Creek Connections Focus Group Activities 2013.docx
2017 Student Research Symposium - Description of Focus Group Activities A menu of focus group activities is presented below. The nature of the activity dictates the maximum number and age of participants. We have assigned each school "tickets" to a variety of activities (but not all), hopefully providing enough variety to give students options that interest them. Teachers should determine who will go to which activity in advance of the symposium using whatever method you want. Provide the students with the enclosed tickets at a time when they will not lose them - the morning of symposium perhaps. Students need the ticket to get into the activity. Our goal is to mix students from different schools and grade levels within each activity. It is our hope that after the symposium, students can share and compare with each other what they learned as participants in the different activities.
Connoquenessing Creek: Learn about how pollution impacts a waterway and what you can do about it. Grade Level: High School Location: Start in Rec Hall on side with oral presentation set up. OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Allegheny Aquatic Alliance Activity Capacity: 40 Ecology of Vernal Pools: We will discuss environmental impacts that affect creatures of vernal pools. Explore habitat preservation and construction and the benefits to amphibian populations. We will attempt to collect some species and discuss their role in the environment as integral parts of the food chain, bio-indicators, and scientific resources. Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Allegheny County Park Rangers Activity Capacity: 20
Geocaching Challenge: Think there’s cash in that cache? Come find out. Learn about this worldwide adventure game. This activity will be partly OUTSIDE! Please dress for the weather! Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitators: Johanna Stanley & Paul Sutkowski, Allegheny College Student Activity Capacity: 20 Go Fish!: Our streams and ponds are filled with some fascinating fish. In this activity you will have the opportunity to learn more about the types of fish found in our region, requirements for fish to be happy and healthy in our waterways, and some of the threats to our underwater friends. Grade Level: High School Location: Zivic Lake (OUTSIDE – please dress for the weather!) Facilitators: PA Fish & Boat Commission & Allegheny County Conservation District Activity Capacity: 25 Incredible Journey: Where does water come from, and where does it go? The earth’s water is constantly being used and reused through the water cycle in an endless movement of water around the planet’s earth systems. Powered by the sun and the force of gravity, water as a liquid, gas or solid travels over, under, above and on the surface of the earth in an incredible journey called the water cycle! Grade Level: Middle School Location: Dining Hall Downstairs Facilitator: Butler County Conservation District Activity Capacity: 15 Invasive Plants & Riparian Areas: Why should we worry about invasives? Arent’ they better than bare soil? Learn why controlling invasives is an important part of habitat protection. Grade Level: High School + (please send your most advanced students) Location: Rec Hall Porch OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Jennings Environmental Education Center staff, PA State Parks Activity Capacity: 25
Kon-O-Palooza!: Get out and explore the YMCA Camp! There are so many adventures to have. You might even catch a glimpse of some wildlife! Grade Level: Middle School Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee Staff Activity Capacity: 20 Liking Lichens: Lichens have a story to tell. We’ll find out what they are, what they look like, why they're important, and how to find them. Wear appropriate clothing for the outdoors! Grade Level: Middle School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Grace O’Malley, Bri O’Neil-Hankle, Mimi Zipparo, Allegheny College Students Activity Capacity: 20 Marvelous Macros: We’ll catch and release some aquatic creatures from a stream on Camp. Come learn how to sample and identify aquatic macroinvertebrates, and why they are so important for scientists to study. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Creek near ski lodge OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: Connor Sheenan, Robert Morris University Student Activity Capacity: 20 Oh Deer!: Think you know everything there is to know about white tail deer? Test your knowledge at this hands-on activity. Please dress for the weather and wear old shoes that you don't mind getting muddy. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Start at Dining Hall (OUTSIDE – dress for the weather!) Facilitators: PA Game Commission Activity Capacity: 40 Pond Life: Check out what’s living in the vernal ponds at Camp Kon-O-Kwee! You never know what you’ll find! Grade Level: High School Location: Zivic Lake (OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather) Facilitator: University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology Activity Capacity: 20
Plankton: Land use affects waterways in so many ways! Learn about the things you and your community can do to lessen the impacts humans have on the watershed and water quality. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Upstairs – Carpeted room Facilitator: Evan Leinaweaver, Robert Morris University Student Activity Capacity: 15 Rain to Drain: Why is stormwater important? Do you think about what happens to water quality during a downpour or snow melt? Learn how people can make buildings and other infrastructure better for our waterways. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Downstairs Facilitators: Penn State Extension Activity Capacity: 10 Save Our Port!: Incorporating the technology based scavenger hunt model of Geocaching, students will be given the opportunity to redevelop their dying river port town by making seemingly small choices first as small groups and then defending their choices to a town council. Each decision has an impact on their local watershed and will be depicted visually in a watershed puzzle. Upon coming to an agreement on their small decisions students will determine if their decisions, although small, had a positive, negative or null impact on their watershed as a whole and locally at their port site. A group discussion on their choices and impacts will help students realize their influence on the environment through everyday decisions. Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: Allegheny Land Trust Activity Capacity: 40 Talking to Trees: Come learn about forest ecology. Trees really can tell a story about an area. Learn their language and interpret what they are telling us. Grade Level: High School + Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: PA Bureau of Forestry Activity Capacity: 20
Test Your Skulls: Do you think you can identify area animals? What if you have only the skull to look at? Take a stab at identifying a collection of different critter skulls. You’ll learn some techniques to discover the truth in the skulls. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Harbison Lodge Facilitators: Kaitlynn O’Brien, Bayer Material Science Activity Capacity: 20 Watershed Explorations: What is a watershed? How does activity on a hill have consequences for a large river far away? Come find out how to determine the watershed of a stream and why its important to know what’s going on upstream. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Rec Hall, inside on side near porch Facilitator: ALCOSAN Staff Activity Capacity: 30 Women of the Cloud Forest Necklace: High in the mountains of Costa Rica, the Women of the Cloud Forest create art from nature. This is a fair-trade project that provides employment opportunities to under-served women in rural areas of Costa Rica. Come make art with rainforest seeds from Costa Rica. The project provides a financial incentive to protect the rainforest by purchasing a renewable resource (seeds) instead of lumber. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Downstairs Facilitators: Mrs. Baer, Gateway Middle School Activity Capacity: 20
Connoquenessing Creek: Learn about how pollution impacts a waterway and what you can do about it. Grade Level: High School Location: Start in Rec Hall on side with oral presentation set up. OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Allegheny Aquatic Alliance Activity Capacity: 40 Ecology of Vernal Pools: We will discuss environmental impacts that affect creatures of vernal pools. Explore habitat preservation and construction and the benefits to amphibian populations. We will attempt to collect some species and discuss their role in the environment as integral parts of the food chain, bio-indicators, and scientific resources. Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Allegheny County Park Rangers Activity Capacity: 20
Geocaching Challenge: Think there’s cash in that cache? Come find out. Learn about this worldwide adventure game. This activity will be partly OUTSIDE! Please dress for the weather! Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitators: Johanna Stanley & Paul Sutkowski, Allegheny College Student Activity Capacity: 20 Go Fish!: Our streams and ponds are filled with some fascinating fish. In this activity you will have the opportunity to learn more about the types of fish found in our region, requirements for fish to be happy and healthy in our waterways, and some of the threats to our underwater friends. Grade Level: High School Location: Zivic Lake (OUTSIDE – please dress for the weather!) Facilitators: PA Fish & Boat Commission & Allegheny County Conservation District Activity Capacity: 25 Incredible Journey: Where does water come from, and where does it go? The earth’s water is constantly being used and reused through the water cycle in an endless movement of water around the planet’s earth systems. Powered by the sun and the force of gravity, water as a liquid, gas or solid travels over, under, above and on the surface of the earth in an incredible journey called the water cycle! Grade Level: Middle School Location: Dining Hall Downstairs Facilitator: Butler County Conservation District Activity Capacity: 15 Invasive Plants & Riparian Areas: Why should we worry about invasives? Arent’ they better than bare soil? Learn why controlling invasives is an important part of habitat protection. Grade Level: High School + (please send your most advanced students) Location: Rec Hall Porch OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Jennings Environmental Education Center staff, PA State Parks Activity Capacity: 25
Kon-O-Palooza!: Get out and explore the YMCA Camp! There are so many adventures to have. You might even catch a glimpse of some wildlife! Grade Level: Middle School Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee Staff Activity Capacity: 20 Liking Lichens: Lichens have a story to tell. We’ll find out what they are, what they look like, why they're important, and how to find them. Wear appropriate clothing for the outdoors! Grade Level: Middle School Location: OUTSIDE, please dress for the weather Facilitator: Grace O’Malley, Bri O’Neil-Hankle, Mimi Zipparo, Allegheny College Students Activity Capacity: 20 Marvelous Macros: We’ll catch and release some aquatic creatures from a stream on Camp. Come learn how to sample and identify aquatic macroinvertebrates, and why they are so important for scientists to study. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Creek near ski lodge OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: Connor Sheenan, Robert Morris University Student Activity Capacity: 20 Oh Deer!: Think you know everything there is to know about white tail deer? Test your knowledge at this hands-on activity. Please dress for the weather and wear old shoes that you don't mind getting muddy. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Start at Dining Hall (OUTSIDE – dress for the weather!) Facilitators: PA Game Commission Activity Capacity: 40 Pond Life: Check out what’s living in the vernal ponds at Camp Kon-O-Kwee! You never know what you’ll find! Grade Level: High School Location: Zivic Lake (OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather) Facilitator: University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology Activity Capacity: 20
Plankton: Land use affects waterways in so many ways! Learn about the things you and your community can do to lessen the impacts humans have on the watershed and water quality. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Upstairs – Carpeted room Facilitator: Evan Leinaweaver, Robert Morris University Student Activity Capacity: 15 Rain to Drain: Why is stormwater important? Do you think about what happens to water quality during a downpour or snow melt? Learn how people can make buildings and other infrastructure better for our waterways. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Downstairs Facilitators: Penn State Extension Activity Capacity: 10 Save Our Port!: Incorporating the technology based scavenger hunt model of Geocaching, students will be given the opportunity to redevelop their dying river port town by making seemingly small choices first as small groups and then defending their choices to a town council. Each decision has an impact on their local watershed and will be depicted visually in a watershed puzzle. Upon coming to an agreement on their small decisions students will determine if their decisions, although small, had a positive, negative or null impact on their watershed as a whole and locally at their port site. A group discussion on their choices and impacts will help students realize their influence on the environment through everyday decisions. Grade Level: High School Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: Allegheny Land Trust Activity Capacity: 40 Talking to Trees: Come learn about forest ecology. Trees really can tell a story about an area. Learn their language and interpret what they are telling us. Grade Level: High School + Location: OUTSIDE - Dress for the weather Facilitators: PA Bureau of Forestry Activity Capacity: 20
Test Your Skulls: Do you think you can identify area animals? What if you have only the skull to look at? Take a stab at identifying a collection of different critter skulls. You’ll learn some techniques to discover the truth in the skulls. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Harbison Lodge Facilitators: Kaitlynn O’Brien, Bayer Material Science Activity Capacity: 20 Watershed Explorations: What is a watershed? How does activity on a hill have consequences for a large river far away? Come find out how to determine the watershed of a stream and why its important to know what’s going on upstream. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Rec Hall, inside on side near porch Facilitator: ALCOSAN Staff Activity Capacity: 30 Women of the Cloud Forest Necklace: High in the mountains of Costa Rica, the Women of the Cloud Forest create art from nature. This is a fair-trade project that provides employment opportunities to under-served women in rural areas of Costa Rica. Come make art with rainforest seeds from Costa Rica. The project provides a financial incentive to protect the rainforest by purchasing a renewable resource (seeds) instead of lumber. Grade Level: Middle School Location: Conference Center Downstairs Facilitators: Mrs. Baer, Gateway Middle School Activity Capacity: 20
