College of NR helps 4th graders with research
The future of water quality in Logan Canyon was recently placed in the hands of fourth graders, a decision made by leaders of a USU natural resources program.
“Wildlife is really cool. It has lots of living things and some of them look cool,” said fourth grader Andie Clegg, from North Park School, about her field trip to the Logan River.
The annual Natural Resource Field Days, hosted by USU’s Water Quality Extension Program, sent a bus full of fourth graders from all over the valley into Logan Canyon to take part in a firsthand study of the Logan River.
The program joined forces with four other environmental agencies to sponsor the event, which teaches students about wildlife and the importance of water conservation.
USU students, agency representatives and other volunteer supervisors divided the field trip locale into four different stations, to focus on the themes of the event — water, wildlife, soils and plants. Water Quality Extension specialist Nancy Mesner said this gave the students a hands-on opportunity to learn more about the importance of the environment.
“One of our objectives is to get kids realizing that rivers aren’t just water, but they’re whole communities of important organisms and those organisms are dependent on the quality of the water,” Mesner said. “We want it to be fun, and we want the kids to have a good time, but there has to be some learning involved.”
Mesner said the students were able to participate in a number of activities that allowed them to learn more about water quality and the environment.
“We got these boots on, and we went in the (river), and we put these nets in the water; and if we were lucky enough, we would see some little bugs,” said fourth grader Daniel Sanchez, of North Park School.
“They also had these little cup things with little bugs … and we had a magnifying glass, and you could (look at them),” Sanchez said. “I just learned that you have to take care of the habitat.”
Other activities the students could take part in included a station called Build-A Bug, where a volunteer student would dress up like an insect in front of their class to display some of the characteristics of the wildlife it was exploring. Students also came in close contact with the organisms they were studying.
“We learned about habitats, so we had these animals, and we got to go and feel their skins and stuff,” Clegg said.
Field Days has been a 20-year tradition, and last year graduate student Tiffany Kinder researched how well the fourth graders retained the knowledge gained on the field trip — on both short-term and long-term levels.
Kinder tested a group of students before, immediately after and eight months after the event, to see how well the students were learning and retaining the information. According to her study, test scores jumped 20 percent immediately after Field Days and dropped only four percent after eight months.
“Research has told us that students learn more outside in the field than if they received the exact same instruction in the classroom (without any field experiences),” Kinder said. “Field experiences are better than classroom experiences.”
“In a nutshell, we found that field days do increase student knowledge, and that students retain that knowledge,” she said.
The organizations involved in the event make an effort to present the information in an objective manner, according to organizers.
“It’s not agenda driven, we’re not preaching to anybody, it’s science driven; and we’re giving unbiased information,” Mesner said.
—kevin.mitchell@aggiemail.usu.edu