port of San
Francisco and Literacy for Environmental Justice, 2009)
PLANTS AND
HORTICULTURE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the amount of diversity in life
forms within a given ecosystem.
• Transects are a scientific method of studying biological diversity.
• Students will learn how to use transects for conducting plant surveys.
• Students will become proficient at using the scientific method.
• Students will assess the biodiversity of flora and fauna in a given
natural area.
• Students will compare levels of biodiversity between areas with
different ecological conditions.
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcde, 8b; Investigation and
Experimentation 1abcdfk
•
•
•
•
1 m x 1 m quadrats (1 for each group)
Worksheets, clipboards and pencils (1 set for each group)
Plant identification sheet
Laminated photographs of common native and nonnative marsh plants
at Heron’s Head Park and Yosemite Slough (Contact LEJ)
• Park plant guides (Contact LEJ)
45 to 90 minutes
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
Point SRA
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Scientists use many methods to monitor plant regeneration rates and
biodiversity in habitat restoration sites. Quadrats, which consist of a
square frame that can be placed on the ground, allow scientists to take
plant surveys within a given area, usually 1 square meter. Transects are
surveys that are taken along a linear path. Plants are counted along the
path to estimate the density of a plant population in a given area.
Photographic monitoring allows for a temporal survey of a given area, with
photographic records taken at regular temporal intervals and compared.
Plant surveying is a tool for exploring biological diversity, or biodiversity.
Biodiversity is the amount of diversity of life forms (flora and fauna) within
a given area. Biodiversity is important to maintain, since many plant and
animal species are symbiotically reliant upon one another, and a drop in
one species often serves as an indicator that the other species are in
peril. Data on biodiversity that is taken from quadratic surveys can be
used to make general speculations on the biodiversity of a much larger
area. The validity of the data is strengthened when many samples are
taken and the results are consistent.
Introduction
An activity that can help to introduce the concepts of biodiversity and
native versus non-native species is the “Native Species Web.” The
teacher can opt to conduct this activity with the students in class.
Open the lesson with a discussion on the term biodiversity. Ask the
students what they think biodiversity means. If necessary, deconstruct
the word and have the students share the definitions of the prefix “bio”
(life) and the term “diversity,” and then have them consider what it means
when there is diversity in life. Ask how can biodiversity be quantified/
measured? Talk about the different ways to quantify species diversity and
the preponderance of certain species over others (e.g. transects, quadrats,
photographic monitoring). Also, do certain plants grow in proximity to
others, and do those plant species seem to rely on one another?
Introduce the terms native plant and non-native plant. Native plants
are plant species that are endemic to certain geographic areas. Some
plants have a very wide natural range, while others have a much narrower
range and are confined to one specific location. There are many plants
that are native to Northern California. One will find different types of
plants in different ecological niches, so the salt marshes that ring the
San Francisco Bay have certain native species that only grow in these
marshlands. Non-native plants are introduced plant species that have
either been brought here deliberately or accidentally. An example of a
non-native plant that is found in many places in California is eucalyptus,
which is a tree native to Australia and other parts of the South Pacific.
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians in the
1850s during the Gold Rush with the hope that they would provide a good
renewable source of timber. They proved to be a poor source of timber
and are now used as windbreaks along highways.
Have students engage in a short debate about whether there would be
more diversity in an area with native or non-native plants. Have students
guess and raise their hands. The students will have to hypothesize as to
why they think that they are correct. A hypothesis is an educated guess.
Ask the students who said “native plants” to state their case and have
the students who said “non-native” to rebut with supporting statements.
Make sure that the students come up with cogent answers, whether
correct or not.
The students will use the scientific method to study the plants at the
park. The scientific method is a way to examine scientific questions
through observations and experimentation. The steps of the scientific
method are:
1. Ask a question.
2. Do background research.
3. Construct a hypothesis.
4. Test your hypothesis through experimentation or through
observations.
5. Analyze your data and draw a conclusion.
6. Communicate your results. If your hypothesis was proven false, then
come up with a new hypothesis based on data that was gathered.
Have the students think of reasons why a small scale survey using a
quadrat, which only examines a small area within a much larger habitat,
can be used to make projections on the biodiversity of the habitat as a
whole. Studying an entire habitat is time and cost prohibitive, so surveys
are ways that estimates are taken through the examination of small,
manageable samples that are representative of a larger area. The more
samples taken, the more reliable the results, so the data from all of the
groups will be examined together.
Activity
Divide the class into groups of three or four. Each person will have a
job: one recorder, one or two plant and animal identifiers, one measurer.
Distribute survey worksheets, clipboards, pencils, quadrats and plant
identification sheets to each group. Give the students a couple of
minutes to write their names and their hypotheses on their worksheets.
Will the areas with more natives or non-natives exhibit more biodiversity?
Before heading into the marsh collectively, remind the students that
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
this area serves as a habitat for the plants and animals that will be
seen today. How would you want someone to behave if she or he was
to enter your home – by running around, throwing things, and trampling
everything in sight? Or with respect? Have a quick discussion on how to
be respectful in a sensitive habitat. Please keep in mind that some of the
species in the marsh and upland are endangered.
Once arriving in the marsh or upland, model for them how the activity will
be conducted. Hold up the large photographs of common native marsh
and upland plants. Have the students find those plants on the ground and
place the quadrat on the ground in an area that is predominantly covered
in native plants. Within the 1m x 1m area, the number of individuals of
each species as well as the percentage of coverage will be noted on the
worksheet. Percentage of cover can be approximated and does not have
to be exact. Say out loud the number of individuals as well as the percent
cover (i.e., if a quarter of the quadrat is filled with marsh plantain, then
the percent cover to be recorded should be 25%). Do the same for nonnative plants by showing large photos of common plants and do a quick
count of individuals and percent cover.
Have the students go to predesignated areas of the park to begin their
surveys. Have them use the plant ID sheet to identify plants, and pick two
spots – one with a predominantly native plant species cover and one that
is predominantly non-native.
After completing the two surveys, have them write a conclusive statement
that is generated jointly by the group in terms of whether or not their
hypothesis was correct, and why they think the results are the way that
they are.
OUTCOME
Students will know how to take a biological survey within a salt marsh
habitat to take measurements of species diversity.
All students can regroup in the picnic area and share what they have
found. Revisit the groups’ hypotheses. Have their conclusions effectively
supported their hypotheses?
At this point, discuss how the incursion of non-native species can
decrease biodiversity within a given area. Some of the reasons include:
1) non-native species often do not have natural predators that can control
their populations, 2) some non-native plants have the capacity to thrive in
disturbed or compacted soil, and 3) some non-native plants can establish
themselves at a rapid rate, and can take over spaces that had been
occupied by native species.
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
There are few tracts of undisturbed land left in the San Francisco Bay
Area, and now many of the habitats where native flora and fauna can be
found are restored habitats. Much of the land has been developed, and
what few natural areas remain have been taken over by non-native plants.
Have a class discussion revolving around the following questions: How
are our ecosystems in peril? How is this an environmental justice issue?
What can we do to reverse the damage?
Students can conduct the data collection over an extended period of time,
by returning to the site, and taking additional surveys at regular intervals
throughout the school year. Are restoration efforts helping to increase
biodiversity in the park?
Visit the LEJ Native Plant Nursery, and aid in native plant propagation;
the plants that are propagated at the Nursery are used to aid in habitat
restoration efforts at Candlestick Point, Heron’s Head Park, and other
sites.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Calflora
1700 Shattuck Ave. #198
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 528-5426
www.calflora.org
Golden Gate Park
(415) 379-8000
www.calacademy.org/
(415) 262-4400
www.calparks.org
CALLING NATURE HOME
(415) 561-3000
www.parksconservancy.org
Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council
PO Box 170518
www.hanc-sf.org/
Arboretum
501 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-2700
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Plant Survey Data Sheet
Survey Team Members: __________________________________________________________________________
Date of Survey: __/__/__ Location: ________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis: An area of land that is covered in ___________________________________ has more biodiversity
because ________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Native Plant Survey
Native Plant Name
% Cover
Number Found
Total % cover:
Total # of Individuals:
Non-Native Plant Name
Total # of plant types:
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PLANT SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Notes (animals observed, etc.):
Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct/incorrect (circle one) because my studies showed that
______________________________________________________________________________________________ .
The results of the study show that _________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________ .
This study connects back to environmental justice by _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ .
CALLING NATURE HOME
147
SOIL
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Soil
GRADES: 2-12
Overview: In this activity, students will learn about the ecological
significance of soil. We will start with a demonstration that illustrates
the scarcity of arable soil, and then learn about soil development,
composition and texture.
PLANTS AND
HORTICULTURE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Arable land is a precious commodity.
• A plant’s ability to grow is affected by the soil’s texture and
composition.
• Students will determine the soil’s composition through experiments.
• Students will use plants as indicators of soil’s water, mineral and
nutrient content, and pH level.
Grade 2: Earth Sciences 3abcde; Investigation and Experimentation 4dg
Grade 3: Life Sciences 3bcd; Investigation and Experimentation 5e
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2c, 3ad; Earth Sciences 5bc; Investigation and
Experimentation 6abf
Grade 5: Earth Sciences 3a; Investigation and Experimentation 6ah
Grade 6: Earth Sciences (Shaping Earth’s Surface) 2ab; Earth Sciences
(Resources) 6b; Investigation and Experimentation 7ab
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Apple
Knife
Jars for each group
Water, either out of a hose or in a large container
Spoon for each group
Texture-by-feel soil flow diagrams
Soil texture diagram (copies to take back to school)
Soil indicators chart
Plant field guides
Large topographic map of California
30 minutes
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park, Candlestick
Point SRA, or the LEJ Native Plant Nursery.
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SOIL
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Soil is a crucial component in the ecosystem. One tablespoon of healthy
soil can have six to seven billion organisms contained within it, including
bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, worms, mites, and spring tails. The
mineral portion of soil is formed by the weathering of rocks into small
particles. The five factors of soil formation are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Climate – temperature and rainfall
Organisms – microscopic and macroscopic plants, animals, bacteria,
fungi
Relief – topography of land surfaces, which affects runoff and
drainage
Parent material – rocks from which the soil is formed
Time – period when parent materials are subjected to these
processes
Much of the soil around the San Francisco Bay has been carried and
deposited by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers from the Sierra
Nevada range.
The nutrient-rich, organic material known as humus comes from
decomposed plant and animal matter. Humus, which humans can recreate through composting, occupies the top layers of soil where leaf litter
and mulch break down.
Introduction
Activity
CALLING NATURE HOME
Hold an apple in front of the students, and explain that the apple
represents the Earth. Cut the apple into four equal pieces. Ask the
students about what three of the four apple pieces represent. It is the
area that is covered by the ocean. Only ¼ of the Earth’s surface is
covered in land. Cut this piece in two. One of these pieces (1/8 of the
Earth) represent swamps, deserts, glacial and mountainous areas where
people cannot live, and the other 1/8 is where all humans inhabit our
planet. Cut that 1/8 piece into four (1/32 each). Three of the four pieces
(3/32) represents an area of land that is too hot or cold, wet or dry,
rocky, polluted or developed (buildings, roads, etc.) for plants and animals
to flourish. The remaining 1/32 represents arable land. Arable means
that the land has the capacity for cultivation, or the land on which farmers
can grow plants. Peel the skin off of the 1/32 slice. The skin represents
the topsoil that all humans on Earth depend on for food production.
Divide the class into groups of 2 to 4 students. Each student will receive
a jar and a spoon. The students can fill the jar about a third of the way
with soil from Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point SRA. The jar can
then be filled with water, shaken until the particles are in suspension, and
149
SOIL
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
then set down so that the soil can stratify by particle size by the end of
the period. If the soil does not settle by the end of the period, the jars can
be taken back to school to be examined the next day in class.
Each group can then conduct the texture-by-feel method to examine the
soil’s particle size distribution. The groups will get a texture-by-feel flow
diagram and can follow the directions on the chart to examine the soil’s
texture. Soil texture refers to the relative proportions of sand, silt, and
clay material particles in the examined soil. Texture plays a large role in
plant growth based on the soil’s ability to hold water and accommodate
root growth. A sandy, coarse textured soil is often called a light soil, while
a fine-textured, clay soil is referred to as heavy. Silt represents a particle
size that is coarser than clay and finer than sand.
Plants in an ecosystem serve as indicators of a soil’s composition with
regard to:
• Moisture content
• Level of compaction
• Mineral content
• Nutrient content
The groups of students will then get soil indicator charts and photo
ID cards for some of the plants that grow at Heron’s Head Park and
Candlestick Point SRA. By identifying the types of plants that are growing
within this ecosystem, and understanding that plants prefer to grow in soil
with certain characteristics, the students should be able to deduce the
characteristics of the soil based on the plants that they find.
After the soil indicator plant ID test, students can go back to the jar of soil
that ideally will have stratified by particle size by that time. If not, then the
jars can be taken back to school to be observed the next day in class.
The heavier particles (sand) should have formed a layer at the bottom,
while the lighter particles should have formed layers on top if the soil is
composed of different particle sizes. After determining the approximate
ratio of sand vs. silt vs. clay, the soil texture diagram sheet can be used
to determine the type of soil (sandy clay, loam, etc.) that can be found at
the site.
OUTCOME
CALLING NATURE HOME
Students should be able to name the soil type based on particle
composition, as well as the characteristics of the soil.
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SOIL
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Have the students report out on their discoveries and see if the different
groups came to similar or different conclusions. Discuss what could
influence the mineral and nutrient compositions of soil, and how the
Park’s soil came to be and how it continues to affect the flora and fauna
of the ecosystem. Use the topographic map of California to show how
eroded soil could have been transported from the Sierras to the San
Francisco Bay over the course of eons. Also discuss what the implications
are of the disappearance of wetlands around the San Francisco Bay.
The students can build their own organic nutrient-rich soil in their
classrooms through vermiculture – worm composting! You can build your
own bin using a 12-gallon plastic storage bin. Drill aeration holes into the
bin using a ¼ to ½ inch drill bit. To prepare the bedding, collect a stack of
newspaper. Shred into 1 inch strips, place in a bucket of water, and wring
the paper out until it is as wet as a wrung-out sponge. Remember that
the bedding needs to stay moist to serve as a proper environment for the
worms. You can start with about a pound of worms that can be purchased
locally at a garden center. A pound of worms will be able to handle about
a pound of food per day. Make sure to bury the food in the bedding to
prevent smells and fruit flies.
The following can be fed to a worm bin:
• Shredded paper products
• Fruit and vegetable trimmings (avoid citrus, because the acidity will hurt
the worms)
• Grains, beans, or breads (without butter, margarine or mayonnaise)
• Egg shells
• Leaves
• Tea bags
• Coffee grounds and filters
• Lawn clipping and weeds
Avoid meat, dairy, and oily products.
Once your nutrient rich compost is ready to harvest, sort out the worms
and collect the castings (feces), which are great to use on house plants
or a school garden.
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SOIL
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Alemany Farm
992 Ellsworth St.
www.alemanyfarm.org
San Francisco Garden Resource Organization
(SFGRO)
www.sfgro.org
[email protected]
Appelhof, M. (1997). Worms Eat My Garbage,
2nd edition. Kalamazoo, MI: Flower Press.
Sloat Garden Center
2700 Sloat Boulevard
Other locations in San Francisco as well
(415) 566-4415
www.sloatgardens.com
Bay Worms
2600 Lemoore Road
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 776-6210
www.bayworms.org
Flowercraft Garden Center
550 Bayshore Boulevard
(415) 824-1900
www.flowercraftgc.com
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 853-8300
www.usgs.gov
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
15290 Coleman Valley Road
Occidental, CA 95465
(707) 874-1557
www.oaec.org
CALLING NATURE HOME
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Soil Texture Chart
10
0
Showing the percentages of clay, silt, and sand in the basic textural classes.
90
10
80
20
nt
50
pe
50
rce
t
sil
60
cla
nt
y
40
rce
pe
70
30
clay
40
sandy
clay
60
silty
clay
70
silty clay
loam
30
clay loam
20
80
sandy clay loam
90
loam
sandy loam
10
silt loam
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
0
10
sand
silt
loamy
sand
10
percent sand
US Dept. of Agriculture. Natural Resource Conservation Service.
National Soil Survey Handbook, title 430-V1.
Available online at: http://soils.usda.gov/technical/handbook/
Accessed 1/21/2010
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Soil Texture Feel Analysis Chart
START
Place approximately 25 g soil in palm. Add water dropwise and
knead the soil to break down all aggregates. Soil is at the
proper consistency when plastic and moldable, like moist putty.
Add dry soil to
soak up water
yes
Does soil remain in a ball
when squeezed?
yes
Is soil
too dry?
no
no
Is soil
too wet?
no
SAND
yes
Place ball of soil between thumb and forefinger gently pushing the soil with the thumb,
squeezing it upward into a ribbon. Form a ribbon of uniform thickness and width.
Allow the ribbon to emerge and extend over the forefinger, breaking from its own weight.
LOAMY
SAND
no
Does soil form a ribbon?
yes
Does soil make a weak
ribbon less than 2.5 cm
long before breaking?
no
Does soil make a medium
ribbon 2.5–5 cm
long before breaking?
yes
no
Does soil make a strong
ribbon less than 5 cm or
longer before breaking?
yes
yes
Excessively wet a small pinch of soil in palm and rub with forefinger.
SANDY
LOAM
yes
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
SANDY
CLAY
LOAM
yes
no
SILT
LOAM
yes
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
yes
Neither
grittiness nor
smoothness
predominates
SANDY
CLAY
yes
no
SILTY
CLAY
LOAM
yes
no
LOAM
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
no
SILTY
CLAY
yes
no
CLAY
LOAM
yes
Neither
grittiness nor
smoothness
predominates
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
no
CLAY
yes
Neither
grittiness nor
smoothness
predominates
U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Soil – Helping People Understand Soils CD, version 3.0. 2005.
http://soils.usda.gov/education/resources/lessons/texture/soil_texture_hi.jpg
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Lupinus sp.
Mallow
Malva sp.
Mustard
Brassica sp.
Nettle, stinging
Urtica urens
Pigweed
Amaranthus sp.
Pineapple weed
Plantain
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
matricarioides
X
Artemisia spp.
Scarlet pimpernel
Anagallis arvensis
Strawberry
Fragaria sp.
Willow
Salix sp.
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
X
X
X
raphanistrum
Sagewort
X
X
Rapranus
Radish, wild
X
Matricaria
Plantago sp.
Salty
Lupine
High Fertility
X
Low Fertility
Polygonum sp.
Alkaline
Knotweed
Acid
X
Hardpan/Crusty
Conium maculatum
Clay
Hemlock
Sand
X
High P
Rumex sp.
Low P
Dock
High K
Trifolium sp.
Low K
Clover
High N
Stellaria medina
Low N
Chickweed
Uncultivated/ Neglected
NAME
Wet
BOTANICAL
NAME
Dry
COMMON
Cultivated/Tilled
Soil Indicators
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Adapted with permission from Kourik, Robert. (1986). Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape.
Santa Rosa, CA: Metamorph Press. www.robertkourik.com
CALLING NATURE HOME
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BIRD SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Bird Survey
GRADES: 3-12*
Overview: This activity facilitates the development of bird observational
skills. Students will learn about bird adaptations, and will be able to
identify birds in the field. Reflection activities will allow students to think
about the role that stewardship lays in providing better habitats for birds.
BIRDS
*GRADES
3-12; younger students can complete the survey orally, and have a
teacher record their observations
KEY CONCEPTS
• Birds are adapted to thrive in particular habitats.
• Birds can be distinguished by their varied physical characteristics and
behaviors.
• Surveying allows us to observe the numbers and the diversity of
species within different habitats.
• Restoration helps to increase the number of birds that can inhabit the
area.
• Birds can serve as bioindicators of the health of an ecosystem.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will gain an appreciation for wildlife, and learn the
importance of stewardship.
• Students will see the connections between bird numbers, ecosystem
health, and human health.
• Students will learn how to identify birds, and record their observations
on a data table.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 3: Life Sciences 3abcde; Investigation and Experimentation
5abcde
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2abc, 3ab
Experimentation 7bd
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcdeg; Investigation and
Experimentation 1abcdfk
• Bird guides
• Binoculars (one per pair of students)
• Spotting scope
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•
•
•
•
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Clipboards
Survey worksheets
Pencils
Bird Migration in the Americas Thematic Map (National Geographic
–shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/maps/wall-maps/
specialty-maps/bird-migration-in-the-americas-thematic-map)
30 minutes to 1 hour for each habitat
Point State Recreation Area.
The San Francisco Bay Area was once home to millions of birds. Habitat
loss and increased pollution that accompanied the human development
of the Bay and its surrounding watershed has caused bird populations
to decline dramatically; however, remnant wetlands, as well as restored
wetlands along the San Francisco Bay, remain important rest stops for
birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway, which extends along the Pacific
Coast from Alaska to South America. It is estimated that half of the birds
that migrate along the Pacific Flyway make a stop in the San Francisco
Bay estuary.
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point attract more than one hundred
species of migratory (birds that do not stay in one geographic area yearround) and resident birds. Killdeer have been observed to nest in the
park. The majority of the birds are shorebirds that enter the wetland
habitats. Each habitat that can be found at the Park provides different
sources of food, water, and shelter that limit the kinds of birds that can
survive there. Each bird’s beak and feet types have been adapted to their
specific diet and habitat, which means that they have evolved to survive
within their niches efficiently.
Egrets, herons, and shorebirds such as sandpipers, whimbrels, and
avocets have similar long, tweezer-like beaks and long legs that help them
within a wetland habitat. These birds, which live in the salt marsh habitat,
are adapted to search for fish or mud creatures in the tidal ponds. They
are identifiable by their long beaks, necks, and legs. Long, narrow beaks
allow the birds to reach into the burrows of the mud-dwelling creatures.
Their long, skinny legs keep them from sinking into the mud or getting
too wet when they are reaching into the mud flats with their beaks to find
food. Egrets, herons, and other fishing birds have S-shaped necks that
function like springs, so their heads can dart quickly into the water which
allows their beaks to spear fish.
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Hawks, owls, American kestrels and peregrine falcons are raptors, which
are predatory birds that have curved beaks and talons, or sharp-clawed
feet. They live in the upland habitat. Raptors are adapted to rip their food
into bite-sized shreds: they hold their food down with a talon, as they rip
their prey into pieces with their sharp beaks. Their prey consists of small
birds and rodents.
Wrens, finches, and sparrows have beaks that are adapted to crush
seeds. They reside in the upland habitat in the shrubs and grasses. Their
toes curve and have claws that are adapted to grasp branches when they
are perching.
Mallards, buffleheads, western grebes, and pelicans live in open water
and tidal pond habitats. Their scooping beaks are adapted to scoop up
large numbers of small fish or to strain plant material from the mud.
The pre-trip activity, “Beaks and Feet,” explores birds’ beak and feet
adaptations specifically. This activity can be conducted prior to the
field trip so that the students can be better equipped to identify bird
adaptations based on beak and feet morphology.
In addition to visual cues, birds can also be identified through their
vocalizations, tracks, nests, and roosting sites.
Birds often serve as bioindicators of environmental health. Populations
fluctuate based on the health of the water and marsh. The more
pollutants and the less available food and shelter is, the less birds are
to be found. Using birds as a bioindicator has environmental justice
implications for us, because the health of the Bay affects the health of
the people who rely on the Bay for food and recreation. Many individuals
who catch fish in the Bay are low-income and working class people of
color. The areas surrounding Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point are
filled with many industrial sources of air and water pollution which affect
the health of wildlife and humans.
Introduction
CALLING NATURE HOME
Introduce the students to the various habitats in the park by walking
around and pointing them out. Have the students point out the
characteristics that differentiate the habitats (uplands grass, marsh, mud
flats, open water). Then ask the students about how each habitat provides
the birds with their basic needs. What may be their source of drinking
water? What is their food source? Where is their shelter? Is there a
place for them to rear their young? Is this habitat disturbed by humans
or other animals such as cats and dogs? Divide the class into pairs. Each
pair will function as a research team.
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The recorder will record the species and the number of birds counted. The
partners can take turns with recording and viewing through binoculars.
The bird guides can be used to identify the species’ common names
and scientific (Latin) names – scientific names are used by scientists
worldwide, who speak different languages and use different common
names, but share scientific names as a universal way to identify species.
Pass out binoculars, bird guides, and clipboards with bird surveys and
pencils to each pair of students.
Activity
The partners will locate various bird species with their binoculars and
will determine species of birds using the field guides. Once they agree
on the type of bird identified, the recorder will write the species names
(both common name and scientific name) and a tally of the numbers on
the survey categorized by the habitat in which they were sighted. As an
extension, have the students take note of the birds’ behavior. During the
activity, you can ask these questions:
What do you think the birds eat? How can you tell?
You can often figure out what a bird’s feeding adaptations are by
looking at the beak and feet. Have the students guess where the bird
would be inclined to be and what they may eat based on their physical
characteristics. Also have the students observe the birds’ behavior to
determine feeding habits.
If this bird’s food wasn’t present in their habitat anymore due to
pollution or habitat loss, what would happen to the birds here?
The bird’s numbers would decline unless it could eat another locally
available food. Some birds, like seagulls, are generalists and can eat a
variety of foods. They tend to be more numerous than the specialists, who
specialize in very specific dietary needs based on their physiologies. In
areas affected by pollution and habitat loss, food sources are likely to be
impacted, and the specialists would be more adversely affected, and their
numbers are often lower than that of the generalists.
Would bird populations be different throughout the year?
Depending on the season, some migratory birds may or may not be
present. The presence of food sources may also be seasonal and could
have an effect on the types of birds that can be seen depending on the
time of year. Day-to-day weather conditions can also have an effect on the
presence of birds.
Birds are often called bioindicators, which means they serve as
biological (living) indicators of ecosystem health. If bird numbers are
low, what does that indicate about the health of the ecosystem – air,
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BIRD SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
land and water? How does this information relate to human health?
If birds cannot find food within the ecosystem or are reproducing at lower
rates, then the habitat could be polluted. Pollution can have adverse
effects on people living near the Bay. Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick
Point are adjacent to areas with many sources of pollution. Residents of
these areas, who are mostly low-income people of color, are often disproportionately affected by the higher rates of pollutants in these areas that
cause high rates of chronic illnesses such as asthma and cancer.
Monitoring birds over time can serve as a means to assess air and water
quality, indicating whether or not this ecosystem is in good health.
If we planted more native shrubs, would we see more song birds and
seed eaters?
Yes, if the other elements of their habitat (clean water, etc.) were also
present.
OUTCOME
Students should be able to recognize a handful of birds, and name what
they may eat based on their physical and behavioral adaptations.
Once the students have completed the survey, ask a check-out question
that everyone can answer: Did you see a bird that you have never seen
before? Which one? What were most of the birds doing? Now ask what
the survey results indicate to us about the habitats and the birds. Would
the numbers differ throughout the year? How would numbers change if
we created habitat? How can we help to create habitat?
Add together each group’s tallies for each species and compile them into
a class list. This can lead to extensions that utilize math skills, such as
looking at the mean, median, and mode for birds in different habitats or
comparing birds sighted at different times of the year.
To deepen their knowledge about birds, students could do a research
project about a bird they remember from the field trip and present
that information to their classmates. Is that bird rare, threatened or
endangered? Is the bird a resident or migratory bird? Does it live in areas
other than San Francisco? What does it really eat? When does it have
offspring, and how many do they have? Where does it nest? Have people
either deliberately or inadvertently created human-made habitats for it?
1. Return to the park several times over the course of the year and
survey the birds again. See how the diversity changes over the year,
at different times during the day, or at different tides. Create posters
or web sites that make your data public and can be shared with
others at school, with community members, or on the internet.
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ACTION PROJECTS
2.
3.
4.
Research ways to enhance feeding or nesting sites within the
habitats. Work with the Park staff to create nesting boxes or
perches. Help with restoration efforts involving the planting of native
plants or the removal of invasive plants to enhance habitats with
increased sources of food and shelter.
Your students can make temporary signs that warn visitors to stay
out of an area in the park because it is a sensitive seasonal nesting
site for birds. They can potentially help to develop educational signs
about specific birds that could become permanent signage within the
park. Talk to the Park staff for ideas.
Students can research other types of bioindicators that are present
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Research can be broadened to include
bioindicators of California, the United States, and the rest of the world.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Cornell Lab or Ornithology
Attn: CommunIcations
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
(800) 843-BIRD
[email protected]
www.birds.cornell.edu
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Bolinas Lagoon Preserve
4900 Highway One
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
(415) 868-9244
(F) (415) 868-1699
[email protected]
www.egret.org
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
www.epa.gov/owow/birds
Bird guide: Chambers, Mark, ed., 100 Birds of Heron’s
Head Park. Golden Gate Audubon Society, 2007.
Bird guide: Fisher, CC and Morlan, J. (1996). Birds
of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Lone Pine
Publishing, Canada.
Christmas Bird Count
National Audubon Society
225 Varick Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10014
[email protected]
www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 843-2222
(F) (510) 843-5351
[email protected]
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO)
Fort Mason
(415) 331-0730
www.ggro.org
Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO)
3820 Cypress Drive, #11
Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 781-2555
www.prbo.org
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BIRD SURVEY
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Bird Survey
Wetland Monitoring Team Members: _______________________________________________________________
Time of survey: ___:___ am/pm
Number of people present: ______
Number of dogs present: ______
Tidal information for today: High tide ___:___ am/pm Low tide ___:___ am/pm
Weather (check all applicable):
sunny
partly cloudy
rainy
drizzly
foggy
windy
Bird Observations:
Species Name
Description of Habitat Area (in
or flying over)
Observations of Bird Activities and Behaviors
(include number of birds observed performing)
Breeding:
Resting:
Flying:
Feeding:
Breeding:
Resting:
Flying:
Feeding:
Breeding:
Resting:
Flying:
Feeding:
Breeding:
Resting:
Flying:
Feeding:
CALLING NATURE HOME
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FIT TO BE TIDE
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Fit To Be
Tide
GRADES: 4-12
Overview: Participating in habitat restoration projects and recreational
activities in the San Francisco Bay requires an understanding of tides.
Students will have an opportunity to observe tides in action. Note that
this is an activity that works best with an all-day field trip to Heron’s Head
Park or Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
(Adaptations for the activities Fit to be Tide were used with permission from Environmental
Concern Inc. PO Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663 www.wetland.org (410)745-9620. This
material may not be reproduced without permission from Environmental Concern, the
copyright owner.)
WETLANDS
KEY CONCEPTS
• Tides are affected by the gravitational influence of the sun and moon.
• Tidal habitats are homes for many plants and animals.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will discuss the causes of tidal shifts.
• Students will learn to read a tide chart for times and heights of high
and low tides.
• Students will measure the tidal height and the rate of either incoming
or outgoing flow.
• Students will describe how animals behave in response to the
changing tide.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 4: Life Sciences 3abcd; Earth Sciences 5abc; Investigation and
Experimentation 6abcdef
Experimentation 7abcdefgh
Grade 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ab
• Local tide table (www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov)
• Copies of Tide Survey (the same survey can be printed on both sides
so that the measurements can be taken at two separate times)
• Clipboards and pencils
• Meter sticks
• Colored surveying flags (one different colored flag for each group)
• Ping pong balls
• Permanent marker or paint
• Measuring tape
• Pictures of salt marsh plants and animals, laminated if possible
(www.CalFlora.org)
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MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
20 minutes for introduction, 30 minutes for each trip to the marsh (one
high tide session, one low tide session)
This class will be led by LEJ staff or a classroom teacher at Heron’s
Head Park or Candlestick Point SRA.
Tides are one of nature’s many scheduled events, a daily rhythm as
dependable and predictable as the rising and setting of the sun. In fact,
tides are the result of the combined effects of the centripetal force
created by the earth’s rotation and the gravitational pull of the sun and
moon. As the moon travels around the earth, and as the earth rotates
around its axis daily, the water in our oceans get “pushed” and “pulled”
to and from the surface on which it sits. High tide occurs when centripetal
force of the earth and the moon’s gravitational forces create an elliptical
bulge of water on the earth. At low tide, the water level drops as it gets
pulled away toward other parts of the earth that are closer to the moon
so that the elliptical bulge moves to other areas.
Creeks, rivers, and bays that are connected to the ocean are influenced to
some degree by ocean tides. Take, for example, a river that empties into
the ocean. During high tide, the ocean water is “pushed” into the mouth
of the river, and the river’s surface level rises as the tide pushes itself
upstream. Tidal influence can reach far up a river and its tributaries, but
the change in tidal height is most dramatic closer to the ocean.
Tidal habitats support a vast abundance of important plants and animals.
Living in the harsh changing conditions of tidal areas requires specialized
adaptations and behaviors. The wide range of niches (a particular
species’ relational position within its environment) supplied by the
changing tide contributes to the biodiversity (diversity of life forms) of this
ecosystem.
The tidal area is characterized by two zones:
• The intertidal or littoral zone is an area within the tidal zone that experiences cyclical inundation and exposure during daily high and low tides.
• The subtidal zone is usually under water as the tides shift but becomes
exposed during very low tides.
The Pacific Coast, along with most of the coastal areas of the world, experience two high tides and two low tides during every twenty-five hour cycle.
Tidal characteristics:
• Spring tides occur each month when there is a full or new moon. This
happens because of the greater gravitational pull created when the
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moon, earth and sun are aligned. Tidal fluctuations are much greater
during spring tides, with high tides being extremely high and low tides
being extremely low.
• The smallest tidal fluctuations occur during neap (“napping”) tides
when the moon and the sun are at right angles to the earth. This
happens twice a month during the half moon.
• A slack tide refers to the period just before the tide makes a directional
shift when little water movement occurs.
It is important to be familiar with local tidal fluctuations for a safe and
successful study of tidal habitats such as beaches, salt marshes and tide
pools. Visitors to tidal areas should consult with tide tables to note when
the spring tides will occur and what heights they will attain. Every location
has a unique tide table because of the variable distances and angles
from the sun and moon and the differing distances from the ocean. Every
location does not have the same level of tidal fluctuation or time.
The introduction can be conducted either in the classroom or at the Park.
Introduction
Students can answer the question: What are tides? The level of the
ocean’s water is affected by the gravity of the moon, sun and earth. As
the moon rotates around the earth, the ocean’s water is pulled by the
moon’s gravitational pull.
A demonstration with volunteers shows how this occurs in a very
simplified way. One student can wear a baggy blue t-shirt, and the other
student can hold a ball. The student in blue represents the earth while
the student with the ball represents the moon.
The students will model what happens over the course of a twenty-four
hour period. The side of the earth that is closest to the moon experiences
high tide, as well as the side opposite from the location of the moon. The
water bulges out at these points, while at the sides that are 90 degrees
away, the water recedes, and the water levels are lower as they get
pushed out into the high tide areas. Two more students – the high tide
students – will come up and tug on the t-shirt of the earth on both sides.
As the moon rotates around the earth, the high tide and low tide areas
shift. The moon will rotate slowly around the earth, and the high tide
students will walk in a coordinated orbit around the earth with the moon,
tugging on the shirt as they walk along. The earth stays stationary, so the
location of the tides shift with the moon’s orbit.
After the moon and the tides make a full revolution, the instructor will
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share with the students that the earth’s belly button indicates where
along our planet San Francisco is. How many times during the day did the
location experience high and low tides? Twice.
Once the students remove their costumes and rejoin the group, the class
can discuss which bodies of water are affected by the tide: anything
connected to an ocean and within the reaches of its tide, including rivers,
creeks, bays, estuaries, gulfs, channels, and seas.
The sun and the earth as well as the moon’s phases have an effect in
terms of how much the tides can fluctuate in terms of differences in
height. Spring tides happen when the sun, moon and earth are lined up
straight, and the tides are at their highest and lowest points. Neap tides
happen when the sun, moon and earth are at right angles in relation to
one another, and the high and low tides have a smaller height difference.
Activity
Prior to visiting the Park, tide tables should be distributed to each student.
Tides can also be researched online at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/. Once
the reading of tide tables is reviewed, students can record the high and
low tides for the day of the field trip.
The following is a two-part activity that involves revisiting the location
a few hours later, so it is recommended that this activity is conducted
by classes who are planning all-day field trips to the Park. At the Park,
the group will congregate near the bird blinds. Is this an ebb tide, flood
tide, or a slack tide? The class can observe the water’s motion and
come to a consensus. The class will be divided into four groups. Each
group will be given a meter stick and a surveying flag. Each group can
choose a spot that they think might be affected by tides, and mark the
spot with a surveying flag. Each group will get a flag of a different color,
since the class will revisit this site later. Each group will place one end
of the meter stick on the ground, and mark the level of the water on the
stick. Each group can note on their tide survey sheets the exact time of
day and describe whether they are observing an ebb, flood, or slack tide.
The groups can gather at the end and share out their results. Each group
should record the other groups’ results on their survey sheets as well.
Students can also calculate the average water height.
The class will then move on to the tidal channel. Each group will get a
ping pong ball and a stopwatch in order to measure how fast the tide is
coming in or going out. They are taking a measure of the current speed.
One student from each group will hold the meter stick along the surface
of the water in the direction of the water flow. Another student will drop a
ping pong ball at one end of the meter stick (have the student be mindful
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of placing the ball on the upstream end of the stick). A third student will
record with the stopwatch the length of time it takes for the ping pong ball
to travel one meter. If students have learned how to do so in their math
classes, they can convert their measurement into meters per second.
Back at the bird blinds, students can compare the average height they
recorded with the high and low tides from the tide table. How would this
wetland look different at a different tide? At high tide, the entire salt
marsh is under water. At low tide, the mud flats stretch far out into India
Basin. What plants and animals are out here? What adaptations do
these organisms have to deal with tidal fluctuations? Shorebirds take
refuge on higher ground above the pickleweed zone where gum plant
dominates. Salt marsh plants can survive varying lengths of inundation.
Crabs, oysters, and other invertebrates feed at high tide and take shelter
in the mud or under rocks at low tide.
After spending a few hours at the Park, possibly conducting other
activities from Calling Nature Home, the students can revisit the bird
blinds, seek out their survey flags and conduct the tide survey a second
time. Has the level changed? If it has, the measurement was definitely
taken in a tidal area. The tide level should be different because it should
be at a different point along its twenty-five hour cycle. Students can also
conduct the current speed measurement a second time.
What other factors might contribute to a change in water level? Rain
or many dry days in a row might contribute to a change in water level,
especially in a small or enclosed body of water. Other factors may include:
public utility water diversion, fallen woody debris, increased runoff due to
reduced vegetation or paving, and storm surges.
What visual cues indicate tide height? Benchmarks are permanent
stationary landmarks that can be used as reference points for observing
and studying tides. Different salt marsh plants grow in different tidal
zones – cordgrass grows closest to the water while pickleweed and
saltgrass grow at higher elevations.
OUTCOME
Students will learn to read a tide chart for times and heights of high and
low tides, and learn to measure tidal height and current speed.
Students can discuss their results, and describe how animals might
respond to the changing tide. Birds that feed in the mud flats have long
beaks and necks for feeding, long legs to keep from getting wet, and thin
feet to keep from sinking. Plants have also adapted to changing water
levels. Wetland plants can be inundated for varying amounts of time.
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Cordgrass can transport oxygen from its leaves down to its roots as a
survival mechanism. Saltgrass and pickleweed have adapted different
methods of salt excretion. Since the plants have different tolerances to
salt water, they live in different zones along the salt marsh.
The students can revisit the Park to monitor the tide for a week, or twice
a week for a month, and correlate changes (especially spring and neap
tides) with the moon phases.
The “Plant Survey” module can be conducted in the marsh and in the
transition zone. Transects can be drawn across several elevation levels so
that students can see different species growing at different tide levels.
Students can pay a visit to other parks that contain tidal habitats. Before
the visit, students should examine a tide table to compare the height and
timing of the tides to the tides at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point
SRA.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Bay Model Visitor Center
2100 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-3871
http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/bmvc/
Crissy Field Center
(415) 561-7695
www.crissyfield.org
(NOAA)
Tides and Currents
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory
Fort Mason
(415) 331-0730
www.ggro.org
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Tide Survey
Group Number: ______________
Tide Team Names: __________________________________________________ Date of Survey: ______________
Time of Survey:
Group #
__:__ am pm
Exact Time
High Tide: __:__ am pm
Water Height (m)
Low Tide: __:__ am pm
Type of tide (ebb, flood, slack)
Current Speed
1
2
3
4
Average
When is the next spring tide? ______________________________________________________
When is the next neap tide? _______________________________________________________
How have plants and animals in a salt marsh adapted to tidal changes?
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TREASURE HUNT
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Treasure
Hunt
Overview: Students will look for natural objects found in wetland habitats
at Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. They
will be challenged to observe, listen and identify elements of the wetland
environment.
Refuge, 1990)
GRADES: K-5*
WETLANDS
*GRADES
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
K-5 (older students can run this activity as an energizer)
• Observation is an important way to learn from nature.
• Spending time in nature allows students to gain an appreciation for
wildlife and the complex interactions between organisms.
• Students will be introduced to a variety of objects and living things
that can be found in a wetland habitat, such as seeds, birds, bones, etc.
• Students will practice their observation and identification skills.
• Students will learn from their classmates as they share what they
have found.
Kindergarten: Life Sciences 2ac; Investigation and Experimentation
4abde
Grade 1: Life Sciences 2a; Investigation and Experimentation 4ab
Grade 2: Physical Sciences1a; Life Sciences 2d; Investigation and
Experimentation 4cdg
Grade 3: Investigation and Experimentation 5e
Grade 4: Life Sciences 3a; Investigation and Experimentation 6f
Grade 5: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ade; Earth Sciences (California
Geology) 9a
• Paper bag for each group
• Copies of the Treasure Hunt List (one per group)
• Pencils and clipboards for each group
45 minutes
Point SRA.
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
When initiating a unit on the environment, students should be introduced
to nature in a way that they can feel comfortable being in that type of
environment. As Joseph Cornell wrote in Sharing Nature with Children,
“I have never understood the value of such moments of touching and
entering into nature. I have seen through my own experience and that of
many others, that we can nourish that deeper awareness until it becomes
a true and vital understanding of our place in this world.” Richard Louv
writes in Last Child in the Woods: “ …children are so disconnected from
nature that they either idealize it or associate it with fear” because many
children, especially in urban settings, have had their access to nature
denied. Neighborhoods such as Bayview Hunters Point are surrounded
by urban landscapes into which many parents are reluctant to send their
children. Many youth from all walks of life in the United States are losing
their connection to nature as many lead more sedentary lives that are
defined by video games and television.
All too often, people in certain neighborhoods are denied access to open
spaces; therefore, Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA are a
rich resource for people who live in the Bayview Hunters Point community.
It is because of the hard-won efforts of community activists that these
neighborhood parks with restored wetland habitats exist. All people
deserve the same right to clean, safe, open spaces for recreation and
reflection. Restoring ecosystems also provides an ecological purpose by
providing habitats for native plants and animals.
Observation is an important way to learn from nature. With every visit to
a natural area, our senses become more attuned to the sights, sounds,
smells and interactions of the natural world. Being able to identify
organisms and distinguish between different species through sight, smell,
sound and touch is a skill that students need to acquire as they advance
in their scientific studies. From their growing awareness, students can
form their own questions about the processes and interactions they
observe, thereby increasing their capacity for inquiry and critical thought.
Introduction
Gather the group in a circle at any prime vantage point at Heron’s Head
Park or Candlestick Point SRA. Ask if anyone in the class has ever been to
this Park. What are some plants, animals or objects that might be found
here? Tell the students that the class is going to play a short game of ‘ISpy.’ Ask the students whether they know how to play the game.
The game: One person in the group, the spyer, will pick an object, animal
or plant without specifying what they see. That person will provide a clue:
“I spy with my little eye, something…[that describes or provides a hint
about the object.]” For example, a feather may be described as brown and
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TREASURE HUNT
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
fuzzy. Then the group will get to ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions that provide
further hints about the mystery object/organism. The spyer can also
use clues such as, “I hear with my little ear…” and provide an auditory
descriptor.
Split the class into smaller groups if you have enough chaperones, or if
you are comfortable with having students work on their own.
The rules of the game:
• The spyer must pick something that she or he can see or hear;
• The group can only ask yes or no questions;
• If the group cannot figure out the answer, then the spyer must give
another hint.
Play this game for five to ten minutes. Gather the students back together
as a larger group, and ask them whether they have observed things that
they have never encountered before. Tell the students that they will now
get to explore the park through a scavenger hunt.
Activity
Split the class into groups of two to four. Give each group a paper bag
for gathering their items. Have each group bring back all of the items to
share at the end.
Tell the students that they will have 30 minutes to collect as many items
on the list as they can within the time frame. They will be returning to a
designated spot with their collections when their gathering time is up so
that they can share their discoveries with the class.
Make it a rule to collect only things that can be returned safely and
without damage. Make sure that the students leave living things alone.
They can look with their eyes but should avoid disturbing the animals or
hurting the plants. Set geographical boundaries for the game and review
appropriate behavior in sensitive habitats.
Distribute the treasure hunt list, along with clipboards and pencils, to
each group. Give a visual and auditory cue for when they are to return to
the gathering place. Have the students go on the scavenger hunt.
OUTCOME
CALLING NATURE HOME
Students should find at least ten different items in the park and be able
to ask questions about the park, or the wildlife that they observed.
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Gather all of the groups back into a circle. Read each scavenger hunt item
off of the list and have the students quietly hold up their objects when
they are read off the list. While going through the list, see which items
were more abundant and therefore easier to find, and others that were
more scarce, and therefore harder to find. Have the students share out
which items they were especially excited to find.
Have each student draw a picture of one of the objects they found. Have
them draw their pictures on square sheets of paper. Secure all of the
images together as with a quilt and display the wetland environment quilt
in the classroom.
Have the students write questions they had about the park or wildlife from
this field trip. Have them seek out answers to their questions through
research or through future field trips to the Park. Create a KWL chart
– ask the students: What do you Know, what do you Want to learn, and
(to be asked at the end of the Park program) what did you Learn? These
three categories will be written as three columns on a chart and filled
in to assess prior knowledge and interest in the Park’s ecology and to
choose field trips to the park based on what the students share.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Crissy Field Center
(415) 561-7690
www.crissyfield.org
San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
Natural Areas Program
811 Stanyan Street
(415) 831-6330
www.sfnap.org
Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
(415) 561-0360
www.exploratorium.edu
Headlands Institute
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Building 1033
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-5771
www.yni.org/hi
CALLING NATURE HOME
Save the Bay
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 452-9261
[email protected]
www.savesfbay.org
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Treasure Hunt
Please find as many items on this list as you can. Check the items on this sheet as you find them. Place
those items in the bag, and make sure to remember where to return the items, so that you minimize the
disturbance to the habitat!
1.
A feather
12.
Something beautiful
2.
One seed dispersed by the wind
13.
A piece of fishing line
3.
Exactly 25 of one type of item
14.
Something that makes a noise
4.
A thorn
15.
Something yellow
5.
A bone
16.
Something that reminds you of yourself
6.
Three different kinds of seeds
17.
Something soft
7.
Something round
18.
Something that captures the sun’s heat
8.
Something fuzzy
19.
A piece of plant from the upland
9.
A piece of fur
20.
A piece of plant from the salt marsh
10.
Five pieces of human-made litter
21.
A smile! J
11.
Something perfectly straight
Treasure Hunt
Please find as many items on this list as you can. Check the items on this sheet as you find them. Place
those items in the bag, and make sure to remember where to return the items, so that you minimize the
disturbance to the habitat!
1.
A feather
12.
Something beautiful
2.
One seed dispersed by the wind
13.
A piece of fishing line
3.
Exactly 25 of one type of item
14.
Something that makes a noise
4.
A thorn
15.
Something yellow
5.
A bone
16.
Something that reminds you of yourself
6.
Three different kinds of seeds
17.
Something soft
7.
Something round
18.
Something that captures the sun’s heat
8.
Something fuzzy
19.
A piece of plant from the upland
9.
A piece of fur
20.
A piece of plant from the salt marsh
10.
Five pieces of human-made litter
21.
A smile! J
11.
Something perfectly straight
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WHAT’S IN THE WATER?
FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
What’s in
the Water?
GRADES: 6-12
Overview: A number of sources drain into the San Francisco Bay Estuary.
Some of those sources carry pollution into the Bay. This activity informs
students about what may be affecting water quality. The students will
participate in measuring water quality to determine the health of this
habitat, and how it affects plants, animals and people.
WATER QUALITY
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
• The San Francisco Bay is connected to two major river systems that
flow through the state of California, the Pacific Ocean, and to many
urban and agricultural runoff sources.
• The Bay is influenced by tidal flushing, and is a disturbed habitat.
• Measuring water quality can help us to analyze the health of the
water.
• Students can deduce how their activities have an effect on water
quality.
• Students will learn about how humans impact aquatic life.
• Students will make the connection between water quality and human
health.
• Groups will use the La Motte water quality measuring kit to analyze
water quality and identify pollutants that can change the pH,
dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and phosphate levels in the Bay.
Grade 5: Earth Sciences 3abcd; Investigation and Experimentation 6af
Experimentation 7abcdeh
Grade 8: Investigation and Experimentation 9abcde
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcde, 8b
• White board and dry erase markers
• San Francisco Bay map that indicates main point sources of pollution
that ring the Bay (Save the Bay - http://savesfbaygallery.org/
hotspots09/index.html)
• Photographs of San Francisco Bay inhabitants (shorebirds, salt marsh
harvest mouse, fish, marsh plants, leopard shark, people fishing
along the Bay) (Contact LEJ or Bayland Ecosystems Species and
Community Profile, San Francisco Estuary Project (510) 622-2465)
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
• Tidal information for the day (tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/); students
need this information for their data sheet
• Scientific method poster (explains steps of scientific method)
• Vials (3 per group – groups will consist of 3 to 6 students)
• La Motte water quality measuring kits (multiple kits for groups of 3 to
6 students)
• Water quality monitoring data sheets (copies for each group)
• pH scale reference poster
• Lemon juice in a vial
• Baking soda mixed with water in a vial
• Water data analysis information for each group
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR:
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
45 minutes
This activity will be led by LEJ staff at Heron’s Head Park.
A watershed is the area of land that drains into a specific body of water.
Watersheds start at the tops of ridges, and water drains downward
through the force of gravity. A watershed can drain into a body of water
that is as small as a local creek or as large as the San Francisco Bay.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay system
is the largest watershed in the state of California. Forty percent of the
California’s land, which encompasses about 60,000 square miles, drains
into this watershed. Many smaller tributaries that originate in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains drain into the rivers, which in turn drain into the San
Francisco Bay, which flows into the Pacific Ocean.
Clean water is necessary for all living things. Unfortunately, the choices
that humans have made have contributed to the pollution of our
waterways. The San Francisco Bay and Delta have been affected by
pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum, heavy metals
– including mercury from gold mining, radioactive waste, sewage sludge,
and garbage. In a watershed, pollution can come from near and far. That
pollution can harm a wide range of habitats and their inhabitants.
Pollution can be categorized into two main types:
1.
2.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Point source pollution is pollution from a single identifiable
discharge source, such as power plants, factories, auto shops and
sewage treatment plants.
Non-point source pollution is all other sources of pollution, coming
from diverse sources, entering the environment from multiple
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
venues, often mobile, and hard to trace. Because there are
numerous sources, there is not one specific culprit—for example,
pouring used motor oil down storm drains. Another example of nonpoint source pollution is urban runoff: rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation
can run over land or through the ground, pick up pollutants, and
deposit them into bodies of water such as the Bay or introduce them
into groundwater.
Heron’s Head Park is a restored wetland that is located in India Basin,
adjacent to the San Francisco Bay. The Park is surrounded by the nowdefunct Hunters Point PG&E Power Plant, the Hunters Point Naval
Shipyard, traffic from large cargo ships at Pier 96, and numerous other
industrial sites. A pipe from the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant
that sometimes carries unprocessed sewage during storm overflow events
runs nearby.
Pollutants can bring about adverse effects on aquatic habitats, the flora
and fauna that inhabit the water, and people who live on or near the Bay:
• The Bay serves as a habitat for aquatic species that spend the
entirety of their life cycles in the Bay. Water toxicity can have adverse
effects on fish and other Bay species.
• The Bay serves as a transit point for fish that travel from the open
ocean into freshwater creeks to lay eggs. Pollutants upstream in
creeks can cause affect the viability of the fish eggs and reduce fish
populations.
• Pollutants enter the bodies of creatures that are lower in the food
chain, and tend to bioaccumulate as they travel up the food chain.
Humans who eat fish from the rivers, the Bay, or the Pacific Ocean
can be affected by these pollutants.
• Humans who use the water for sustenance or for recreation can be
affected by the toxicity of the water.
As water drains downward along a watershed, it often encounters
wetlands before draining into a larger body of water at the base. Wetlands
are important resources that provide the capacity to filter sediments
and pollutants out of the main body of water, control flooding, provide
habitat for endemic and migratory birds, and other forms of wildlife.
Ninety percent of the wetlands that once lined the perimeter of the Bay
have disappeared due to development. The restoration of wetlands allows
more water to be naturally filtered before draining into the Bay; however,
wetlands are not impervious to pollution. The health of wetland plants and
benthic (sediment) creatures can be adversely affected by toxic pollution.
People must therefore do their part to decrease toxic product use and to
find safe alternatives to toxics.
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
The toxicity of the Bay is an important environmental justice issue.
Some of the dirtiest polluters of the Bay are within close proximity to the
Bayview Hunters Point community. Also, Low income and working class
folks of color, such as the residents of this community, are often the ones
who fish in the Bay for subsistence. The health of Bayview Hunters Point
residents is disproportionately compromised compared to the rest of San
Francisco, so protecting the health of this community by improving water
quality is imperative.
Introduction
Prior to the field trip, we recommend that the class explore the “Who
Dirtied the Water?” pre-trip activity in this curriculum guide.
This field trip activity can be conducted at Heron’s Head Park or another
location along the Bay with easy access to the water.
Begin a discussion about pollution.
Ask the students, what is pollution?
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that
causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to physical systems or
living organisms.
Ask the students where they think pollution comes from. Who or what
causes pollution?
List their answers on a white board. Show the San Francisco Bay map
and point out the main point sources in the India Basin/Hunters Point
area, as well as other points around the Bay. Discussion points: humans
are responsible for introducing most toxins into the environment through
burning fossil fuels, the use of pesticides, and the creation of radioactive
waste, sewage, and garbage. Some toxins, like mercury, lead and
asbestos, exist naturally in the environment (for example, asbestos is an
element of the serpentine rock under much of San Francisco), but human
activity has released and discarded these substances in forms and
concentrations that are acutely harmful.
Ask the students how pollution gets into the Bay.
The map can be used to trace how the pollutants enter the Bay as the
students narrate it to the instructor. Introduce, if not mentioned: via
streams, creeks, rivers, and storm drains, as runoff, via the wind, and
from dumping at industrial sites.
Ask who/what lives in, on, or by the Bay.
Write their answers on a white board and show photographs of the Bay’s
inhabitants as they are called out. Plants and animals that live in the
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
estuary, as well as the adjoining salt marshes, include: phytoplankton
(plants), zooplankton (animals), young and adult fish, shellfish, leopard
sharks, shorebirds, salt marsh harvest mouse (endangered), wetland
plants such as pickleweed, and humans who use the water for recreation
and fishing.
Point out some of the flora and fauna as they are found by the students.
How are these organisms that depend on the Bay affected by pollution?
List these answers on the white board as well. They may die off, they may
get sick, their rates of reproduction may drop off, and they may not find
enough food for survival.
Activity
Divide the class into groups of 3 to 6 students. Have water collection sites
picked out beforehand, and collect water in vials from 3 collection sites.
Meet at the picnic area and hand out test kits and data sheets to each
group.
Model how each test will be conducted first. When modeling the pH
test, use the lemon juice and baking soda to use familiar substances
to differentiate between an acid and base. Show the pH scale poster to
show that organisms are healthy only within a narrow pH range and that
water that is too acidic or alkaline (basic) can be lethal.
Ask the students: what is a hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated
scientific guess that can be verified or negated through testing. Then
show the scientific method poster that shows the steps of the scientific
method. Next, explain the steps that they will go through to conduct the
water quality tests:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Assign jobs to each participant.
Have the students read each information card that explains the
relevance of each test.
Have the groups come up with hypotheses about the results using the
information on the cards and through their prior knowledge of the Bay.
Conduct water quality tests using the samples. Having three
samples allows for the tests to be conducted multiple times, the
samples from the 3 sites to be compared, and for an average to be
calculated between the 3 sites.
Record the results on the data sheets.
Compare the results with their hypotheses and have them justify
their results.
Report the results and the significance of the results to the class.
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OUTCOME
Every student should understand the significance of their test results.
They should be familiar with common sources of pollution that impact the
San Francisco Bay.
Facilitate a discussion on Bay water quality.
Ask your students how they can improve the health of Bay waters.
Some things that students can do include the reduction of pollution,
restoring wetland habitats, trash pick up, community awareness
campaigns related to less toxic alternatives and point source polluters,
community activism (letter writing, petitions, communication with
community leaders, local politicians, and corporations regarding point
source pollution – note that this is how the Hunters Points PG&E plant
was pressured to close in 2006 after decades of pollution).
What are some things that we can do as individuals to prevent
pollution?
Using non-toxic materials, disposing of toxic materials properly, driving
less and using more public transit, reduce-reuse-recycle-rot (compost).
Also, acknowledge other student answers.
The students can use the data collected and compile a class average.
This can be put together in presentation form using poster boards
with photographs, a PowerPoint presentation, or a slide show. This
presentation can be given to the school and to local community groups as
a way to rally support for pollution reduction – both in terms of individual
accountability and corporate/political accountability with larger point
sources of pollution.
Science extension: Investigate the effects of household chemicals on
plants through a bioassay, a toxicity test. Have the students create a
problem statement and create a hypothesis and use the scientific method
to test their hypotheses. Each group can choose a different household
cleaning product and get six lettuce seeds. Plant them all the same way
– same amount of soil, same containers. Have a control sample (without
added variables – in this case, the household cleaning products) with just
water. Mix the water with incrementally more of the cleaning product to
each of the lettuce seeds – the differing amounts of the product are the
variables in this experiment. This bioassay allows you to test the effect of
this product on plant growth. The results should be apparent within a few
days. This data can be captured in a written report or a poster display.
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Alliance for a Clean Waterfront
www.sfcleanwaterfront.org
Clean Water Action
111 New Montgomery Street #600
(415) 369-9160
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
1201 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 286-8400
www.ejcw.org
Environmental Protection Agency
Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
Kids for the Bay
Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 985-1602
[email protected]
CALLING NATURE HOME
Marine Science Institute (MSI)
(510) 364-2760
www.sfbaymsi.org
(NOAA)
Tides and Currents
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-2465
www.sfep.abag.ca.gov
Save the Bay
(510) 452-9261
www.savesfbay.org
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Water Quality Monitoring Data Sheet
Wetland monitoring team members: ________________________________________________________________
Date of survey: __________________
Tidal information for today:
Time of survey: ___:___ am/pm
High tide ___:___ am/pm
Low tide ___:___ am/pm
Water quality observations:
Station
Number
Temperature
Dissolved
Oxygen
pH
Nitrate
Phosphate
Chlorine
1
2
3
Average
Use your water quality survey to answer the following questions:
1.
Were the results of the tests for the 3 locations different? How?
2.
What does your data tell you about the quality of the water?
3.
What are some pollutants that can affect the pH of the water?
4.
What effect does low dissolved oxygen have on organisms that live in the water?
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The pH Scale
0
INCREASING
ACIDITY
1
— Battery Acid
2
— Lemon Juice
3
— Vinegar
—Acid rain
– Adult fish die
4
– Fish reproduction affected
5
– Normal range of precipitation pH
6
NEUTRAL
7
8
— Milk
—Normal range of stream pH
— Baking Soda, Sea Water
9
INCREASING
ALKALINITY
19
— Milk of Magnesia
11
12
— Ammonia
13
— Lye
14
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FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY
Water Data Analysis Information
Use this chart as a guide as you interpret your water quality field data. Remember that each aquatic system
is different, and this chart should only serve as a guide.
What It
Measures
Natural
Reading
Salinity
Dissolved
Oxygen
Water Test
pH
Danger
Reading
Source
Remedies
Amount of
dissolved
salts
Varies –
higher in
summer and
fall, lower in
spring
---
Fresh: rain and
streams
Salt:
ocean water
(evaporation can
also increase
salinity)
---
Amount of
oxygen in the
water
7-14 ppm
(parts per
million)
3-5=stress
1-2=poor
0=anoxic (no
oxygen)
Wind, waves,
running water
Control nutrient
content and algae
growth, more
wind and water
movement
Acid/base of
water
Generally 6.58.5 (bogs are
naturally acidic,
and pH can be
as low as 4.2)
Below 6.5 or
above 8.5
Acid rain,
industrial pollution,
chemical spills
Pollution controls
0.0-0.65 ppm
phosphates,
0.0-0.08
nitrates
Any reading
higher than
normal
Sewage, industry,
detergents,
fertilizers,
animal waste
Removal by water
treatment
Average
amount of
heat in the
water
Varies
Generally
above 27ºC
(81ºF), above
24ºC for trout
streams
Waste heat,
solar heat
Cooling towers,
etc. (decreased
temperature also
increases dissolved
oxygen)
Clearness of
the water
80-120 cm (0-8
JTU – Jackson
turbidity units)
Amount of
Phosphates
these nutrients
and Nitrates
in the water
Temperature
Turbidity
Increased
turbidity
Sediment,
Sediment controls,
excessive algae
reduced nutrients to
growth, boat traffic, reduce algae, boat
storms, etc.
speed limits
(Adapted with permission from The Salt Marsh Manual, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1990)
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CROSSING THE LINE
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Crossing
the Line
GRADES: 7-12
Overview: This is a wrap-up activity that is designed to facilitate student
discussion about various issues that relate to the ecology of Heron’s
Head Park and Candlestick Point, and to our social and environmental
responsibilities. The extent to which students support or oppose an idea
is visible to everyone, and will therefore serve to get students to respond
thoughtfully and honestly, and to generate meaningful dialog regarding the
issues related to what was learned from the program.
LAND USE AND
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
• Students learn to take an individual stand on issues of concern.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will reflect on their position on environmental justice
and ecological issues that pertain to the southeast San Francisco
shoreline.
• Students will put more thought into issues which previously may not
have been of concern.
CONTENT STANDARDS
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcde; Life Sciences (Evolution)
8ab; Life Sciences (Physiology) 9ab
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Worksheet of Crossing the Line statements
30 minutes
This activity will be led by the classroom teacher.
Environmental justice issues are complex and can arouse strong opinions
in students who are learning about it for the first time. This activity helps
to evaluate students’ understanding of complex issues that are important
to them. It also offers an opportunity to talk about respecting differences
of opinion and to create a safe space in which students can express
differing positions with conviction and respect.
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CROSSING THE LINE
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Introduction
Activity
The students are prompted to think of a time when they took a stand on
a position that was important to them. This could be a broad political
issue, something that came up within their communities, or something
that occurred in their households or at school. Ask a few students to
share their experiences in which they may have felt isolated for having a
different opinion than others. Was it okay for the student to feel isolated?
Students should be reminded that having a variety of viewpoints is
inevitable and that we need to respect other people’s convictions while
participating in this activity. Also, everyone should make this a safe space
for all students to feel that they can share their opinions without feeling
stifled or ostracized, and everyone should be as honest as possible. The
ability to be honest comes from a culture of respect.
This activity can be conducted indoors or outdoors. A line can be drawn in
the dirt, or a painted line in a parking lot or on a playground can be used,
or a rope can be laid on the ground to mark a line.
This should be a quiet and introspective activity. The students should be
able to hear the teacher’s statements and be given the space to think in
peace. Students should, for safety reasons, also walk instead of running.
One side of the line represents a range of disagreement, and the other
side represents a range of agreement to statements that are read by the
instructor. The further away from the line a student stands, the stronger
her or his convictions are in support or opposition to the statement. The
students are also reminded that standing on the line can represent an
undecided opinion, but often means that students did not understand
the statement. Students who stand on the line will be asked to explain
their position so that the instructor can gauge the students’ levels of
understanding.
Use an easy example to illustrate the process. The instructor can say,
“I attend (name of students’ school).” All of the students should move
to the agreement side of the line. The instructor, on the other hand,
will stand on the other side of the line, since technically, although the
teachers work at the school, they do not “attend” the school.
The simpler questions should be the lead-in questions. The instructor can
start simply with “I like to spend time outside,” and move on eventually
to more thought-provoking statements that relate to environmental justice
and other value-laden statements.
Students can also have a chance to come up with statements. Although
this activity often dissolves into silly and fun statements, it can also
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CROSSING THE LINE
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
create powerful insights into ideas and opinions that classmates share
with one another, especially when they look around to see who is on
their side of the line and where along the spectrum they stand. This will
hopefully empower students with a variety of opinions to feel comfortable
about self-expression, to encourage empathy, to have students become
more open-minded, and to engage critical thinking.
OUTCOME
Students will have the opportunity to reflect on the program on a deep,
introspective level, and gain a better understanding of other students’
perspectives.
Students can form a circle, and share in turn the insights that they gained
from this activity. This is a forum in which they can share why it is that
they chose to take a strong stand either for or against a statement. What
are the sources of their convictions? This part of the activity should be
conducted with a sense of mutual respect. If pertinent, some of the
students can be asked:
How did it feel to take a stronger stand than others? How did it feel to
be the only person on one side of the line?
Depending on the questions that are asked and depending on how
the students share out their answers, students may end up with very
strong feelings at the end. Students can either have a dialog or can
write journal entries about what it means to respect someone who has
different opinions or experiences from their own and what it means to feel
validated about one’s own convictions. Students can also be reminded
that these are big issues that adults grapple with and that members
of our government do not all agree with one another on positions. The
class will want to learn to function democratically and diplomatically, be
comfortable with engaging in constructive debates, and learn that it is
okay to agree to disagree.
This activity can serve as a springboard for further action. Which
statements resonated the most with many of the students? The class as
a whole can choose one issue to examine closer, or students with similar
convictions can form action groups to conduct research and create action
plans that relate to environmental justice, habitat restoration, or any other
pertinent issue. Any of the modules in Calling Nature Home can provide
ideas that can serve as springboards for action projects.
CALLING NATURE HOME
187
CROSSING THE LINE
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Crossing the Line Statements
• I like to spend time outside.
• It is important to preserve and protect our
wetlands.
• It is important to learn about the environment.
• When land is scarce, it can be okay to let
developers drain swamps and marshes to build
homes and businesses.
• Schools should put more effort into teaching
environmental education.
• Understanding our environment is essential to
human survival.
• Middle and high school students can make great
contributions toward an ecologically sensitive and
environmentally just future.
• The environmental decisions that are made by my
generation will someday affect future generations.
• Environmental change is hopeless because people
will never be willing to stop polluting.
• The Park Program has made me more aware of the
importance of environmental awareness.
• The benefits and burdens of environmental
decisions should be shared among all people.
• People should take care of their own
neighborhoods.
• I feel like I’ve already done more than my fair
share of helping the earth by helping out at the
Park.
• Industrial polluters should pay to clean up their
own pollution.
• There is a lot more that I can do as an individual to
be a responsible steward of the earth.
• We need more government regulations to minimize
pollution.
• People need to learn to self-regulate and do not
need government intervention.
• Businesses have the responsibility to be
ecologically friendly and socially just even if it
costs more to do so.
• Businesses should think about how to keep costs
low to stay in business and may sometimes have
to compromise when it comes to making social
and environmental choices.
• There is a lot more that everyone can do to be
responsible citizens.
• Plants and animals deserve as much respect as
people.
• When it comes to cleaning up the environment,
people are the most important factor to think
about.
• Race and class are factors in terms of how much
people are affected by environmental burdens.
• One person can make a difference.
• Only people who are surrounded by nature should
be concerned with the environment.
• ... Create your own statements!
• Only people in urban, industrial areas should be
concerned about the environment.
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188
AIRBORNE SOLID WASTE
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Airborne
Solid Waste
GRADES: 9-12
Overview: Students will make simple air pollutant collection devices, hang
them in various places around where they live, and collect them after a
week to examine and report on their findings.
(Adapted with permission from Closing the Loop, California Waste Management Board, 2000)
LAND USE AND
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
• Airborne solid waste can harm human and environmental health.
• Particulate matter can be measured and monitored using a variety of
collection devices.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will learn to measure the extent of particulates (airborne
waste particles) in various parts of the community.
• Students will examine collected particulates under a microscope and
will record their findings.
• Students will hypothesize on the likely sources of the material.
• Students will learn the importance of accuracy and controls in
gathering data.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 4: Life Sciences 3abcd; Earth Sciences 5abc; Investigation and
Experimentation 6abcdef
Experimentation 7abcdefgh
Grade 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ab
For Collector A:
• 3” x 5” cards (enough for half of the students plus one control card)
• Hole punch
• One-inch wide cellophane tape
• Handout that illustrates construction of air pollutant collectors
For Collector B:
• Wire clothes hangers that can easily be bent (enough for half of the
students plus one control slide)
• Same amount of 3-inch glass slides
• Petroleum jelly
• Small soup cans
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
One-inch wide cellophane tape
Scales that measure mass in metric units
Applicator sticks for petroleum jelly
Microscopes
Hand-outs that illustrate construction of air pollutant collectors
Journals and pencils for each student
Chart on butcher paper for students to record their class results
Markers
Two classroom periods one week apart plus field and homework
assignments to monitor air pollutant collectors
This class will be led by the classroom teacher.
This lesson will help students acknowledge that solid waste affects air
quality as well as water and soil conditions. The activity uses two very
simple but different kinds of collection methods for gathering samples of
particulate contamination and then identifying its possible sources within
the community. It also teaches students the importance of accuracy in
data collection and the need for controls. Students construct collection
equipment, place collectors in different areas, retrieve the samples,
examine them under a microscope, sketch their findings in a notebook,
and discuss their findings with classmates. Two types of collection
devices will be created and used. It would be useful to divide the class
into four teams so that two teams can be assigned for each method.
The variation in air quality in different neighborhoods illustrates that an
environmental injustice is taking place. Poor residents of color are often
disproportionately affected by air pollution since polluting industries
are more likely to be found in the vicinity of their neighborhoods than in
wealthier neighborhoods with predominantly white residents. This activity
can test whether the students’ own homes and communities have a high
level of pollutants.
An adaptation of this activity was conducted by students at Stamford High
School in Stamford, Connecticut. The original purpose of their activity was
to collect pollen grains during hay fever season. Students were surprised
to see more soot particles than pollen grains in their collection devices.
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190
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Introduction
To lead into the activity, students can be asked questions that encourage
students to think about local air quality and its effects on human and
environmental health:
What constitutes air quality? Air quality refers to the relative presence of
pollutants, which range from particulate matter, or particles of airborne
solid waste, to gases such as nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide.
What are some sources of air pollution? Cars are the largest source of
air pollution in the Bay Area. Along with ships, commercial vehicles, and
aircraft, they produce non-point source pollution, or pollution that cannot
be readily pinpointed because the source is mobile or small. Air pollution
from stationary sources such as power plants, factories, farms, and
refineries is called point source pollution, or pollution with an obvious
singular source.
How is solid waste considered a factor in air contamination? Particulate
matter, a major component of air pollution, is comprised of small particles
of soot, dust, and other solid by-products of agriculture and industry.
Other air pollutants are in a liquid or gaseous state.
Activity
PART I
The class should be divided into four groups so that two of the groups can
test Collector A, and two can test Collector B.
For Collector A, students can prepare the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
As illustrated in the handout, the students in this group should fold
the 3” x 5” cards in half lengthwise.
Five evenly spaced holes should be punched out on half of the card.
From one side only, a strip of tape should be carefully placed on
the line of holes with the sticky side to the holes so that five sticky
pockets are created on the other side.
The pockets can be protected by folding the other half of the card
over the holes and securing it with the tape ends until the collector
is ready for use. Make as many cards as time allows.
Students should have a “control” collector, one that is unexposed
(left in the classroom) to compare the following week with those
placed in the field.
For Collector B, students can prepare the following:
1.
CALLING NATURE HOME
As illustrated in the handout, the coat hanger should be bent around
a can in a circular shape that is wide enough to support the 3-inch
191
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
slide across its diameter. The hook of the hanger should stick up so
that the collector can be hung by this hook.
The tape should be placed across the diameter of the hanger, with
the sticky side of the tape facing up. Number each slide.
A thin layer of petroleum jelly should be applied to the slide while
taking care not to touch the jellied surface.
The slides should be carefully weighed. The weight of each slide will
be recorded in their journals. There will be a “before” and “after”
weighing of these slides.
Slides that are not to be used right away should be placed in a box
with a lid to prevent contamination or damage.
Students should have a “control” collector, one that is unexposed
(left in the classroom) to compare the following week with those
placed in the field.
Students should now take their collectors home and hang them in areas
that are to be examined, such as in a garage, on a front or back porch,
in the basement, near a workbench, in the kitchen. The collectors can
also be placed near their homes within their communities in places where
they are less likely to be stolen or vandalized. The students of each group
can strategize about what parts of their homes to put their collectors and
delegate where each group member will put their collector. Be sure to
remind students to open the tape seal on Collector A, so that particles
can reach the sticky pockets.
Each student should record where the following collector(s) was placed for
comparison the following week.
Collectors should not be placed where they are likely to be damaged
by rain or direct wind. They should be secured when necessary. The
collectors should be left out for one week and then returned to class for
analysis. Some students may find that their collectors have been lost or
damaged.
PART II
To examine Collector A results, the students will bring their collectors to
class and follow these procedures:
1.
2.
3.
CALLING NATURE HOME
The students will look at their collectors under a microscope on low
power.
They can draw and describe what they observe in their journals.
Samples of each group member will be compared and contrasted
with one another, and the similarities and differences will be noted
in their journals. What could have caused the similarities and
differences? What locations were chosen by each student, and what
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
4.
5.
could have been a contributing factor to the differences?
When the examination is complete, all of the collectors can be taped
onto a white sheet of paper.
The group can compare and contrast the collectors as they sit side
by side and devise a numerical rating scale of one to five to describe
the color density of the samples. This tests the relative density of
the particulates that have been collected by each collector. The
darker or more saturated the color, the more particles there are. The
relative density of the particles and the sources of the samples will
be recorded.
To examine Collector B results, the students will bring their collectors to
class, and follow these procedures:
1.
2.
The students will weigh the slides very carefully and note any
increase in weight which will be recorded. Students should be
mindful of not counting the entire weight of the slide as the
particulate weight but the weight of the slide after testing minus
the weight of the slide before testing should equal the weight of the
particulates that have been collected.
Using the recorded data, the students will calculate the amount of
particulate matter in one square mile in a one week period by using
the following:
1 gram = 1.102 x 10^(-6) tons
1 square inch = 2.49 x 10^(-10) square miles
3 square inches = 7.47 x 10^(-10) miles
(size of slide = 1 inch x 3 inches)
Note: If 1 gram = 1.102 x 10^(-6) miles, your net particulate weight
times this number will give you the amount of particulate matter you
have in tons. Divide the weight of the collected particulates by the
area of your slide in square miles to obtain the number of tons per
square mile.
3.
OUTCOME
The results, the student’s name, and the source of the sample
should be recorded onto the chart at the front of the classroom.
The students have learned simple ways to collect and analyze airborne
particulate matter.
A classroom discussion or a writing assignment based on the following
questions can be conducted to place the collected data in context:
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193
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
1. What are particles?
2. What is particulate air contamination?
3. What are the various sources of particulate contamination that are
out there?
4. What are the sources of particulate contamination in your
community?
5. What are the strengths and limitations of the two types of collectors?
6. How did they seem to compare as collectors?
7. In what other ways can particulates be collected to learn about
community air contamination?
8. How do the test results from the field compare with the control test
result? What is your reaction to the results?
9. Would it be helpful to have used two or three times as many
collectors when conducting this experiment? Why or why not?
10. How do you think these results would compare with tests that are
conducted in other neighborhoods? Why would similarities and
differences arise?
11. Is where you live a factor in terms of amount of air contamination in
a neighborhood? Is race or income a factor?
As an extension, students can conduct this experiment again, this time
comparing their own neighborhood with other neighborhoods in San
Francisco. What are the implications of the findings?
Students can look into federally allowable amounts of particulate air
contamination. How do these amounts compare with the amounts that
were recorded?
Some particulates are known to be connected to certain diseases,
especially when the particulates are concentrated. What public health
issues have been known to arise in areas where the air is contaminated?
Students can also find out whether other official tests of particulate air
contamination has been conducted in their communities. What are the
findings? Are there high rates of asthma or cancer in these communities?
What sorts of actions have been taken by community members? Students
can contact local environmental justice organizations to tap into actions
that have been taken toward clean air for all San Francisco residents.
How does air pollution connect to other environmental problems such as
the shrinking ozone layer and global warming?
The class can brainstorm ways in which particulate air contamination can
be controlled. Actions can be taken based on these ideas.
CALLING NATURE HOME
194
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Collector A
1.
2.
3.
Fold in half
Punch 5 holes
Put tape on outside
over holes
4.
5.
Flip
around
the
other
way
Tape shut
Collector B
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bend
coat
hanger
1
2
3
Put tape on the coat
hanger to hold the slide
Bend coat hanger around the
soda can to make a circle
Put numbers on your
slides
5.
Put some petroleum jelly
on your
slides
6.
Put the extra slides
away in a box
Weigh your slide
CALLING NATURE HOME
8.
7.
195
Finally, put the slide
on the hanger and
hang in a cool place
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
939 Ellis St.
(415) 771-6000
http://www.baaqmd.gov/
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 302-0430
www.cbecal.org
Coalition for Clean Air
1107 9th Street, Suite 620
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 498-1560
[email protected]
www.coalitionforcleanair.org
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
CALLING NATURE HOME
196
FOUR CORNERS
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Four Corners
GRADES: K-4
Overview: This activity is designed for younger students. This is a fun
game that involves movement, and will highlight what students have
learned as they participated in the Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick
Point SRA program. Depending on the multiple choice questions that are
selected, the activity can generate discussions.
LAND USE AND
WATERSHED STUDIES
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
CALLING NATURE HOME
• By reflecting on and evaluating what they have learned, students can
take thoughtful action on issues that concern them.
• Students will reflect on what they have learned through the Park
programs.
Kindergarten: Life Sciences 2abc
Grade 1: Life Sciences 2abcde
Grade 2: Life Sciences 2abcdef
• Paper and markers to label four corners
• Journals, pencils, crayons at school
20 minutes
Four Corners is an activity that can be used as a simple way to evaluate
students’ knowledge, or as a way to begin a discussion about issues that
are important to the students. For older students, the instructor is highly
encouraged to add questions that challenge the students to think about
their opinions on habitat restoration, ecological roles and environmental
justice concepts.
197
FOUR CORNERS
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Introduction
Activity
Ask the students to remember some things that they learned at the Park.
They are going to play a fun game that will show how much they remember
from the their field trip(s).
The four corners of the classroom should be designated and labeled:
A, B, C and D.
Ask each question, and tell students where to move to answer a question.
The game will stimulate the students’ memory, knowledge application,
and opinions on issues that they have studied. Have the students wait
until everyone has selected an answer mentally, and then when the
instructor says, “Go!”, that is the cue for all students to move quickly
without talking.
For example: “How many times have we visited Heron’s Head Park (or
Candlestick Point)? Go to corner A if you think we’ve gone once. Go to
corner B if it’s twice. Corner C if it is three times, and D if it is four times.
Go!” Students should be given an adequate amount of time to move, but
not too long, so the teacher can count to ten out loud after each category
is shared. When the time is up, and everyone has chosen a corner, say
the answer. A few warm-up questions can be asked, and then the game
can be played as a competition. Allow the students to keep playing as
long as they continue to get the answers correct. If one answer is missed,
then the student has to sit down. The last one remaining is the winner.
Sample questions:
1. How many toes does an egret have?
A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4
CALLING NATURE HOME
2.
Which one of these words is not one of the 4Rs of sustainability:
A) Reduce 2) Recycle 3) Recreation 4) Rot
3.
Which one of these birds did we see at the Park?
A) Albatross 2) Egret 3) Condor D) Dodo bird
4.
Which of these plants is non-native?
A) Fennel B) Coastal sage C) Pickleweed
D) California poppy
5.
Which one of these actions is a bad idea?
A) Picking up trash B) Habitat restoration
C) Sharing this space with others D) Littering
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FOUR CORNERS
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
The instructor can continue to come up with relevant questions based on
what was learned on the field trip(s) until all students except for one or
two are sitting down.
OUTCOME
Students will remember concepts that were learned during the Park
program.
Students can form a circle, and each share what they enjoyed most, or
share a fact that they remember, from the field trips. The students can be
asked:
Did this game help you to remember what we learned on the field trips?
Were you always completely sure about your answer? If you were the
only one, or one of only a few people, at a corner when others had
chosen another corner, how did it feel? What more would you like to do
with the knowledge and skills that we acquired during the field trips?
The students can complete an illustrated journal entry to reflect on the
field trip.
CALLING NATURE HOME
199
WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Water
Treatment
Plants
GRADES: 3-12
Overview: We can appreciate water treatment plants as a natural way to
keep our water supply clean. This activity allows students to conceptualize
how wetland plants remove pollutants from the water, and discuss the
limitations of this ability. This is a quick project that does not require
much set-up or clean-up.
(Adapted with permission from Environmental Concern Inc. PO Box P, St. Michaels, MD
21663 www.wetland.org (410)745-9620. This material may not be reproduced without
permission from Environmental Concern, the copyright owner.)
WETLANDS
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
• Wetland plants remove pollutants from the water.
• Water travels from the roots to the leaves by capillary action.
• Students will see capillary action take place, and get a visual sense
of how pollutants are absorbed by wetland plants, and kept from
contaminating the surrounding water.
Grade 4: Life Sciences 2ab, 3ab
Grade 5: Life Sciences 2aefg
•
•
•
•
•
Map of California
Celery stalks
Two beakers or jars
Food coloring and water
Paring knife
MINIMUM TIME
Set up a day ahead of time; 30 minutes for demonstration and
discussion
MINIMUM TIME
Facilitator: This activity will be led by the classroom teacher.
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Many people do not realize that plants are vital to the health of our water
supply. In fact, wetlands and their plants are an increasingly popular
alternative for filtering wastewater from homes, schools, factories and
businesses. This is because the plants that grow in a wetland filter
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
pollutants out of rainwater, runoff, and wastewater before they enter
bodies of water.
Stems, leaves and roots make wetlands densely vegetated. Particles
of sediment, and often trash as well, get trapped in wetlands as water
passes through the thick vegetation. Wetland soils, which are rich
in microbial activity, and wetland plants remove and take up excess
nutrients and toxic pollutants. Nutrients are used by the plants for their
growth and metabolism; other substances are simply stored in the plants’
tissues.
In a natural system, plants are fairly efficient at keeping the system
in balance, even when naturally occurring excess nutrients flow in
from upstream. However, when human activities on land and in water
add sediments, nutrients, and toxic pollutants, plants can become
overburdened and cannot completely clean the water, although they do
help in the partial cleanup of the water. People need to be mindful of
keeping waterways clean by minimizing pollution, but also need to protect
wetlands so that the wetlands can still have the capacity to clean the
pollutants and excess nutrients that people cannot control.
INTRODUCTION
A day prior to the lesson, the instructor should put several drops of food
coloring into a glass container filled with water, cut the bottom half inch of
a stalk of celery, and put the celery stalk into the water.
The class can discuss all of the sources of water that enter the San
Francisco Bay. By looking at a map of California, it is easy to see where
fresh water from the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers flow into the
San Francisco Bay Estuary, and where the Pacific Ocean enters under the
Golden Gate Bridge. Urban runoff, or water that runs off of the surface
of the streets and into the waterways, as well as storm drain runoff
and sewage outflow, also enter the Bay. A discussion question for the
students:
Is the San Francisco Bay clean?
Most students will probably respond that it is polluted. The students can
answer questions related to how the Bay became polluted.
ACTIVITY
CALLING NATURE HOME
The instructor can share one example of a common pollutant, such as
used motor oil that is poured down a storm drain. The students will
have a chance to see a demonstration on how wetland plants take up
pollutants and filter it out of the water.
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
The instructor should explain what was prepared on the day prior, and
demonstrate the process, while keeping the beaker that was prepared on
the previous day hidden:
OUTCOME
1.
Prepare a solution in a beaker by adding several drops of food
coloring to the water. Explain that the food coloring represents a
pollutant; students can select the type of pollutant that is in the
water (i.e., a pesticide, motor oil, etc.)
2.
Ask the students to imagine water flowing through a wetland with
many aquatic plants. The celery stalks represent the plants that are
growing in the wetland, such as cordgrass, pickleweed, or salt grass.
3.
Cut off the bottom half inch of the celery stalk, and place it in the
water. Then discuss how over time, the colored water will travel up
the stalk via capillary action, or the tendency of water molecules to
be drawn through narrow spaces. The students will be able to see
how plants can absorb pollutants along with the water when they
“drink” the water through their xylem, or tubes that carry water and
nutrients in the soil from the roots up to the leaves. With celery, the
xylem are easy to see, and the plant is clear enough that the stalk
and the leaves change color.
4.
The hidden jar should be pulled out for the students to see the
results of the capillary action. One-inch pieces of the celery can be
cut, and distributed to the class, so that students can see the cross
sections of the xylem, which will look like colorful dots.
Students should understand how nutrients and pollutants are taken up by
wetland plants. Students should see that wetland plants can only take up
a certain amount before they are overburdened.
Students should reflect on the following questions:
How do wetland plants help to purify water? By taking up pollutants from
the water up the roots and into the stems and leaves.
Why is the remaining water in the beaker still polluted? Plants can only
do so much. As new clean water flows into the system, the pollutants will
become a little more diluted. As this water continues to flow on to other
parts of the wetland, other plants will continue to remove pollutants.
Wetland soil, which contains many microbes, and creatures such as
clams and mussels, can further help to filter out some of the pollutants.
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Where does water go after uptake into the plant? It is transpired
(released) out through the stomata (pores) on the leaves, and eventually
evaporates off. This process is called evapotranspiration.
What happens to the pollutants? Some of the excess nutrients are used
in the plant’s metabolic processes. Some pollutants are transformed into
less harmful substances, while others are stored in the plant’s tissues
and could be re-released into the environment if the plant dies.
Why can’t we dump all of our waste into the wetlands? Wetlands can
only do so much, and many pollutants still end up in the water. Too many
pollutants will cause stress to a wetland and can destroy the plants and
animals. It is better to reduce the amount of pollution that goes into a
wetland and into our environment in general.
The instructor can introduce the concept of bioremediation – the
process of using microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to
decontaminate a polluted site. Oil spills in waterways are often cleaned
by enzymes, and soil contamination is remediated with bacteria.
Some municipal water treatment systems use the principles of
bioremediation by using wetlands as a component of wastewater
and storm water treatment. Living machines are a form of biological
wastewater treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of
wetlands. Wetland flora and fauna – wetland vegetation, bacteria, algae,
protozoa, plankton, snails, clams and fish – are used in the system to
provide specific cleansing functions. Species diversity is built into this
constructed wetland as a way to promote complexity and resiliency within
this ecosystem; multiple species that serve similar functions ease the
burden from one another. Students can visit the San Francisco Water
Pollution Control Plant, and research how it utilizes natural processes to
clean the water.
To hold people accountable for not pouring pollutants down storm drains,
do research on storm drain stenciling programs – paint stencils onto
storm drains that say, “Dump No Waste; Drains to Bay.”
Classes can participate in wetlands cleanup and restoration efforts at
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA.
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
50 Francisco Street
www.calparks.org
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
Nursery Program
(415) 561-3000
www.parksconservancy.org/our_work/native_
plants/index.asp
CALLING NATURE HOME
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-2465
www.sfep.abag.ca.gov
Save the Bay
(510) 452-9261
www.savesfbay.org
Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant
750 Phelps St.
www.sfwater.org
To schedule a tour of the treatment plant, call (415)
695-7341, or email [email protected].
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SHEROES AND HEROES
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Environmental
Justice
GRADES: 6-12
and the Four R’s of Environmental Justice
Overview: Students will further explore environmental justice themes
through an introduction to leaders within the movement and through
the discussion of the concept of the Four R’s of Environmental Justice.
Multiple learning modalities will be engaged in this lesson.
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH AND JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
• The Four R’s of Environmental Justice (reverence, responsibility,
reclamation, reciprocity) are key concepts that the environmental
justice movement advocates.
• Environmental justice is a complex movement with many key players
in various communities who have been affected by environmental
racism. A number of women and men have emerged as leaders within
the movement.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will understand the different types and levels of action that
people take related to environmental justice.
• Students will learn that environmental justice is a local, state,
national, and global movement.
• Students will analyze actual environmental burdens and solutions faced
by communities that they live in or that are comparable to their own.
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 6: Investigation and Experimentation 7d
Grade 7: Investigation and Experimentation 7be
Grade 9-12: Investigation and Experimentation 1m
•
•
•
•
•
Music player
Selected music with printed lyrics
Sheroes/Heroes biographies with pictures
Four R’s of Environmental Justice description handouts
Optional environmental justice-related videos/multimedia (SF
Environment - Educational Library (415) 355-3700)
1 hour
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
decades as awareness grew regarding the disproportionate impact that
toxic sites have had on marginalized communities without much economic
or political clout, mainly low-income communities of color.
The earliest known government record of environmental racism can be
found in a 1971 report by the US Council on Environmental Quality,
which noted that low-income people and many people of color were
disproportionately exposed to environmentally hazardous conditions.
Warren County, North Carolina became a catalyst for the movement in
1982. With a predominantly African American population, Warren County
was already saddled with more industry than any other county in the
state. A landfill was built in the county to dispose of PCB- (polychlorinated
biphenyls, a carcinogenic industrial by-product) contaminated soil from
fourteen counties from around the state. Civil rights and environmental
activists sought to disrupt transportation of the contaminated soil to the
landfill through civil disobedience, lying down in front of the trucks. More
than five hundred people were arrested; the landfill was not closed, but
this action gave the issue of environmental racism some effective media
exposure.
In 1983, Robert Bullard published an article entitled, “Solid Waste Sites
and the Black Houston Community” (Sociological Inquiry Vol. 53, (Spring
1983): 273-288). His research found that landfills were not randomly
situated around the city, but were concentrated in African American
communities, particularly around schools. Bullard found that housing
discrimination and zoning issues that have culminated from decades of
discriminatory policies had led to the inequitable outcome.
The United States General Accounting Office conducted a survey of
Southern states, and in 1983 found that three out of four landfills were
located near communities of color. In 1987, the United Church of Christ
Commission on Racial Justice published the results of a nationwide
survey as “Toxic Wastes and Race,” concluding that the most significant
factor in determining the locating of hazardous waste facilities was not
income but race. The same study found that three out of five African
American and Latino United States residents live in proximity to a toxic
waste site.
In response to these revelations, actions were taken toward remedying
the reality of environmental racism in the United States. In 1991, the First
National People of Color Leadership Summit met in Washington DC, and
forged the Principles of Environmental Justice. In 1992, the National Law
Journal reported on the discovery that the EPA was more stringent about
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toxic site cleanup (faster clean up times and stricter fines) in wealthier
white communities than they were in lower income communities of color.
The EPA established the Office of Environmental Justice in 1992. In
1994, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, which stated
that federal agencies were now accountable for correcting environmental
injustices within their jurisdictions. Around the same time, the Interagency
Group on Environmental Justice was established.
Even today, the environmental justice movement is still going strong
across the nation and around the world because environmental inequities
based on race and income are still being perpetuated. To mark the
twentieth anniversary of their groundbreaking study, the United Church
of Christ commissioned “Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007:
Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism.” Using 2000
census data, a current national database of commercial hazardous waste
facilities, and Geographic Information Systems, the authors concluded
that 20 years after the original study, disproportionately large numbers
of people of color still live in hazardous waste host communities,
and that they are not equally protected by environmental laws. Their
research found that in California, the proportion of people of color in
neighborhoods hosting hazardous waste facilities was 30% higher than
those living in non-host neighborhoods (81 vs 51%). Host neighborhoods
are typically economically depressed, with poverty rates 1.5 times that of
non-host communities.
Visionary leaders have emerged to address environmental injustices and
to empower communities in dynamic and innovative ways. These leaders
are often given scant recognition for their justice-oriented actions, so it
is the responsibility of the people to spread the word to inspire others
toward action. Students will examine and discuss what inspired them and
others to action.
Introduction
The pre-trip activity “Principles of Environmental Justice” should be
conducted prior to this activity so that concepts of environmental justice
can be introduced to the students. Students should have a general
understanding of the principles in order to relate them to this activity.
The students will begin by listening to a chosen piece of music that in
some way relates to environmental justice principles. The instructor will
distribute copies of the chosen song’s lyrics and inform the class that
they will have a group discussion after hearing the song. The artist and
song should be culturally relevant to the class. The song should also
inspire critical thinking and action. An example of an appropriate song
would be Stephen Marley’s “Mind Control,” Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy, Mercy
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Me (The Ecology),” Sweet Honey in The Rock’s “More Than a Paycheck,”
Mos Def’s “New World Water,” or Niyorah’s “Global Warming.”
After listening to the song, the students will have the opportunity to
address key concepts and emotions that arose while listening to the
song and answer the facilitator’s guiding questions. This activity will act
as an icebreaker that stimulates conscientization, or increased critical
awareness that may become a catalyst for the students to look at the
world through a more critical lens.
Activity
Students will be divided into groups of four. Each group will receive a
biography of a chosen environmental justice shero or hero – an agent
of change who fought tirelessly to reverse environmental injustices.
The groups will be responsible for learning about their assigned leader
and teach the rest of the class about this individual through a creative
means. Encouraging creative forms of expression and the act of teaching
others can enhance the learning experience for all participants. Examples
of creative presentations for their leaders include: displaying artwork,
performing a skit, presenting a song/poem/spoken word piece, etc. All
presenters must convey:
Who is their leader? What community/communities do they represent?
What injustice(s) have they been faced with? What actions did they
take to address these injustices?
Some of the key actions that may have been taken by the leaders include:
• Influencing policy and legislation at the local, state, or national level.
• Changing the organizational practices of the perpetrators of
• Fostering coalitions and networks among allies in the environmental
justice movement.
• Promoting community education
• Strengthening individual knowledge and skills.
After the presentations, the “Four R’s of Environmental Justice” should
be introduced. This is a concept that has emerged through years of
work by the LEJ staff who have provided place-based service learning
opportunities in the Bayview Hunters Point community.
Environmental justice advocates:
• Reverence: All life is sacred, and we are all interconnected. It is
important to value the complexities of ecosystems and to nurture
biodiversity. What sustains flora and fauna also sustains humans.
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• Responsibility: Governments (local, state, and federal) as well as
corporations should be held accountable to serve their constituents in
environmentally sustainable and socially just ways. All people have a
duty to ensure that the public and private sectors are held accountable.
A related concept is one of personal reflection and holding oneself
accountable.
• Reclamation: We, as people, should reclaim our communities and our
land. Community members should demand safe and non-toxic places to
live for all human and non-human residents, not just the privileged few.
• Reciprocity: All living things must nourish to be nourished. Plants and
animals exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen with one another for
survival. People should support what supports us: the natural world.
Students can take action and be a part of positive social change.
Students may have the opportunity to speak up for those who may not
be able to speak.
Each group can have their own discussions based on these questions:
How is (or was) the s/hero creating reverence toward what s/he is
hoping to protect? How is (or was) s/he taking responsibility? How
is (or was) s/he demanding accountability? How is (or was) s/he
reclaiming the rights of the community and the health of the land? How
is (or was) s/he acting in a reciprocal manner?
The students can have a larger group discussion based on what
was shared out in the small groups. Hopefully, the students will find
commonalities between the case studies and their own community
leaders, which may inspire action to create a more environmentally
sustainable and socially just society.
OUTCOME
Students will understand the profound transformative power of community
organizing through real-life situations and draw connections to their own
lived experiences.
Do the students feel inspired by any of the sheroes or heroes? Is this
because the students know the leader or community in the case study?
Do the students feel an affinity to a certain case for other reasons? Why?
Do the students consider themselves to be advocates for environmental
justice? In what ways are they advocates? What types of actions have
they taken? In which communities?
Have the students name other leaders whom they consider to be
environmental justice sheroes and heroes. Who are these leaders?
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With which communities are they involved? How are they connected to
environmental justice?
Which of the Four R’s resonates with them? Can the students explain
why? Students can brainstorm ideas for other R’s that make sense in the
context of environmental justice.
Students can be asked to bring in their own musical choices with an
empowering message to share with the class. It could be a song by a
popular or obscure artist, or a song that was written by the student.
Students can conduct research on other environmental justice sheroes
and heroes from their own communities and elsewhere. Research can
be conducted through videos, books, journals, internet sites, local
organizations, and through interviews with community members. Research
can be presented through videos, photographic essays, a formal report
to present to local policy makers, slide presentations, or a creative
avenue such as music, theater, or art. These culminating activities can
be presented to the rest of the school and to community members as a
catalyst for change at the local level.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
310 8th St. #309
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 834-8920
www.apen4ej.org
The Brower Youth Awards
http://www.broweryouthawards.org/
(415) 391-6986
[email protected]
www.cpasf.org
Greenaction
(415) 248-5010
[email protected]
www.greenaction.org
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 302-0430
www.cbecal.org
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The Goldman Environmental Prize
www.goldmanprize.org
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MEDIA ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
On the web:
TED Talks:
Majora Carter on Greening the Ghetto
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ-cZRmHfs4
Van Jones keynote at Powershift 09
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOv8RCkcXE
SF Environment
11 Grove Street
(415) 355-3700
www.sfenvironment.org/
Feature films:
A Civil Action
Erin Brockovich
2135 Clarke Ave.
(650) 322-9165
www.youthunited.net
Documentaries:
The Garden (www.blackvalleyfilms.com)
Unnatural Causes (www.newsreel.org)
When the Levees Broke (available at amazon.
com)
305 Chesley Ave.
Richmond, CA 94801
(510) 232-3427
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Profiles of Environmental Justice Sheroes and Heroes
HENRY CLARK
MARIE HARRISON
Henry Clark lives in
Richmond, CA. The City of
Richmond has hundreds
of toxic polluting factories
photo courtesy Charles Slay, IMC
and sites, including one
of the nation’s largest oil
refineries. Many of these sites border the community
of North Richmond.
In 1986 Clark started a group called the West
County Toxics Coalition (WCTC). The mission
of WCTC is to empower low and moderateincome residents to exercise greater control over
environmental problems that impact their quality
of life in Contra Costa County, particularly West
Contra Costa County. West Contra Costa County is a
community where toxic sites are highly concentrated.
Through means of direct action, protesting, letterwriting campaigns, and attending government
meetings, the WCTC successfully shut down
a Richmond-based toxic waste incinerator in
1991—a company that had been emitting 70
tons of toxins annually into the air. The programs
of WCTC empower residents to become actively
involved in the development and implementation of
environmental justice policies and programs that
affect the critical health needs of underrepresented
populations. Helping to addresses health care
concerns, WCTC has also opened up a community
health center in North Richmond.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Marie Harrison is a
lifelong community
member of Bayview
Hunters Point. Her
photo courtesy Greenaction for Health
community is burdened
and Environmental Justice
by a majority of the City’s
toxic industrial sites, including the Hunters Point
Naval Shipyard, a federal Superfund site. Bayview
Hunters Point residents experience the highest rates
of asthma, cancer, and hospitalizations in the City.
Harrison has been working towards justice in the
Bayview Hunters Point community for decades.
Harrison’s grandson lived in close proximity to
the PG&E Hunters Point power plant and suffered
from chronic asthma and nosebleeds. He was
hospitalized with a medical emergency related to his
condition; this very personal experience helped to
transform Harrison into an environmental activist.
Harrison serves as a community organizer for
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice,
an environmental advocacy group. She also
serves on community councils, advisory boards,
and is a contributing reporter for the Bay View
Newspaper. Harrison focused on shutting down
the power plant and was committed to this effort
until the plant was permanently closed. Through
community organizing and empowerment, direct
action protesting, letter-writing campaigns, and
attending government meetings, a victory was
achieved—after years of community opposition and
pressure, the PG&E Hunter’s Point power plant was
officially decommissioned in May 2006. Through
the combined efforts of Harrison, community
members and groups including LEJ, justice was
finally served to the residents of Bayview Hunters
Point. Harrison’s focus is the next big struggle, the
safe and just clean-up of the Hunters Point Naval
Shipyard.
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VAN JONES
VON HERNANDEZ
Van Jones is a Yale Law
graduate, husband, father of
two, and a tireless advocate
for the planet and its
people, especially the most
disenfranchised. It is his belief
that working-class people of
color disproportionately suffer
Photo courtesy Center for
from environmental burdens,
American Progress
and it is time for these burdens
to be replaced by benefits. Jones is a champion
of “Eco-Equity,” that is the right of a clean,
safe, healthy, and equitable society, starting in
communities that are in the greatest need.
Von Hernandez lives near
the large city of Manila
in the Philippines. His
hometown of Quezon
City is the location of
photo courtesy Greenpeace
numerous toxic waste
sites that includes one of the region’s largest
garbage dumps. Toxic waste from multinational
technology companies and garbage are added to the
site daily.
Waste disposal is a municipal nightmare in the
Philippines and the Philippine government has even
touted waste incineration as the solution to the
problem. Incinerators were built to burn the garbage
in an effort to ease the situation. Hernandez did
not see incineration as a solution but as a threat to
environmental and public health. When garbage is
burned, it releases toxic ash spread through the air,
leading to numerous health issues.
Jones is the cofounder of both the Ella Baker Center
for Human Rights and Green for All, located in
Oakland, CA. The mission of these organizations is
to address both the challenges of social justice and
environmental sustainability. Through the advocacy
efforts of Van Jones, the City of Oakland passed
a “Green Jobs Corps” proposal in 2007. The City
allocated funds to train Oakland residents in ecofriendly “green-collar jobs.” Besides his advocacy
work Jones also authored the bestselling book The
Green Economy: How One Solution Can Solve Our
Two Biggest Problems, addressing how green jobs
can empower the most oppressed communities.
Hernandez became active as a toxics campaigner for
Greenpeace International, which led him to become
the convener of the Philippine Clean Air Coalition.
The coalition held numerous protests, testified in
hearings, and waged a public educational campaign
drawing attention to the devastating health impacts
of waste incineration. In 1999, Hernandez’s
perseverance paid off and the Philippine government
approved an incineration ban by passing the Clean
Air Act of 1999. This was a momentous feat, the
first country in the world to ban waste incinerators!
Hernandez has taken this struggle worldwide and
travels to other countries supporting communities
facing the same issues.
Jones continues to help forward environmental
justice issues into the national forefront, claiming
that going “green” should be for all. He has served
as the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise
and Innovation for the White House Council on
Environmental Quality.
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MAJORA CARTER
WINONA LADUKE
Majora Carter grew up in the
diverse borough of the Bronx
in New York City. Low-income
and working-class people of
color make up the largest
group of residents in this
area; at its height the borough
handled more than 40% of
photo: Scott Wintrow/
New York’s solid waste despite
Getty Images
accounting for just 16% of the
city’s population. South Bronx is the location of
two sewage-treatment plants and four power plants
impacting environmental and public health. South
Bronx residents also have some of the highest rates
of asthma in the nation.
Winona Laduke is
Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe), living
and working on the White Earth
reservation in Minnesota.
Laduke is an internationally
renowned Native American
activist in culturally-based
photo courtesy
Nativeharvest.com
sustainable development,
renewable energy and resources, focusing primarily
on the rights of indigenous peoples.
As a teenager, Laduke addressed the United
Nations on issues affecting native peoples. She
also presented her research on the impacts of
mining within Indian land to the International Indian
Treaty Council. Laduke has risen to be one of
the leading Native American figures working with
various organizations to regain stolen Indian land,
promote better health and education in indigenous
communities, and preserve the environment.
In 2001, Carter learned that the City planned to add
another waste-processing facility to South Bronx.
Enough was enough; Carter formed Sustainable
South Bronx (SSBx) not only to stop the garbage
depot—in which they were victorious—but to
improve the overall health of the community. With
the help of a small grant, Carter set up a training
program for local residents, many of them exconvicts and the chronically unemployed. The Bronx
Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) puts
trainees through a multi-month program learning
specialized jobs skills that are focused around
environmental sustainability and green technologies.
She is founder of the White Earth Land Recovery
Project (WELRP) one of the nation’s largest
reservation based non-profit organizations.
Laduke writes extensively on Native American
and environmental issues and has authored five
books. She ran for vice president on the Green
Party ticket in 1996 and 2000 with Ralph Nader.
Laduke continues to work towards environmental
justice for indigenous communities nationally and
internationally.
Through the BEST program and Carter’s leadership,
local residents were engaged to improve the overall
health of their community, creating clean and green
spaces as well as “green-collar jobs.” Carter has
moved on from SSBx, but she continues to help
restore the environment and empower underserved
communities.
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The following profiles and photos of Brower Youth Award winners are courtesy of The Earth Island Institute:
ERICA FERNANDEZ, 16
Oxnard CA
CARLOS MORENO, 19
Boston MA
www.ace-ej.org/reep
When Erica found out that a
liquefied natural gas facility
was proposed for the coast of
Drew Altizer photography
Oxnard and Malibu with a 36inch pipeline routed through
low-income neighborhoods, she was outraged.
She worked in concert with the Sierra Club and
Latino No on LNG group to mobilize the youth
and Latino voice in protests and public meetings.
She organized weekly protests at the BHP Billiton
offices in Oxnard, met regularly with community
members, marched through neighborhoods that
would be most impacted, reached out to the media,
and brought more than 250 high school students
to a critical rally. Her passionate testimony at the
California State Lands Commission meeting was
quoted in news articles, and helped convince the
Commission to vote to deny the project. Next, she
helped convince the California Coastal Commission
to vote 12-0 against the project, and worked on
a letter writing and phone call campaign to the
Governor asking him to veto the project, just as the
commissioners did. Erica’s community organizing
and dogged determination played a crucial role in
helping her community to resist a multinational
billion-dollar corporation.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Carlos understood the
seriousness of youth violence as
Drew Altizer photography
an environmental justice issue
because of its tremendous
impact on where and how we live. In 2001, the state
funding for after school programs in Massachusetts
dropped from $14 million to nothing, and youth
violence steadily increased. Through the Summer
Jobs Campaign, Carlos addressed the increase of
violence in the city of Boston and helped create
more opportunities for summer youth employment.
Over the course of three years, Carlos helped the
United Youth & Youth Workers of Boston to mobilize
320 youth to attend a city meeting and organized
hundreds of youth to attend and speak at committee
meetings, vigils, and rallies at the City Hall, the
Boston Commons and the State House. Carlos also
coordinated a question and answer session between
gubernatorial candidates and youth, to solicit their
positions on youth issues. The Summer Jobs
Campaign has garnered exceptional media attention
and has initiated a crucial dialogue between the
youth and city officials, resulting in an increase of
$750,000 for summer jobs.
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KARI FULTON, 22
Washington DC
www.ejcc.org
Kari worked on two different
environmental justice projects
that connect and inspire people
on both the local and national levels. On the local
level, she co-founded the Loving Our City, Loving
Ourselves (LOCLOS) campus and community
initiative. LOCLOS works to build stronger campus
and community solidarity on issues of concern in the
Washington, DC area. Kari and LOCLOS coordinated
two major neighborhood clean-ups in DC involving
local non-profits and artists. On a national level,
Kari worked as the Energy Action Coalition Campus
Climate Challenge Coordinator for the Environmental
Justice and Climate Change Initiative. She
supported and trained hundreds of young people
at more than 50 universities and has become a
pioneer organizer working to build up the youth
climate movement amongst young people of color, in
particular, students at historically black colleges and
universities. My hope,” she said, “was for people of
color and low-income individuals to get information
that will help them take advantage of the growing
green movement so that they are not left behind
economically or environmentally.” Through her work
students have created their own organizations and
have become climate champions on their campuses
and in their communities.
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LA CONSTANCE SHAHID, 18
San Francisco CA
www.lejyouth.org
La Constance Shahid was a breath of fresh air in her
inner-city San Francisco neighborhood of Bay View
Hunter’s Point. Her work to restore the adjacent
Yosemite Wetlands – named after Yosemite Street –
helped to “improve the air and water quality, which
we definitely need,” La Constance said. She was an
active member of the Plants Gone Wild Native Plant
Nursery Project, working to combat the destructive
effects of industrialization and landfills on the native
wetlands. La Constance also worked to get young
people in the community involved by putting up
posters, speaking at youth groups and walking
around the neighborhood. One of the older members
of the organization, she inspired the younger participants, serving as a model and a mentor. She and
her peers repaired the community garden at Candlestick Point Recreation Area, built a 1200 square foot
shade house to host native California seedlings, and
created a strong community of youth activists who
care about community stewardship. She was
instrumental in creating LEJ’s Bay Youth for the
Environment Program, training and inspiring the next
generation of stewards for Candlestick Point SRA.
ROOTS COMMUNICATION
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Roots
Communication
GRADES: 6-12
Overview: Students will have an opportunity to observe and create
thought-provoking images that will allow them to reflect on their ancestral
and personal connections to the environmental justice movement.
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH AND JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• Students may have ancestral and personal connections to the
environmental justice movement.
• There are limitations that arise during the process of achieving
• Conscientization and critical thinking are important tools in achieving
justice.
• Students will find a personal connection to the principles of
environmental justice in order to have a greater understanding of the
principles.
• Students will define, analyze, express, and discuss their
understanding of the principles.
Grade 7: Investigation and Experimentation 7bc
• Provocative images of the built, human, and natural environments
• Definitions of environmental justice rights (see Principles of
Environmental Justice module)
• Worksheets, pens, pencils for each group
• Magazines
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
1 hour
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ROOTS COMMUNICATION
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
“A people without knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is
like a tree without roots.” Marcus Garvey
If one does not understand her or his past, forging a future becomes
a challenge. By analyzing one’s own ancestral lineage and way of
life, students will be able to connect how their ancestors were likely
to be environmental justice advocates and upheld the principles of
environmental justice – the right for everyone to live in a clean, safe,
and just world – in substantial ways long before the terminology existed.
Indigenous people around the world are often credited as being the
pioneers of environmental justice principles.
decades as awareness has grown regarding the disproportionate impact
that toxic sites have had on marginalized communities without much
economic or political clout, namely low-income communities of color.
Introduction
This activity should take place after the concept of environmental justice
has already been introduced through the “Principles of Environmental
Justice” pre-trip activity, and after a field program has been conducted at
Heron’s Head Park or Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
Prior to the lesson, the instructor will post images of human, built, and
natural environments around the classroom. The images should evoke a
broad range of images and thoughts. They should also represent the wide
range of cultural experiences that the students bring into the classroom.
Good image sources include old magazines and calendars, event flyers,
and the internet. Students will go on a gallery walk around the classroom
to quietly observe these images. They will have the opportunity to talk
in groups about what thoughts and feelings arose while looking at these
images.
The class can discuss concepts of conscientization, or the gaining of the
ability to look at the world through a critical lens. Can we take everything
that we see at face value? Does one have to dig deeper in order to
uncover the truth about what happens in our society? What do the
images that the students have just seen truly represent when it comes to
environmental justice principles? The students can look at the sheet with
the six environmental justice rights that all people should have. The sheet
can be used as a reference to deconstruct the gallery walk images.
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ROOTS COMMUNICATION
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Activity
The activity will allow students to explore their roots and compare the
circumstances of the past with the realities of the present day and their
projections for the future. After a larger class discussion of students’
thoughts and feelings is conducted, each student will create personal
images of their own telling of a story of her or himself (her/his roots)
and will relate the story to the principles of environmental justice. While
creating the images, the students will answer these questions:
• Four hundred years ago, what did your ancestors’ community – the
natural and the built environments – look like?
• How and where were your ancestors living?
• The same will be asked for the present: what does your community look
like?
• How and where are you living currently?
Each student will get a worksheet with three boxes that represent
different eras: four hundred years ago, the present day, and four hundred
years into the future. Through ideas generated by the gallery walk and
the class discussion, the students will draw images into each box about
how the era relates to the principles of environmental justice. Students
can also create collages with meaningful images using magazines. The
environmental justice rights sheet can also be used as a critical thinking
tool that will aid the students in creating their illustrations. The instructor
should inform the students that lived experiences that are connected to
education, work, food, toxics, and open space depend very much upon
the era. Some of the questions asked by the instructor may include:
Are all of the needs of the people of this era being met?
Are the people able to access healthy food? How? Why or why not?
Are the people able to access clean water?
Are their communities non-toxic and safe?
Do they have access to open spaces?
Are their educational and work opportunities equitable and safe?
Students can also think about how their ancestors played a role in
upholding environmental justice principles many years before the
terminology existed.
Attaining an ideal level of environmental justice is a challenge, so
students can also discuss what the roadblocks to achieving environmental
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justice are and how to clear those roadblocks. Is it realistic to expect
environmental justice in the future? Will there always be injustices? Why
or why not?
OUTCOME
By analyzing their own roots – past, present, and future lifestyles of
families and community members, students will understand their own
connections to human, built, and natural environments that surround
them, how their ancestors connected to their environments, and what
their descendents’ relationships with their environments may be.
The class can discuss how the analysis of their roots can serve as a tool
to envision what real justice looks like. What should society look like four
hundred years from now? What actions do we need to take as a society to
get to a place that is environmentally, economically, and socially just?
The students can interview community elders and leaders with the same
set of questions as in the Through section. The students can create a
photojournalistic essay or create a documentary film on the interviews
and on their neighborhood by examining their subjects through an
environmental justice lens. Injustices can be brought to the attention of
community members through community hearings and presentations. The
internet can be used as a source of information dissemination through
weblogs, video posting sites, and social networks. Students can also ask:
“If environmental injustices are uncovered through this activity or through
their research, what can people do about it? What steps should one
take?”
Praxis is defined as the concept of using theory and research to inform
action, which is then reflected upon to drive further research and
action. Since one must always be reflective, praxis is an ongoing cycle.
Paulo Freire views praxis and conscientization, or the awakening of
critical consciousness, as necessary components of education in which
a “problem-posing” pedagogy is favored as the central educational
paradigm rather than one based on rote memorization of given facts. This
idea can be reinforced with the students to guide meaningful actions that
may result from their research.
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Arc Ecology
4634 Third Street
(415) 643.1190
www.arcecology.org
Greenaction
(415) 248-5010
[email protected]
www.greenaction.org
310 8th St. #309
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 834-8920
www.apen4ej.org
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
(New York: Continuum, 1970)
Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates
5021 3rd Street
San Francisco, California 94124
(415) 671-2862
(415) 391-6986
[email protected]
www.cpasf.org
2135 Clarke Ave.
(650) 322-9165
www.youthunited.net
305 Chesley Ave.
Richmond, CA 94801
(510) 232-3427
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 302-0430
www.cbecal.org
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Environmental Justice
All people have equal rights to their basic needs for:
1. HEALTHY FOOD
2. CLEAN WATER
3. NON-POLLUTING ENERGY
4. NON-TOXIC COMMUNITIES
5. OPEN SPACE
6. EQUITABLE EDUCATIONAL AND WORK OPPORTUNITIES
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My Environmental Justice Story
Name:
Date:
400 years ago
Now
400 years into the future
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BIOACCUMULATION
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Bioaccumulation
GRADES: 4-12
Overview: Students will model how toxins accumulate in a food chain
through an active game that can be played inside or outside of the
classroom.
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH AND JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
• People use chemicals that have inadvertently been released into the
environment through their use.
• Toxic substances can affect the health of humans and other organisms.
• Bioaccumulation happens when pesticides and other toxic
substances get passed up the food chain in increasing
concentrations.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will understand that pesticides and other toxic substances
can have unintended effects on the environment and on human health.
• Students will model, and come to an understanding of how toxics
accumulate in the food chain.
CONTENT STANDARDS
Grade 5: Life Sciences 5abde
Grade 8: Life Sciences (Chemistry of Living Systems) 6abc
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ade; Life Sciences (Evolution) 8ab
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• 30 poker chips per student (2/3 green, 1/3 red)
• One sandwich bag per student
• Armbands (pieces of fabric) of three different colors
45 minutes
This activity can be led by LEJ staff or the classroom teacher.
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
People have developed pesticides, often made from inorganic chemical
compounds, to control populations of organisms that have been identified
as “pests.” Herbicides are a type of pesticide that is use to kill unwanted
plants, while insecticides are used to kill unwanted insects. Although these
pesticides have at times been useful for humans when properly used for
their intended purposes, they also very frequently have unintended
consequences such as the harming of living things that were not meant to
be harmed. Many toxic chemicals persist in the environment and become
concentrated in food and water supplies, wildlife, and the bodies of humans,
particularly fetuses, infants, and children. Humans use a vast variety of
chemicals, of which only a tiny fraction have been tested. Almost none have
been tested for synergistic effects. Much more testing needs to happen
to determine the full picture of risks to human and environmental health.
An example of a pesticide that was once widely used is dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. During World War II, DDT was used to control
insect vectors of typhus, and in the 1950s, the World Health Organization
pushed to eradicate malaria by killing mosquito populations with the
chemical. In 1945, it became widely used for agricultural purposes to kill
insects that were damaging crops. In 1962, Rachel Carson published a
book titled Silent Spring that detailed the dangers of DDT use. She and
other environmentalists spoke of the harms of DDT entering the food
chain. Fish ate insects that were sprayed with the chemical. Eagles and
pelicans would in turn eat those fish. The poison became concentrated
in the birds, sometimes weakening and killing them directly, and at other
times, thinning egg shells to the point where a parent bird would crush
the egg in the nest. Populations of eagles, brown pelicans, and peregrine
falcons dropped dramatically, and in 1972, the domestic use of DDT was
banned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. However,
American chemical companies still produce DDT for export, so resident
animal populations in countries that still allow the use of DDT are still at
risk. Also, migratory species that travel between countries that allow and
prohibit DDT use are still at risk. In the United States, although DDT use
has been stopped, because DDT is a persistent organic pollutant (POP)
that is readily absorbed by the soil and does not easily break down, the
residual effects of past DDT use are still felt by animals and humans.
In addition to pesticides, chemical fertilizers are also used in mass
quantities with conventional farming practices. As with pesticides,
fertilizers – particularly those that consist of inorganic, synthetic
compounds – can have unintended consequences. When excess nutrients
from chemical fertilizers leach into the environment, bodies of water such
as lakes and streams can experience eutrophication. This means that the
abundance of nutrients causes algae to bloom in abundance and reduces
available dissolved oxygen for aquatic organisms, thus killing them off.
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Testing organisms in the water often serves as a better indicator of
chemical contamination than testing the water itself. Invertebrates such
as crayfish and shellfish, as well as fish, often have high concentrations
of toxins. Waterfowl may also be affected. Humans who eat fish and
waterfowl can concentrate the toxins in their bodies because the toxins
are stored in the bodies as they are consumed, and are not passed out of
the body. This leads to bioaccumulation in animals that are higher up in
the food chain, such as raptors and humans.
There is now a growing appreciation for organic agriculture among
farmers and consumers, which shuns chemical inputs and opts for
a more sustainable approach to food production. Integrated pest
management takes a more holistic approach to agriculture: the ecology
of the farm and garden ecosystem are taken into consideration as a
whole. Instead of using chemical pesticides, the natural predators of the
crop’s pests, including praying mantids and ladybugs, as well as other
biological controls, are used to reduce crop damage. Naturally occurring
pesticides and habitat manipulation are also used. Many farms still
use conventional, or non-organic, methods of agriculture, but many are
moving away from using toxins, which has a positive effect far beyond the
reaches of the farms themselves.
On a policy level, many governments are starting to make decisions
based on the Precautionary Principle, using the basic premise that
“when the health of humans and the environment is at stake, it may not
be necessary to wait for scientific certainty to take protective action.”
It has been applied in many contexts—including the Hippocratic Oath’s
“First, do no harm”—and is coming to be a very powerful policy tool
addressing industrial practices and pollution. Precaution places the
burden of proof on proponents of an activity rather than on victims or
potential victims of the activity, and requires that they explore alternatives
to possibly harmful actions and make substitutions wherever possible.
In the most ambitious adoption of the Precautionary Principle to date,
the European Union’s 2006 REACH policy (Registration, Evaluation
and Authorization of Chemicals) requires chemical manufacturers and
importers to do rigorous testing and publish comprehensive safety data at
an information clearinghouse where consumers and professionals can find
hazard information. For chemicals found to cause cancer, gene mutations
or reproductive hazards, to build up in the body (bioaccumulate), or to
cause other serious health and environmental impacts such as endocrine
disruptors, REACH mandates that such substances be phased out and
less hazardous substitutes be found.
In Canada and the US, the Precautionary Principle has been adopted
on a local level so far. Citing the Precautionary Principle as their basis
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for decision, more than 70 Canadian municipalities have banned the
cosmetic use of pesticides, and in 2003, San Francisco became the first
government body in the US to make the Precautionary Principle the basis
for all its environmental policy.
Introduction
This is an activity about what happens when toxins enter a food chain.
Have the students name some examples of food chains, and write their
examples on the board. You can also use this example:
algae g aquatic worm g killdeer (a small shorebird) g peregrine falcon
Prompts that can be used for discussion:
What is at the bottom of the food chain? Producers, or plants, which
produce energy through photosynthesis, constitute the bottom of the food
chain, and therefore represent the critical foundation of any food chain.
What eats the producers? Primary consumers, who eat plants, are eaten
by secondary consumers, which eat animals that eat plants. Secondary
and tertiary (yet another rung up in the food chain) consumers that do not
eat plants still cannot survive without the existence of plants.
What is at the top of the food chain? Predators that have no natural
predators.
Make a guess: are there more producers or consumers? Have students
give thumbs up or thumbs down and have students justify why they gave
certain answers. (There are more producers than consumers. As one
travels up the food chain, the population decreases.)
Activity
The class will be divided into three groups. Each group will play the role of
a particular trophic level – an organism’s placement within a food chain
or web. The game will involve hawks, shrews, and grasshoppers. In order
for the activity to run smoothly, there should be three times as many
shrews as hawks, and three times as many grasshoppers as shrews.
For example, in a class of 26 students, there would be two hawks, six
shrews, and eighteen grasshoppers. Students can be given different
colored armbands to differentiate between animal types.
Hand each grasshopper a sandwich bag. The container represents the
“stomach” of whatever animal is holding it. The teacher can sprinkle the
“food” items (the red and green poker chips) around the playing area in
the classroom.
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Give students their instructions: the grasshoppers are the first to go
looking for food. The hawks and shrews are to sit quietly on the sidelines
to watch their prey. At a given signal, the grasshoppers enter the area to
collect food and put it in their stomachs (the bags).
At the end of thirty seconds, the grasshoppers stop collecting food, and
the shrews enter the playing area. Grasshoppers can resume eating. If
a grasshopper gets tagged by a shrew, they have to give up their bag of
food to the shrew, and go sit on the sidelines. The shrews should hunt
the grasshoppers until each shrew has caught one or more grasshoppers;
this portion of the game should last between 15 and 60 seconds.
Then it is time for the hawks to hunt for their food. The grasshoppers
may continue to seek food, and the shrews can continue to hunt for
grasshoppers, while the hawks are looking for shrews to eat. If a hawk
tags a shrew, the hawk gets all of the food that the shrew has collected,
and the shrew goes to the sidelines. This part of the game should also
last between 15 to 60 seconds, until after each hawk has caught at least
one or two shrews. At the end of the time period, ask the students to
gather in a circle, and have then bring their bags of collected food.
Ask the students who are “dead” to identify what animal they are,
and which animal ate them. Next, ask the animals to empty their food
bags onto the floor to count out all of the chips. List the number of
grasshoppers, shrews and hawks that have survived, and how many
poker chips each one has.
Inform the students that a pesticide called DDT was sprayed into the
environment where the game took place. This pesticide was used to keep
grasshoppers from decimating food crops. Explain that DDT has been
proven to bioaccumulate in food chains and to persist in the environment
for long periods of time. All of the red chips represent the pesticide. Any
grasshoppers that have even one red chip are dead and have to move
over to the sidelines. Any shrew whose food consists of half or more
of the red chips is dead. The one hawk with the highest number of red
pieces will not die this time, but it has accumulated so much of the
pesticide in its body that the egg shells produced by it during the next
nesting season will be so thin that the eggs will crack, and the hatchlings
will die. The other hawk has not been harmed at this time. Grasshoppers
with none of the toxic food items have been saved at this time, in addition
to shrews who have half or more of the chips that are green.
OUTCOME
CALLING NATURE HOME
Through a game, students learned of the importance of plants within the
food web, and how the bioaccumulation of toxins happens.
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Talk with the students about what happened in this activity. What were
their observations about how the food chain seems to work, and what
the consequences are for toxic materials entering the food chain? Ask if
students can give other examples of food chains that could be affected by
toxins.
Further research can be conducted on animals that have bee affected
by DDT: eagles, brown pelicans, and peregrine falcons. What are their
roles in nature, how had they been affected, and how well have their
populations bounced back since DDT has been banned in 1972?
What have been the effects of pesticides on humans? Migrant farm
workers and their families have been disproportionately affected by
pesticide use in the fields. Many have suffered from cancer and birth
defects due to exposure. In what ways are farm workers’ health and
safety compromised? How are federal Occupational Safety and Health
Act (OSHA) laws supposed to protect farm workers? How has OSHA failed
them? Students can conduct research on which fruits or vegetables have
high levels of contamination and think of ways to take action to stop
pesticide use. What sorts of actions are already being taken by activists?
In what ways are many household cleaning items toxic? What effects do
they have on human health? What happens when these items leach out
into the environment? Students can do a research project on the health
effects of cleaning products on domestic workers – housecleaners,
custodial workers, and hotel service workers. How can risks be
minimized?
Cosmetic and personal care products are another common source
of toxics in our bodies and, when we throw them away, in polluting
the environment and affecting the food chain. Students can compare
ingredient lists and look up safety rankings of the products they use, and
research non-toxic alternatives.
Students can think of ways to reduce toxic exposure in their own lives.
Students can look further into integrated pest management and
organic agriculture, and examine whether health risks for farm workers,
consumers, and the environment have been minimized as a result.
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
www.safecosmetics.org
Science and Environmental Health Network
www.sehn.org
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (New York: Houghton
Mifflin, 1962)
United Farm Workers
PO Box 62
29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road
Keene, CA 93531
(661) 823-6250
www.ufw.org
Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanowski, John Peterson
Myers, Our Stolen Future (New York: Penguin, 1997)
www.ourstolenfuture.org
Pesticide Action Network of North America
49 Powell Street, Suite 500
(415) 981-1771
[email protected]
www.panna.org
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Mudflat Food Pyramid
Heron’s Head Park
Top Level Consumers:
Raptors & Humans
3rd Level Consumers:
Shorebirds, Waterbirds
2nd Level Consumers:
Worms, Mussels,
Clams, Crabs
1st Level Consumers:
Zooplankton
Producers:
Cordgrass (Detritus)
and Phytoplankton
(Adapted with permission from The Salt Marsh Manual, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1990)
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THE CREATION OF HERON’S HEAD PARK
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
The Creation of
Heron’s Head
Park
GRADES: 3-12
Overview: In this interactive activity, students recreate the community
process that led to the creation of Heron’s Head Park. They play the roles
of community members, concerned citizens, elected representatives, and
Port of San Francisco employees in an engaging and interactive activity.
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH AND JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
CONTENT STANDARDS
MATERIALS
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
CALLING NATURE HOME
• A wide range of perspectives and values are involved in making
decisions around open space habitat restoration.
• Students will learn about the complexity of community development.
• Students will understand that there are no “correct” answers and
solutions for the problems faced by society today.
• Students will learn about an interdisciplinary decision-making process
through a role-play activity
Grade 4: Life Sciences 3abc
Grade 6: Resources 6abc
Grades 9-12: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6abcde; Investigation and
Experimentation 1lm
•
•
•
•
•
Scenarios and role descriptions for each student
Sample hearing agenda
Copies of “The Story of Heron’s Head Park”
Costumes (if available)
Historical photographs of stakeholders, of Heron’s Head Park before
and after restoration (Contact LEJ)
2 to 3 class periods, including a trip to Heron’s Head Park
This activity will be led by the classroom teacher or LEJ staff.
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BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Introduction
Heron’s Head Park was once known as Pier 98 and was treated as an
abandoned lot. Over the years, it became an unauthorized dumping site
that filled up with trash, broken appliances, and shopping carts. The
Port of San Francisco restored the lot into the wetlands we now know as
Heron’s Head Park. Before the project began, Port officials presented
their plan to community residents and generated much public debate.
The class will simulate a fictionalized public hearing based on real
stakeholders and their concerns, as it may have taken place in 1996
when Park plans were first initiated.
This activity should be conducted after a visit to Heron’s Head Park where
the students can get a chance to engage with the park directly and gain a
sense of stewardship toward the space.
Students can read “Pier 98: A Community Development Opportunity”
either to themselves, or out loud as a class. By reading the story, the
students are familiarizing themselves with the circumstances around
the Park’s creation to re-enact a public hearing that could have taken
place. The class will be responsible for understanding and discussing
the challenges around the abandoned lot’s use as a dumping site and
to create solutions for the problems. The emphasis should be on coming
up with not only a single answer, but to come up with creative alternate
solutions as well.
After the students read the story, they can work either individually or in
groups to develop a list of three possible solutions to the problems of
Pier 98. The solution must include removal of the dump and redeveloping
the area into something more sustainable. While coming up with potential
solutions, the students can answer this question:
How will these solutions benefit the local community, and the city at
large?
Activity
CALLING NATURE HOME
Distribute copies of the scenario and a role description to each
participating student in the simulation. Do not allow the different groups
or characters to see the role descriptions of others. Please note: some of
the characters are real community members. Literacy for Environmental
Justice has chosen to include some people’s real names in order to
demonstrate to students that real people, based locally, have aided in
reshaping our neighborhood landscapes. The real characters are indicated
on each card. The students should be mindful of respecting their roles
while role-playing.
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A student will be chosen to serve as the Project Area Committee (PAC)
President, Mr. Claude Wilson. This person will be in charge of facilitating
the meeting. Four other students can be selected to serve as PAC
commissioners who will decide whether or not to support the Port’s
proposal to restore Pier 98 to create a wetland park.
This role-play is a simulation of the type of public meeting that can take
place in any community in which a development project is being planned.
The meetings may be structured differently based on the municipality and
the agencies involved, but they are typically open to public comment. We
have a Constitutional right to free speech and the right to be informed
of community development projects before they happen, so we have the
right to communicate with public officials through public hearings or via
written comments. The officials do not have to do as they are told by the
public, but they are mandated to weigh community concerns seriously and
to base their decisions on what they think is best for the long-term benefit
of the entire community.
Each student will get a copy of the PAC sample agenda. The LEJ educator
will return on another scheduled date, after the students have time to
prepare their presentations based on their roles, for the simulated hearing.
Students who are not assigned a specific role can serve as concerned
community members who will challenge the Port representatives by
speaking out at the public hearing. Half of these students can support the
Port’s proposal to develop Pier 98 into a wetland park, while the other
half can come up with concerns and rebuttal arguments.
Set-up
On the day of the hearing, arrange the room so that there are five chairs
for the PAC commissioners in the front of the room and a space for
public speaking in front of them. Use a podium if there is one available.
The audience can sit behind the podium facing the commissioners. Any
presenters should sit in the first row of the audience.
OUTCOME
Conduct the hearing and allow each student to act out the role on their
card.
The students will understand the complexities of proposing development
projects and gain a first-hand understanding of the public hearing process
through a role-play.
Ask students if they think that the meeting was a fair way to make a
decision.
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Did community members feel like their concerns were addressed? Were
the people who opposed the final decision content to let the majority
decide?
Ask students to name some other ways the decisions could have been
made.
Is it possible to make a decision that everyone is comfortable with?
Which decision-making processes do students think are the most
equitable?
Students can attend a Bayview Project Area Committee meeting or a
Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee (SWAC) meeting when other
redevelopment issues are being discussed. (Schedule posted at www.
sfgov.org/site/port_meeting.asp?id=34954) The students can take notes
on the meeting, and then discuss as a class what decisions they would
have made had they been the commissioners. If students can conduct
research on development issues prior to a meeting, especially if it
pertains to their neighborhoods, they can also share their opinions at the
public hearings and become advocates for positions that they believe in.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Port of San Francisco
Pier 1, The Embarcadero
http://www.sfgov.org/site/port_page.
asp?id=102470
(415) 274-0400
SWAle Alliance for a Clean Waterfront
(415) 794-2539
http://www.sfcleanwaterfront.org
Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee
Port of San Francisco
Pier 1, The Embarcadero
http://www.sfgov.org/site/port_page.asp?id=34946
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Pier 98: A Community Development Opportunity
Over the course of the past one hundred years,
approximately 95% of the San Francisco Bay’s tidal
wetlands have disappeared due to the advance of
development and the creation of built environments
through landfill. Pier 98 is a twenty-four acre native
habitat restoration site comprised of upland and
tidal habitats, located in Hunters Point at the base
of the PG&E power plant. Once open water, the
Pier was initially created as a bay fill project to be
used as a Port of San Francisco shipping terminal.
The project never materialized beyond filling in
the San Francisco Bay, and Pier 98 turned into a
brownfield site for several decades, as polluters
dumped waste into the abandoned lot. According to
the United States Environmental Protection Agency,
the definition of a brownfield site is “real property,
the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which
may be complicated by the presence or potential
presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or
contaminant” (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
glossary.htm).
California native plants. As nature took its course,
the abandoned landfill became a critical habitat for
dozens of species of mostly migratory birds flying
along the Pacific Flyway, as well as a variety of
native and invasive plants. In the early 1990s, the
resulting salt marsh had become one of only two
remaining wetland habitats in San Francisco.
During the mid-1990s, the Port of San Francisco
began a collaborative process to redevelop Pier 98.
Local residents and teachers had advocated for the
transformation of the area into a park as a means to
provide open space for the surrounding underserved
communities. Many teachers expressed a need
for a safe environmental education space for their
classes, similar to spaces in the Presidio that
wealthier northern residents of San Francisco had
gained access to as the Presidio was transferred
from the United States Military to the National Park
Service in 1994.
Today, you are a participant in a community
meeting held in Bayview Hunters Point. The year
is 1996. A proposal is being presented before the
Bayview Project Area Committee (PAC), a locally
appointed body of volunteer community advisors.
At the meeting’s conclusion, the PAC will make a
recommendation for the future of the site.
Ironically, while Pier 98—the brownfield—became
another example of urban blight in the overindustrialized and impoverished neighborhood of
Hunters Point, Pier 98—the wetland—was becoming
a hidden ecological treasure buried amongst a
forest of pampas grass, fennel, and endangered
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POST TRIP ACTIVITY
SCENARIO CARD
ROLE CARD
It is 1996. Pier 98 is a spit of land in Hunters Point,
owned by the Port of San Francisco right next to a power
plant. The site was created from landfill. Over the past
twenty years, since the Port had not used the land, it
became an unauthorized dump. It is filled with trash, and
there is a homeless camp. At the same time, both invasive
and native plants have started to thrive, creating a rich
natural environment for birds and small animals.
The Audubon Society, a group of bird lovers, has
declared that Pier 98 is an important habitat for migratory
birds. Lots of people like to hike around the site to view the
San Francisco Bay and the wildlife despite the fact that it is
a dump. Teachers from the neighborhood sometimes take
their classes to the Pier to see the plants and animals as
well.
The Port of San Francisco has decided to develop the
site and to clean up the dump. They are hoping to create
a wetland park at the site, partly because it is one of the
cheapest and fastest ways to fix the area. They will need
several million dollars to do the job.
The public hearing is being held at the offices of the
Bayview Project Area Committee, a group of communityelected commissioners who volunteer to oversee and
advise all development projects in the Bayview Hunters
Point District of San Francisco.
Mr. Claude Wilson (Real Person)
Bayview PAC President/Director of the Southeast Alliance
for Environmental Justice (SAEJ)
You are a resident of Hunters Point where you and
your wife live in a condo overlooking Pier 98. You work
at UC Berkeley during the day, and you volunteer as
PAC President in your free time. You also volunteer as
the Director of SAEJ, an environmental justice group of
community activists who have joined together to clean
up Hunters Point. You are a well-respected African
American leader who is passionate about helping out your
community.
You are skeptical of the Port’s proposal because you do
not like the other development projects that the Port has
brought to the community. The Port’s big shipping terminal
down the street from your house is a major polluter. You
would also like to see more business development in the
community because it is a poor neighborhood, and people
need stores and jobs.
ROLE CARD
ROLE CARD
Ms. Carol Bach (Real Person)
Port of San Francisco Official
Arthur Feinstein (Real Person)
Director, Golden Gate Audubon Society
You are the person in charge of overseeing the cleanup
and redevelopment of Pier 98. You work at the Port
because you have a strong commitment to environmentalism, and you love the Bay. You are a white woman who is
well-respected at the Port. You love to go rowing on the Bay,
and are a friend of Arthur Feinstein, director of the Golden
Gate Audubon Society, so you know that Pier 98 is an
important bird habitat.
You are excited about the opportunity to transform the
Pier into a park that the Hunters Point community can enjoy.
You imagine that it can become a safe place for students to
learn, and for people to enjoy nature.
You are at the meeting as the Port’s main representative. The Port has built a lot of industry in southeast San
Francisco, which has contributed to air and water pollution.
Even though the Port has done bad things in the past, you
see this project as an opportunity for the Port to do
something right by the community.
You are aware that some of the people in the
community do not trust you because you work for the Port,
a government agency; therefore, you choose your words
carefully because you think that a lot of people might not
really believe that you have the community’s interest at
heart.
CALLING NATURE HOME
You are the head of the San Francisco Chapter of the
Audubon Society, a nationwide network of bird lovers. You
are a long time resident of Potrero Hill. Your organization
has been working for years to restore part of the waterfront
in Bayview Hunters Point. You are a funny and relaxed
person who can be a fierce advocate for birds and the
environment. You would love nothing better than to create a
beautiful natural area out of what had been a terrible
mistake of filling the Bay, especially since Pier 98 serves
as an important habitat for so many migratory birds.
237
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
ROLE CARD
ROLE CARD
Mr. Mohammed Nuru (Real Person)
Director, San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG)
Mr. Julius Mason (Fictional Character)
San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG)
Youth Leader
You are the director of the largest environmental
group in Bayview Hunters Point and an advocate for open
space/park development. You are an African man who
immigrated to the United States, and remember your life
as a youth growing up on your family’s farm in Nigeria. You
passionately believe that all people have the right to open
space, and you have committed yourself to an organization
in which poor people are trained and employed to build
parks and gardens.
If the Park proposal is passed, your organization will be
hired to do the work of cleanup and restoring the Park’s
habitats. This will create temporary jobs and training
opportunities for community residents.
You are a 17-year old African American male who is
employed by SLUG as an environmental justice leader. You
have learned about the toxic impacts endured by Bayview
Hunters Point and the long years of neglect and abuse that
the community has suffered. Even though you are not into
nature that much, you believe that every single person
should have a park near their home as a place to ‘kick it’;
therefore, you support the Park project.
ROLE CARD
ROLE CARD
Ms. Mishwa Lee (Real Person)
Teacher, Gloria R. Davis Middle School
Mr. Nay Sayer (Fictional Character)
Community Activist
You have lived in the Bayview community for thirty
years. You have a background in science and believe that
Heron’s Head Park is toxic because it has been a dump.
Although the Port has plans to remove the toxics from the
site, you believe that the site is hazardous and that nothing
should be built there.
You are a long-time civil rights and environmental justice
activist. You are a white woman who lives in Hunters Point
in a housing association overlooking the Pier. Your son is
a middle school student at Visitacion Valley Middle School,
and you teach at Gloria R. Davis Middle School, so you
are well-connected to the community. You are angry that
there are no nearby open spaces for Bayview Hunters Point
students. You think that they should have access to natural
areas in order to study science and other subjects.
ROLE CARD
ROLE CARD
Ms. Wendy Brummer (Real Person)
Hunters Point Café Owner and Resident
Ms. Marie Harrison (Real Person)
BayView Newspaper Journalist
You are a community business owner who runs a wellloved café next to Pier 98. You also own a home near the
café and the Pier. You are one of the founding members of
the Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice. You have
a toddler son, and a daughter is on the way. Even though
the park is not yet developed, you take your dog there
for walks on the weekend. You would like to see the area
made into a park.
You are a long-time community activist who has worked
with many community organizations. You have a column
in the weekly BayView newspaper. You are a strong,
outspoken community elder and an African American
woman. You have several children and grandchildren who
reside in the neighborhood. You are concerned about
the development of Pier 98 because you are afraid that
someone will use the Pier to make a profit off of the
community. You support the idea to turn the Pier into open
space.
CALLING NATURE HOME
238
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
ROLE CARD
ROLE CARD
Mr. Alex Lantsberg (Real Person)
Coordinator, Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice
(SAEJ)
Mr. Charles James (Fictional Character)
Our Job Trucking Company
You own and operate one of the largest African
American trucking companies in the Bay Area and are
based in Bayview Hunters Point. You are a well-known
activist for community jobs and development. You have
heard that the proposed wetland could breed mosquitoes,
and you worry about people catching malaria. You also
want to make sure that your company gets any trucking
contracts associated with the project. You are mostly
opposed to the project.
You are a young white male who works as the
coordinator for SAEJ. Your job is to represent the interests
of your board of directors, consisting of a variety of
community leaders, including Claude Wilson, the PAC
president. You are passionate about wastewater issues,
and see the proposed project as a means to clean up Islais
Creek Channel, where the city’s sewage dumps out. The
SAEJ board of directors supports the Park project.
ROLE CARD
Mr. Darrell Turner (Fictional Character)
Mayor Willie Brown’s Office Representative
You are a representative of Mayor Willie Brown’s office
who has been sent to participate in the meeting on the
Mayor’s behalf. The Mayor has not taken a solid stand
on the proposed project yet because he is trying to figure
out what the community wants; therefore, Mr. Turner will
make vague statements about the project, not offering
or declining support either way. You are aware that the
Bayview is a strong, diverse voting community, and you
want to protect the Mayor’s popularity.
CALLING NATURE HOME
239
EATING BAY FISH
POST TRIP ACTIVITY
Eating
Bay Fish
GRADES: 6-12
Overview: Students learn that fish from the San Francisco Bay may
contain toxins that make them harmful to consume. They learn what
species are safest to consume, and then learn of safe ways to cook and
eat the fish.
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH AND JUSTICE
KEY CONCEPTS
• Eating fish from the San Francisco Bay can cause health problems
because of environmental contamination.
• Eating certain types of fish, and using safe fish cooking techniques,
can lower health risks of eating Bay fish.
OBJECTIVE
• Students will learn about guidelines for safe consumption of Bay fish.
• Students will learn how to cook fish safely.
CALIFORNIA STATE
STANDARDS
MATERIALS
CALLING NATURE HOME
Grade 6: SCIENCE: Life Sciences (Ecology) 5abcde
Grade 8: SCIENCE: Life Sciences (Chemistry of Living Things) 6abc
Grades 9-12: SCIENCE: Life Sciences (Ecology) 6ade
• Copies of Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program brochure
www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_
SeafoodWatch_WestCoastGuide.pdf
• Copies of California Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) safe fish eating standards for the San Francisco
Bay Area, found online at:
www.oehha.ca.gov/fish/general/sfbaydelta.html
• Copies of US EPA guidelines for fish and shellfish consumption:
www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advice/
• Several whole fish, such as farmed striped bass or US farmed tilapia,
purchased from a store
• Salt
• Lemons
• Crackers
• Forks
• Steamers to cook fish
• Stoves or burners
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EATING BAY FISH
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•
•
•
•
•
MINIMUM TIME
FACILITATOR
BACKGROUND/
CONTEXT/
CONNECTION
Cutting boards
Knives
Latex gloves
Dishwashing soap and sponges
Poster boards and markers
1 hour
This activity will be led by the classroom teacher.
Most fish in the San Francisco Bay contain chemicals at levels that may
be harmful to people who eat these fish on a regular basis. Because of
this, health advisories have been issued that make recommendations to
help people eat fish from the Bay more safely.
The chemicals of the highest concern are high levels of mercury and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are found in Bay fish. Additionally,
other chemicals such as DDT, chlordane (a pesticide) and dioxin (from
paper making and PVC production) can also have an adverse effect on
human health.
PCBs can compromise the health of our skin, liver and kidneys. In animal
studies, it was found that continuous exposure, even at low levels, can
lead to problems with the immune, nervous and reproductive systems, and
has been known to cause cancer. The health effects are more severe for
developing babies, small children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.
Mercury is a persistent substance that does not break down readily in the
environment.
Mercury is a naturally occurring chemical that can be found in our
environment, and in plants and animals, but at very low levels. Now there
is much more in the environment than would otherwise occur because
of human uses of mercury and improper disposal that allows the heavy
metal to be released into our environment.
There are two main pathways by which mercury ends up in the Bay. Most
mercury pollution is released into the air, and the particulates fall directly
onto waterways or are deposited onto land where they can be washed into
the water. Mercury was also used heavily in gold mining in the Sierras,
especially in the latter half of the 1800s during the California Gold Rush.
Mercury runoff entered the Bay via the network of streams and rivers in the
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EATING BAY FISH
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watershed; to this day, many of these mines have never been cleaned up,
and mercury continues to travel downstream to the Bay every rainy season.
Once it enters the water, biological processes transform the mercury
into a highly toxic form called methylmercury. Methylmercury rapidly
accumulates up the food chain to levels that can cause serious health
concerns for people and wildlife that frequently eat fish.
Since this form of mercury bioaccumulates (accumulating at a greater
rate than it is lost), larger freshwater fish from contaminated waters have
particularly high levels of methylmercury, posing health risks for people
who rely on this fish for food. A report from the National Academy of
Sciences confirms that methylmercury is a potent toxin that can alter the
nervous system and affect the ability to learn, especially amongst babies
of women who consume large quantities of fish while pregnant.
Mercury affects the nervous system, brain and kidneys. Pregnant and
nursing mothers can pass mercury to their babies. Babies and young
children are at greater risk for brain development and growth problems
from repeated mercury exposure, and are susceptible to learning
disabilities.
Because of federal bans on mercury additives in paints and pesticides,
reduced mercury use in batteries, and improved battery recycling, the
U.S. industrial demand for mercury has dropped 75 percent since 1988.
Based on current preliminary data from the U.S. EPA, the principal
human-caused sources of mercury emissions in the United States
are coal-fired power plants, municipal waste incinerators, and medical
waste incinerators. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
California state government are working to reduce mercury pollution in the
environment, but because methylmercury is very persistent and mercury
continues to run into the Bay from the Sierras every year, it will be many
years before methylmercury levels can be effectively reduced.
Is it safe to eat?
Fish is an excellent source of nutrition, and for the most part is safe to
eat in moderation. The developing nervous system of a baby and young
child is more sensitive to the harmful effects of toxic chemicals than the
more fully developed nervous system of an older child or adult.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
(OEHHA) recommends:
Because of elevated levels of mercury, PCBs, and other chemicals, the
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EATING BAY FISH
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following interim advisory has been issued. A final advisory will be issued
when the data have been completely evaluated. (Source: oehha.ca.gov/
fish/general/sfbaydelta.html — current as of 7/09)
• Women beyond childbearing age and men should eat no more than
two meals per month of San Francisco Bay sport fish, including
sturgeon and striped bass caught in the Delta. (One meal for an
adult is about eight ounces).
• Women beyond childbearing age and men should not eat any striped
bass over 35 inches.
• Women of childbearing age, pregnant, nursing mothers, and children
should not eat more than one meal of Bay- or Delta-caught fish per
month. In addition, they should not eat any striped bass over 27
inches or any shark.
• This advisory does not apply to salmon, anchovies, herring, and
smelt caught in the Bay; other sport fish caught in the Delta or
ocean; or commercial fish.
• Richmond Harbor Channel area: In addition to the above advice,
no one should eat any croakers, surfperches, bullheads, gobies or
shellfish taken within the Richmond Harbor Channel area because of
high levels of chemicals detected there.
How can we protect ourselves and the environment?
We can protect the plants and animals in our environment, and the health
of humans, by cleaning these chemicals from our air, water and soil.
Often, the people who catch and eat fish out of the San Francisco Bay are
people of color — immigrants and African Americans – who catch fish for
subsistence. These populations are the ones whose health is affected the
most adversely. This is why cleaning the toxins from our waterways is an
environmental justice issue. Since it will be years before our waterways
are clean, and it will take community effort to clean up the water, the best
thing to do is to educate ourselves and others on protecting ourselves
from harm when catching food from the San Francisco Bay.
Safe fishing and cooking
In general, people should clean and gut fish that is caught because some
chemicals, including PCBs and mercury, tend to concentrate in the organs,
particularly the liver. PCBs are mainly stored in the fat, so the risk can be
reduced by trimming the fat, removing the skin, and filleting the fish
before cooking. Fat is located along the back and belly, and in the dark
meat along the lateral line running across the side of the fish. Skinning
fish will remove the thin layer of fat under the skin. Baking, grilling and
steaming allows the juices to drain away, so discarding the cooking juices
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EATING BAY FISH
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is a safer way to cook. Using these methods does significantly decrease
the amount of PCBs and other chemicals in the fish. However, since
methylmercury is also found in the muscles of the fish, even with safe
cooking methods, monthly consumption of Bay fish should be limited.
When properly prepared, fish provides protein that is low in saturated fats.
Replacing high fat foods in the diet with low fat foods can provide real
health benefits. Following safe cooking practices allows one to reap the
health benefits of eating fish while reducing the risk of contamination.
Eating a variety of fish species, avoiding bottom feeders (e.g. flounder,
halibut, sole, haddock, snapper, shellfish), and varying fishing locations is
also likely to reduce exposure to contamination.
Introduction
Have the students share out in small groups their fishing experiences:
Has the student ever been fishing, crabbing, clamming, and if so, where?
The students can share what types of fish they eat and the environment in
which they have gone fishing.
Discuss the concept of bioaccumulation: animals higher up in the food
chain store much more chemicals than they eliminate, and the more
contaminated foods are consumed, the more is stored in the body.
Since humans are at the top of the food chain, we have the capacity
to accumulate a lot of toxins in our bodies through fish consumption,
especially from sources, such as the San Francisco Bay, that are known
to be contaminated.
The class can have a discussion on some of the health effects; the
instructor can refer to the Background section to facilitate the discussion.
Activity
Fish cooking demonstration
Striped bass, or another similar fish, can be purchased for the cooking
demonstration along with some lemon and crackers. Groups can prepare
a fish using the recommended guidelines for cooking fish from the Bay.
If the class has any vegetarian students, or other students who cannot
participate in the activity, they can begin on the Beyond activities during
this time.
While beginning the demonstration, the class can review how pollutants
enter the San Francisco Bay and our water systems. Due to bioaccumulation,
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EATING BAY FISH
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animals at the top of the food chain will have higher concentrations of
pollutants in their bodies. Adults should eat no more than two meals of
fish from the San Francisco Bay per month, and pregnant mothers, nursing
mothers, and children under the age of 6 should eat no more than one
meal of fish from the San Francisco Bay per month.
Guidelines for cooking fish
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
OUTCOME
Have the students wear latex gloves, and place the fish on a cutting
board.
Stab the fish with a fork. This is done to make holes for the juices and
fats to drain out, since this is where many of the toxins are stored.
Cut the fish open along the belly. Take out all of the organs. The
liver has an especially high level of toxins, since it is an organ that
collects toxins in the body to cleanse it.
Cook the fish in a steamer for 20 to 25 minutes. During this time,
cutting boards, knives and gloves can be washed, and cooking areas
can be tidied up.
Once the fish is cooked, the skin should be removed, since the layer
of fat that is connected to the skin can contain toxins.
Remove the dark fatty meat, and leave only the white fillet. This is
the safest part of the fish to eat.
Season the fish with salt and lemon as needed, place the fish
onto the crackers, and distribute the crackers for students to eat.
Students who do not eat fish can just eat the crackers.
Steamers and pots can be washed at the end.
Students will learn of the harms of Bay fish, and learn safe ways to
consume Bay fish.
Discuss how PCBs spread into the environment. PCBs were used to
make electronics and insulation equipment. After its harmful effects were
publicized in 1977, their production was discontinued. How many years
ago was that? Why do we still have it around? Different substances take
a different length of time to break down. If a paper plate and a ceramic
plate were left in the back yard, what would they look like in a week?
In a year? In a decade? With chemicals, the rate of breakdown is also
variable, and PCBs take a long time to break down. This is why they still
persist in our environment.
Do students know of family members or neighbors who catch and eat Bay
fish? How can we let them know about staying healthy?
Brainstorm ways to disseminate the information learned to school
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EATING BAY FISH
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members, family members, and community members.
Students can also research sustainability issues that are connected to
fish consumption, and use resources from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seafood Watch Program to gather information on sustainable fish
consumption.
Students can create a poster board that describes the harms of
consuming Bay fish with statistics gathered from the OEHHA and EPA
websites, and shows how to prepare fish safely.
Students can also create slide shows, video documentaries, and cooking
demonstrations to share with their school, or at a local community center.
Students can bring in family recipes for cooking fish, and adapt the
recipes to include safe fishing guidelines. These can be gathered into a
student-produced cookbook, or used as recipes for a cooking competition
between class chefs.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Golden Gate Park
(415) 379-8000
http://www.calacademy.org/
Environmental Protection Agency Fish Advisory
www.epa.gov/ost/fishadvice/advice.html
Marine Science Institute
(650) 364-2760
www.sfbaymsi.org
California Department of Fish and Game
1416 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-0411
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program
www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/
media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_WestCoastGuide.pdf
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) Fish Advisory
www.oehha.ca.gov/fish/general/sfbaydelta.html
San Francisco Estuary Institute
7770 Pardee Lane
(510) 746-SFEI (7334)
www.sfei.org
Clean Water Action
111 New Montgomery St. # 600
(415) 369-9160
CALLING NATURE HOME
246
APPENDIX
Glossary
abiotic [adjective]: relating to non-living chemical and
physical factors in the environment
coastal scrub [noun]: a habitat type that consists of lowgrowing plants found along the coast that is inhabited by
insects, small rodents and small predatory birds; coastal
scrub is found in the uplands at Heron’s Head Park
adaptation [noun]: evolutionary changes experienced by
an organism that help it to better survive environmental
conditions
algae [noun]: aquatic plant with chlorophyll but without
roots, stems or leaves
bay [noun]: a body of water partially enclosed by land with
an outlet to the ocean
combined storm water and sewage system [noun]: the
system of pipes that bring wastewater from homes and
storm water from gutters on the streets to treatment
facilities to be treated before being released into the Bay;
during storm events, these pipes can overflow and send
hundreds of gallons of untreated sewage into the Bay
competition [noun]: the relationship between organisms
with overlapping basic needs that can limit one another’s
possibility to survive or produce young
bioaccumulation [noun]: the process by which the
concentration of a persistent chemical in living things is
increased as it travels up the food chain; a synonymous
term is biological magnification.
compost [noun]: decomposed organic matter that is
produced by humans by mimicking the natural process of
plant and animal breakdown; used as a natural fertilizer
to enhance soil
bioassay [noun]: a test on a living thing to examine the
toxic effects of a particular substance
biodegradable [adjective]: the ability of an organic
substance to break down based on the enzymes produced
by living things
biological diversity/biodiversity [noun]: the amount of
variety in life forms found in a given ecosystem
biotic [adjective]: relating to living organisms
conscientization [noun]: a educational practice developed
by Brazilian critical theorist Paulo Freire which focuses
on achieving an in-depth critical understanding of the
world through exposing social and political contradictions,
allowing a person to take action against oppressive
elements; the building of critical consciousness
copepod [noun]: the most abundant type of zooplankton
found in aquatic habitats, and an important food source
for many animals in the ocean
brackish [adjective]: with higher salinity than fresh water,
but with lower salinity than sea water
creek [noun]: a small stream of water, such as a shallow
or intermittent tributary to a river
carcinogenic [adjective]: cancer causing
carnivore [noun]: an animal that only eats other animals
culvert [noun]: creeks that are diverted into concrete
tunnels and ducts
chlorophyll [noun]: the molecule in plants containing
a green pigment that attracts sunlight so that plants
can produce their own food, and oxygen, through
photosynthesis
DDT [noun]: abbreviation for dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane, a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide that
is now banned from generalized use in the United States
because of its harmful effects on animals due to its
toxicity and persistence in the environment
coastal prairie or grassland [noun]: a habitat type that
consists mainly of grasses and wildflowers, where insects,
small rodents, reptiles and birds of prey can be found;
grasslands are found in the uplands at Heron’s Head Park
decompose [verb]: to break down into basic elements
and compounds; decay
decomposer [noun]: an organism such as bacteria that
breaks down dead plants and animals into more basic
elements, which releases chemicals
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247
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX
detritus [noun]: dead organic material such as plant
material that is broken down by bacteria and other
microorganisms
ethnobotany [noun]: the study of the interrelationships
between people and plants from a sociocultural
perspective
diatom [noun]: tiny, floating organisms that drift near the
surface of marine and fresh waters where more sunlight
can be found than in deeper waters; diatoms make their
food using the sun’s energy, and are an important food
source for plant eaters in an aquatic ecosystem
food chain [noun]: the interrelationship of organisms
across trophic levels as one gets eaten by another;
energy transfer starts with the producers and moves up
to the highest level consumers
food web [noun]: an extension of the food chain concept
from a linear pathway to a complex web of interactions in
which many food chains overlap and intersect
dinoflagellate [noun]: tiny floating organisms that drift
near the surface of marine and fresh water; they can
make their food through photosynthesis, and are a major
food source for plant eaters in aquatic ecosystems
groundwater [noun]: water stored in the porous spaces
of underground soil and rock; more than half of the
United States population depends upon groundwater as a
drinking water source
dump [noun]: a site where mixed wastes are
indiscriminately deposited without regard to the protection
of the environment; sanctioned landfills are also
colloquially called dumps
grazer [noun]: an organism that consumes primary
producers; also called primary consumers
ecology [noun]: the branch of biology concerned with the
various relations of animals and plants to one another
and to their surrounding environment
greenwashing [noun]: the practice of making an
unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the
environmental benefits of a product, service, technology
or company practice, to make a company appear to be
more environmentally friendly than it really is.
ecosystem [noun]: a natural unit consisting of all plants,
animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area
functioning together with all of the physical (abiotic)
factors of the environment; an ecosystem can be as large
as a rain forest or as small as a rotting log
habitat [noun]: an environment within which a plant or
animal species resides, where its basic needs (food,
water, shelter, space) are met
endangered species [noun]: a population of an organism
that is in danger of becoming extinct
habitat restoration [noun]: the act of renewing a
degraded, damaged or destroyed ecosystem through
active human intervention
endemic [adjective]: particular to a certain geographic
area; the salt marsh harvest mouse is endemic to the
wetlands of the San Francisco Bay
hazardous material [noun]: chemicals that pose a
significant threat to human heath and the environment
energy recovery [noun]: getting energy from solid wastes
by some type of conversion process; for example, using
heat that is generated through the burning of solid wastes
hazardous waste [noun]: waste materials that pose a
danger to human health and the environment; may be
toxic, corrosive, reactive or flammable
heavy metal [noun]: metallic elements such as cadmium,
lead and mercury which persist in the environment, are
poisonous, and are subject to biological magnification
among organisms that accidentally ingest it
environmental justice [noun]: a movement that seeks to
redress inequitable distributions of environmental burdens
that are often carried by economically disadvantaged
people of color; the idea that clean air and water, equitable
access to recreational, educational and job opportunities,
health care, and safety are a right that all people should
be able to access
herbicide [noun]: a chemical that is used to kill
undesirable plants
estuary [noun]: a semi-enclosed body of water connected
to the ocean that has freshwater inputs, such as rivers or
streams; brackish water is found in an estuary
CALLING NATURE HOME
herbivore [noun]: organism that only eats plants
248
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX
holoplankton: a type of zooplankton that spend the
entirety of their life cycle as a free-floating plankton
hypothesis [noun]: an educated guess to a problem
mudflat [noun]: coastal wetlands that form when mud
is deposited by tides or rivers, found in sheltered areas
such as bays, bayous, lagoons and estuaries; most of the
sediment found in a mudflat is within the intertidal zone,
and experiences inundation and exposure during high and
low tides
insecticide [noun]: a chemical used to kill undesirable
insects
native species [noun]: a species that is endemic to a
certain geographic area
intertidal or littoral zone [noun]: a tidal area that goes
through daily cycles of inundation and exposure
natural resource [noun]: a naturally forming substance
that is valued as a commodity for humans
introduced species [noun]: a plant or animal that is
brought into a new environment either deliberately or
accidentally by humans; not native to the new habitat
neap tide [noun]: a tide that occurs when the moon
and the sun are at right angles to the earth, when the
difference in height between high and low tide is at its
smallest
horticulture [noun]: the science of plant cultivation
invasive species [noun]: a species that invades a habitat
in an exploitive way by competing with native species for
resources, thereby decreasing biodiversity
neutralize [verb]: to render an active chemical compound
into an inactive form
jellyfish [noun]: a type of carnivorous zooplankton with a
thick jelly layer to help them stay afloat in water
niche [noun]: the relational position occupied by a
species within its ecosystem in comparison with other
organisms that occupy that ecosystem
krill [noun]: a type of zooplankton that have droplets of
oil and wax on their appendages to help them stay afloat
in their aquatic habitat; very small crustaceans
non-native species [noun]: species that are introduced
from geographic locations other than where it is found;
non-endemic species
lake [noun]: a large inland body of fresh or salt water
landfill [noun]: a site for the disposal of waste materials
by burial; oldest historical form of waste management
non-point source pollution [noun]: pollution that comes
from multiple and non-specific sources; includes runoff
from land surrounding the San Francisco Bay
mercury [noun]: a heavy metal pollutant in the San
Francisco Bay that is especially toxic when it is converted
into methylmercury, a dangerous form of mercury that
bioaccumulates as it travels up the food chain
nutrient [noun]: substance that provides nourishment
for an organism through food, vitamins and minerals;
when organic materials decompose, their nutrients are
released
meroplankton [noun]: a type of zooplankton that spends
only portions of its life cycle in the plankton stage
Ohlone [proper noun]: California Native Americans that
are native to the San Francisco Bay and the Monterey Bay
areas
omnivore [noun]: animal that eats both plants and
animals
migration [noun]: bird migrations refer to the seasonal
journeys undertaken by birds across long distances as a
response to food availability, habitat or weather; migratory
birds that fly along the Pacific Flyway use Heron’s Head
Park as a rest stop and overwintering area
organic [adjective]: 1. relates to living organisms; 2.
relates to food production that does not utilize chemical
inputs through pesticides, fertilizers, growth stimulants or
antibiotics
ostracod [noun]: a type of zooplankton that is a small
crustacean
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249
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX
overwinter [verb]: survival mechanisms for waiting
out the winter season, either by migrating to a warmer
climatic area or through hibernation; many migratory birds
overwinter in the San Francisco Bay due to its relatively
mild winter conditions
pollinator [noun]: a vector that allows pollination to occur,
such as a bee, butterfly or moth in search of nectar as a
food source from a flower, or the wind
pollution [noun]: introduction of contamination into an
environment that can harm living organisms or disrupt
ecological systems
Pacific Flyway [proper noun]: the route along the
Pacific coast of North and South America that is used by
migratory birds; extends from Alaska to the tip of South
America
PCBs [noun]: abbreviation for polychlorinated biphenyls;
large class of synthetic chlorinated hydrocarbons used
in industrial processes; their use has been discontinued
but they are a persistent organic pollutant that is
carcinogenic
pelagic [adjective]: pertains to the open ocean
environment
persistent organic pollutant (POPs) [noun]: organic
compounds that are resistant to environmental
degradation
Precautionary Principle [noun]: a moral and political
principle which states that if an action or policy might
cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the
environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus
that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on
those who would advocate taking the action
pesticide [noun]: chemical substances and biological
agents that are used to kill unwanted plants, insects,
rodents, fungi and microbes
predator [noun]: animals that consume other animals
photosynthesis [noun]: process by which primary
producers use chlorophyll to convert carbon dioxide into
sugars (food source for plants) and oxygen through the
use of sunlight
prey [noun]: animals that are consumed by other animals
primary consumer [noun]: an organism, also called a
grazer, that consumes primary producers; they can be
herbivores, but may also be omnivores
phytoplankton [noun]: small floating plankton that
drift near the surface of their aquatic habitats to utilize
sunlight for photosynthesis; a primary producer that
serves as a foundation for aquatic food webs
primary producer [noun]: organism that produces its own
food through photosynthesis
plankton [noun]: drifting organisms in marine and
freshwater environments that are subjects to aquatic
currents, in contrast to nekton (actively swimming)
creatures such as fish, squid and marine mammals
that can self-propel sufficiently enough to control their
positions in the water
plant community [noun]: a collection of plant species
within a particular geographical area, distinguishable from
neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The
components of each plant community are influenced by
soil type, topography, climate and human disturbance.
recycle [verb]: processing used materials into new
products in order to prevent the waste of potentially
useful materials
reduce [verb]: deliberately decreasing the amount of
waste that is generated
point source pollution [noun]: pollution with a singular
identifiable source
ridge [noun]: a geological feature that features a
continuous elevational crest that is formed by either
mountains or hills that divides watersheds
reuse [verb]: reducing waste through the repeated use
of items instead of using disposable items; e.g. bringing
your own shopping bags to the store instead of getting
new paper or plastic ones every time, or converting food
jars from the store into containers for other uses
pollination [noun]: the transfer of pollen from the anther
of one flower to the stigma of another flower which allows
for sexual reproduction in plant species to occur, resulting
in the production of seeds
CALLING NATURE HOME
riparian [adjective]: related to the interface between a
fresh water source such as a river or stream and the land
that surrounds it
250
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX
river [noun]: a natural stream of water of a substantial
volume that empties into a larger body of water, such
as an ocean or lake, and usually fed along its course by
converging tributaries
tertiary consumer [noun]: organism that consumes
secondary consumers; large predators that are high up
the food chain
tide [noun]: the rising and falling of the surface of the
ocean and other nearby bodies of water in contact with
the ocean that results from the combined effects of the
centrifugal force created by the earth’s rotation and the
gravitational pull of the sun and moon
rocky shore [noun]: rocky coastal habitats that are
affected by the tides
salt marsh [noun]: transitional intertidal habitats that
occupy the interface between land and either brackish or
salty water
transect [noun]: a method of exploring biodiversity by
conducting a survey of plant growth along a given line
secondary consumer [noun]: an animal that consumes
primary consumers; a predator
trophic [adjective]: describing the relationships between
the feeding habits of organisms in a food chain
sediment [noun]: particulate matter such as sand, rock
and silt that is transported by water, wind or glacial action
and is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed
or bottom of a body of water or other liquid
urban runoff [noun]: pollution that flows with rain water
off of the surfaces of urban areas into storm drains and
creeks, which ends up in waterways
sewershed [noun]: an area of land that drains into a
particular storm drain or sewer pipe
urbanization [noun]: the development of an area into an
urban environment
slack tide [noun]: the moment before a shift in tides
when water movement is minimal
valley [noun]: an elongated depression between ranges
of mountains or hills, often caused by flowing water
spring tide [noun]: a tide that occurs when there is a full
or new moon when the sun, moon and earth are aligned;
the gravitational pull of the moon creates a much higher
and lower tide than usual
vermicompost [noun]: compost that is produced by
feeding food scraps to red wriggler (Eisenida foetida)
worms which can be used as a nutrient-rich natural
fertilizer for plants; worm castings
storm water [noun]: water that runs off of streets into
storm drains during storm events
wastewater [noun]: water that has been used, as for
washing, flushing, or in a manufacturing process, and so
contains waste products; sewage
stratification [noun]: the process of chilling and wetting
seeds to mimic what seeds in nature experience during
winter rains in the San Francisco Bay to help promote
germination and seed growth
watershed [noun]: an area of land that drains into a
particular body of water, bounded by ridges; the size of a
watershed can vary depending on the body of water that
is referenced
subtidal zone [noun]: the tidal area that is usually under
water under most circumstances but becomes exposed
during extremely low tides
wetland [noun]: marshy habitat with water-saturated
soil that serves as an interface between terrestrial and
aquatic habitats; swamps, bogs, salt marshes, seasonal
wetlands and mangroves are examples of wetlands
Superfund [proper noun]: a term used for the fund
established to implement a 1980 federal mandate to
clean spills on an emergency basis, and abandoned or
inactive hazardous waste sites
zooplankton [noun]: the dominant primary consumer of
aquatic habitats; plankton that inhabit marine and fresh
waters; often feeds on phytoplankton, other zooplankton
or detritus
toxic [adjective]: defined for regulatory purposes as
containing poison and posing a substantial threat to
human health and the environment
CALLING NATURE HOME
251
APPENDIX
Animals and Plants of Heron’s Head Park
and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area
Adapted from Hudsel, A., McTamaney, F., and Spakoff, S. (1996).
Salt Marsh Manual: An Educator’s Guide for the Wetland Roundup Field Trip, Fourth Edition.
(Fremont, CA: Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.)
Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)
Non-native introduced in the 1860s in Quebec and
spreading from there. White with gray wing tips and a
few black spots on the wings. Most commonly found
in cultivated areas and open spaces and is considered
an agricultural pest. It can be found in all but the most
extreme environments. It is ubiquitous!
UPLAND ANIMALS
Anna’s Hummingbird
(Calypte anna)
Male has a deep rose red head
and throat. Female’s throat has
reddish flecks. Both have grayish
underparts washed with green.
Feeds on nectar, water, spiders,
and tree sap, and is found in
open woodland, chaparral, and
gardens. This is the only hummingbird in this area that
does not migrate.
California
Ground Squirrel
(Spermophilus
beecheyi)
Lives in burrows
that it digs itself, found in dry grasses in the marsh or
on levees. Feeds on nuts, seeds, fruit, grasses, some
insects, and carrion. Eaten by owls, hawks, and foxes.
Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Pale face with dark eyes in a heartshaped outline around the face.
Upper parts are rusty brown and
underparts vary from white to
cinnamon. Nests and roosts in dark
cavities in buildings, cliffs, and
trees. They hunt at night for small
mammals in the salt marsh.
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Iridescent blue back with a cinnamon colored belly and
throat. Most distinctive is a long, deeply forked tail. Builds
its open cup shaped
nest under bridges, or
on building walls with
mud collected from the
salt marsh and mudflats.
These birds drink, eat,
and bathe while flying.
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Black head, upper part of breast, white belly and undertail
(sharp color break between breast and belly). Head is
darker than the body. Eats flying insects. Frequently
pumps and spreads its tail while perched. Common in
woodlands, parks, suburbs. Prefers to nest near water.
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252
Gopher Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus)
The gopher snake is similar in markings and actions of
the rattle snake, but it is harmless to humans. Yellow
or cream in color with brown, black, or reddish- brown
markings on its back.
They hunt in the upland
and in the salt marsh.
Feeds on mice, rats,
gophers, squirrels,
rabbits and birds.
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Obvious white rump patch. Male has gray back, throat
and breast, white belly marked with brown, tail with black
bars. Female is brown-streaked on breast and brown
above. The Northern harrier flies close to the ground
searching for its prey in the upland, salt marsh and salt
pond habitats. Males prey more on birds, while females
eat more mammals. This raptor has been reported to
drown waterfowl.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
APPENDIX
Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)
A powerful raptor with a black
helmet and long, pointed wings.
The fastest bird in the world,
the peregrine can reach speeds
of up to 200 miles per hour,
diving from above to kill its prey,
usually small to medium-sized
birds. The Peregrine Falcon
was nearly wiped out in the
1960s due in part to exposure to DDT, a pesticide that
accumulated in the food chain and weakened eggshells.
DDT was banned in the US in 1972; Peregrine Falcon
populations had recovered enough for the species to be
delisted from Endangered status in 1999.
the turkey vulture finds its food by sight and scent. They
will virtually eat any dead animal down to the size of a
tadpole.
Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
Black, gray, or brown lizards with blotched patterns.
Undersides have blue patches on the throat and belly
of the male. Female lacks throat patches and her belly
patches are not as bright as the male’s. This lizard got
its name because
it was commonly
seen sitting on
fence posts. Feeds
on insects and
spiders.
Western Meadowlark
(Sturnella neglecta)
Black V-shaped band on bright
yellow breast. Wing upper parts
dark, with lighter edges. Song is a
variable series of bubbling, flutelike
notes, accelerating toward the end
(beautiful!). Common in open country
and grasslands, often heard before it
is seen.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
A skilled glider, the red-tailed hawk has broad and fairly
rounded wings; plumage extremely variable. Most adult
red-tailed hawks have a dark bar on the leading edge
of the underwing, contrasting with paler wing linings.
Reddish upper tail, paler red undertail. Preys on rodents.
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Glossy black male has red shoulder patches. In perched
birds, yellowish border shows. Female is dark brown
above, with a streaked belly. May be found singly or
in large flocks, usually nesting in thick vegetation of
freshwater marshes, sloughs, and fields.
SALT MARSH, SLOUGH, AND MUDFLAT ANIMALS
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Long, rounded tail, pumped in flight. Broad, grayish
eyebrow and broad, dark stripe bordering whitish throat.
Upper parts usually
streaked. Breast also
is heavily streaked,
with lines converging
at a central spot. Legs
and feet are pinkish.
Found in dense,
brushy areas.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Seen from below, two-toned wings (flight feathers dark
silver - grey, linings black). In flight, wings are often held
in an upward in a shallow “V” shape. They seldom flap
their wings, but usually rock from side to side. Feeds on
carrion (dead animals) and refuse. Evidence suggests that
CALLING NATURE HOME
253
American Avocet
(Recurvirostra americana)
A large, slim shorebird with
a very slender, upturned bill.
The striking white-and-black
pattern is unique. In breeding
plumage, the head and neck
are pinkish tan. In winter this
is replaced with pale gray. This
is one of the very few birds in
the world with a long, upturned bill. They sweep their bill
from side to side through shallow water when feeding on
invertebrates and even seeds from water. They nest on
levees and islands in and around salt ponds. Common
summer resident in open wetlands of Western and North
East sections of California. They winter in southern San
Francisco Bay.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
APPENDIX
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Dark gray and black duck-like bird with a white bill.
Before an American Coot dives into the water to feed, it
jumps upward before submerging. Feeds on algae, small
crustaceans, snails, and insects. Migrates South to
Southern California or Mexico in the winter and spends its
summers in the North.
Clams (Lamellibranchia)
Bivalves of varying size. Uses its
muscular foot to burrow in mud. Has
two openings in its shell to filter water
in order to obtain food.
Copepod (Copepoda)
Crustaceans which are about
2 mm long. Feeds on algae,
bacteria, and detritus (decomposed plants and animals).
Eaten by small fish. Can be
found in shallow waters and
mudflats of the slough.
Amphipods (Amphipoda)
Crustaceans with
laterally flattened bodies
with 7 pairs of leg-like
appendages. In order to
protect themselves from
predators, amphipods are often found hiding in the
mud under stones and detritus. Feeds on detritus and
decomposed plants and animals. They are found in the
slough and mud in the salt marsh and mudflats.
Bay Goby (Lepidogobius lepidus)
A bottom-dwelling fish
with a “suction cup”
under its chin. Tan
or pale olive in color.
Grows to four inches long. Feeds on plankton and detritus.
Eaten by birds such as egrets, herons, and terns.
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
The black-necked stilt’s glossy black back, bill and back of
neck contrast sharply with white underparts (the “tuxedo
bird”). Has long red or pink legs. Mostly a summer
resident throughout California but also winters in south
San Francisco Bay.
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Adult has white head. Heavily streaked with brown in
winter, dark eye, yellow bill with red and black spots,
greenish-yellow legs, and dark grey wing tips. This gull
takes four years to reach maturity. Feeds on worms,
mice, other birds, bird eggs, garbage, crabs, and fish.
The population of California gulls in the South Bay are
year round residents. In other areas of California, the gull
winters along the coast and summers inland.
Double-crested Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax auritus)
Body is black throughout with large,
rounded throat pouch that is orange
year-round. Double crests are seldom
visible. Kinked neck is distinctive
in flight. Flies with rapid wing beat.
A resident along coast, lakes, and
estuaries.
Brine Fly (Ephydra cinerea)
Found on the shore and in the waters of the salt pond.
Lays eggs under water and feeds on algae in the salt
pond. Dies in the winter months, but dormant larvae and
pupae hatch in the spring. Food for shorebirds.
Brine Shrimp (Artemia salina)
Lives in salt ponds and feeds on
algae. Breathes with gills located
on each of its 22 legs. Females
are distinguishable by a dark egg
sac, while males have a pair of
claspers by their heads. Can live
for 2 to 3 months. Eaten by water
boatmen, fish, or birds.
CALLING NATURE HOME
Crabs (Brachyura)
Crustacean that has claws
and four other fairs of legs.
Sheds it shells as it grows
(molts). Burrows in the mud
and feeds upon detritus and
plankton. Can move quickly.
Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Gray bird with silvery primaries. Has a black beak with
black coloring at tip and orange legs and feet. Long,
deeply forked gray tail with white outer edges; black eye
patches not joined at nape. Forster’s Terns tend to be
quarrelsome with birds of other species, sometimes
254
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
APPENDIX
Long-billed Curlew
(Numenius americanus)
Large shorebird
(23 inches long) with a cinnamon
brown back and lighter breast. The
bill is very long and downcurved. Probes
into mudflats with bill, feeding on small
mud creatures.
attacking them viciously to protect its nest. They can be
seen hovering and diving for fish in the salt ponds and
sloughs. Migrates along the coast of Southern California
to South America in the winter season.
Ghost Shrimp (Callianassa stimpsoni)
A crustacean, but covered with a flexible cuticle rather
than a hard shell. Feeds on bacteria, diatoms, and
detritus found in sand. Burrows in mudflats.
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
Winter plumage is gray. Breeding adult is entirely reddish
below with a heavily spotted foreneck. Both have a whitish
rump patch with thin gray or red edges on wings with red
tips. Feeds on aquatic insects, mollusks, crustaceans,
seeds, and plants. These birds have been nicknamed
“the sewing machine” because when they feed, their long
beaks probe the mudflats in the same active motion as a
sewing machine needle. Migrates south from the northern
part of the west coast beginning in mid- July. Juveniles
generally migrate in September when strong enough to
travel.
Great Blue Heron
(Ardea herodias)
Large, gray-blue heron.
Black stripe extends above eye.
White foreneck is streaked with black
and has yellow bill. This heron has one
of the widest ranges of any North
American heron and is one of the largest wading birds in
California. They feed on small vertebrates and aquatic
vertebrates (spears fish and flips them upwards, catching
them in midair) in the salt marsh, slough, and mudflats.
Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)
Large white heron with yellow bill and blackish legs and
feet. Stalks prey slowly and methodically. Population
was greatly reduced by feather plume hunters (for hats)
at the turn of the century. Now population is recovering.
Common in marshes and mudflats. Formerly called
Common Egret and American Egret.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Male identified by metallic green head and neck, yellow
bill, narrow white collar and chestnut breast. Black tail
feathers curl up. Female with molted plumage. Chiefly
winters in salt marshes. A dabbling duck that feeds with
its tail in the air and head underwater.
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Large shorebird with buffy-brown above, barred below. The
bill is long, bicolored (black at the end and orange near
the base) and slightly upcurved.
Harbor Seal
(Phoca vitulina)
Graceful swimmer but
clumsy on land. Spends
part of each day on land,
coming ashore at places
called haul-outs. Eats one large meal a day consisting of
fish, shellfish, and squid. Eaten by large sharks and killer
whales. Habitat includes mudflats, shallow water, bay
waters, and sandy beaches.
Mussels (Filibranchia)
Bivalves that live on shores attached
to rocks by strong threads excreted
by a special gland. Lacks head
and tentacles. Eats detritus and
plankton. Eaten by humans and
shorebirds.
Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)
Gray above with black spots and crossbars on back and
sides, white below. The Leopard Shark prefers sandy and
rock-strewn flat
bottoms near rocky
reefs. Feeds on a
variety of fishes and
invertebrates.
CALLING NATURE HOME
255
Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax)
Blue to greenish coloring above and silvery below. Adult
has a silver side stripe. Travels in schools and lives near
the shore. Feeds on zooplankton and phytoplankton. It is
eaten by other fish, birds, and marine mammals. It is the
most common species of anchovy in the Pacific Ocean.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
APPENDIX
Polychaetes (Polychaeta)
Polychaetes are one of the numerous species of worms
living in the mud along the side of the slough and on
the muddy Bay bottom. All possess an array of bristles
on their many leg-like
parapodia. The name
polychaete, in fact, means
“many bristles.” They are
known by many names:
lugworms, clam worms,
bristle worms, and feather
duster worms which reflect the wide variety of body forms
found in this group, unlike the earthworms that have
the same general appearance. Feeds on mud and sand
digesting the organic material and passing the mineral
sediments in a long coiled earth wormlike casting.
Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)
Greenish above, silvery below, with black stripes on the
side. Introduced to the Pacific Coast of North America in
the late 1800s. A migratory fish which moves along the
coast and into the rivers in the spring to spawn.
Topsmelt
(Atherinops affinis)
Green fish with a
bright silver side
stripe and silvery
below. Can be up to fourteen inches long. Habitat is bay
waters, rocky areas, and kelp beds.
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Thick necked duck with a large head, broad brown bill,
long, stiff tail feathers, male has white cheeks, female
has light brown cheeks with brown single stripe. Both
male and female have a brown crown and brown mottled
feathers. Breeding male has a blue bill, black crown, and
rusty colored feathers. When alarmed these ducks tend to
dive rather than fly. Feed on aquatic insect larvae, snails,
other invertebrates, and aquatic vegetation. They can be
found on salt ponds during the winter. Spends summers
inland and north of its summer home located in coastal
regions from Northern California and south, although it
may be seen in the San Francisco area all year long.
Snails (Gastropod)
Have a single coiled shell and a distinct head and
tentacles. Crawls slowly in
the mud in shallow water
feeding on diatoms scraped
off the mud with its tongue.
Also feeds on algae, plant
materials, and clams.
Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly (Brephidium exilis)
Brown wings with a white fringe and blue near its body.
The Western Pygmy Blue is the smallest butterfly in North
America! Feeds on saltbush, fat hen, and pickleweed. It
eats all parts of plant. It produces many generations each
year up to December. Nonmigratory and may winter as a
pupa.
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Black legs with drooped bill at tip. In summer, back and
crown are rusty. In fall, plumage is gray above. Feeds
on insects and small aquatic life. The parent western
sandpiper will sometimes pretend it has a broken wing,
and drag itself away from the nest to distract a predator
from its young. They are found in large flocks feeding in
the mudflats. Migrates throughout the west but winter
primarily near the coast.
Willet (Tringa semipalmatus)
Large and plump when standing and grayish above with a
white belly. In flight, striking black and white wing stripes
are visible. Common in lakes, winters in salt marshes and
on coastal beaches. Often seen in small flocks.
See also: 100 Birds of Heron’s Head Park (Golden Gate
Audubon Society, 2007)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
White feathers, black bill, black legs with bright yellow
feet. Fluffy plumes curve upward from the back of the
head and neck. Their yellow feet are commonly called
golden slippers. Feeds on fish, insects, and other aquatic
organisms. In the summer, post breeding wanderers
reach far north into Oregon, Nebraska, the Great Lakes
and Atlantic Canada.
CALLING NATURE HOME
256
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
APPENDIX
SALT MARSH PLANTS
UPLAND PLANTS
Gum Plant (Grindelia stricta)
This low-growing plant is a
member of the sunflower family.
The center of the 1-2 inch yellow
gum flower has many tiny flowers.
The plant takes its name from
the sticky substance it secretes,
especially around the flower head.
California Poppy
(Eschscholzia californica)
In the spring, the four-petal blossoms
of our state flower are a deep orange,
but the flowers that bloom later in the
year become pale yellow. The flower
is covered by a tight green cap which
pops off when the flower is ready to
bloom.
Pickleweed (Salicornia virginica)
The compressed leaves of this lowgrowing marsh plant look like a series
of pickles growing end to end. This
plant takes up excess salt from the
salt water and stores it in the topmost
“pickles” which turn red and fall off
in the fall. This plant is the home and
sole food source of the salt marsh
harvest mouse.
California Sagebrush
(Artemisia californica)
The small, inconspicuous, green
flowers bloom from July to December.
This gray-green native shrub grows on
dry open slopes. Its almost needlelike leaves allow it to lose little water
to evaporation during the long and dry
California summers.
Salt Grass (Distichlis spicata)
This grass grows in the upper marsh
zone. It has stiff, wiry leaves and often
grows low to the ground. Look for salt
crystals that have been “sweated” out
onto the leaves.
Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis)
This erect evergreen shrub with
coarsely toothed leaves is a
pioneer plant, that is, one of the
first species to colonize disturbed
areas. The female brush has white
fluffy flowers that look like coyote
fur that has been rubbed off on it.
Insects are attracted to the flowers.
Sea Lavender (Limonium californicum)
Also known as Western Marsh Rosemary, this plant has
tall stems and purple flowers
growing out of wide basal
leaves. Look for salt crystals
on the surface of the leaves.
It grows in the upper marsh
zone, and its purple flowers
are sometimes used in flower
displays.
Monkey Flower
(Mimulus aurantiacus)
The dark green leaves of this plant
are sticky to the touch. The flowers
come in a variety of colors – red, red/
orange and yellow. If you look carefully,
you might see a monkey’s face! The
flowers are in bloom throughout the
summer.
For a more comprehensive list of native plants growing at
Heron’s Head Park and Candlestick Point SRA, see the
“Growing Native Plants” module.
CALLING NATURE HOME
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Calling Nature - sustainablethinking

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