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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2017

• Title: Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program
• Primary Author: Pamela Snow (Harvard Forest)
• Abstract:

  Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology
  
  Abstract:
  Harvard Forest ecologists, data manager, and education staff support Elementary, Middle School and High School teachers and their students engaging in field investigations just outside of their schools. Teachers choose one of the following field projects to lead at their school based on how each project fits into their curriculum goals and the available natural landscape outside their school.
  
  Our Changing Forests; how do Forests Grow and Change over Time?
  
  How do forests grow and change over time in response to different environments and land use? How will forest composition and growth respond to future natural and human-caused disturbances?
  
  Buds, Leaves and Global-Warming
  
  How long is the growing season in our schoolyard? How is the length of the growing season related to climate?
  
  The Woolly Bully; the Invasive Pest, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
  
  Will the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) destroy our hemlock trees forever? How will our forest change if the hemlock disappears?
  
  Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Team:
  
  Forest Ecologists: David Orwig, John O’Keefe, Betsy Colburn, Edward Faison, Audrey Barker Plotkin, Jonathan Thompson, Andrew Richardson
  Data Manager: Emery Boose
  
  Education and Outreach: Pamela Snow, Clarisse Hart
  
  Schoolyard Teachers and Students:
  http://harvardforest2.fas.harvard.edu/asp/hf/php/admin/k12/k12_schools_list.php
  
  How it works:
  
  Over 3,500 students in schools in MA, NH, VT, CT and NY are contributing to our studies this year. Students collect data at their schoolyard field sites from September through May, and submit data on an online database twice a year. Project data are available for sharing with other participating schools, and the public. Students may compare the data from their local woodlands to those of other participating schools in different locations. Each summer, a new cohort of teachers is introduced to the program at the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Summer Institute for Teachers.
  
  See our webpages for more information: http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/schoolyard-lter-program
  
  See our Blog for updates on Schoolyard Ecology projects: http://hfnaturestudents.blogspot.com/
  

• Research Category: Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
  Invasive Plants, Pests & Pathogens
  Group Projects
  Forest-Atmosphere Exchange
  Biodiversity Studies