(A) Typical SLEWS Day!
The Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship (SLEWS) Program engages California high school students and teachers in meaningful environmental stewardship that allows students to practice scientific skills, learn from natural resource professionals, and expand on classroom concepts, while accomplishing real habitat restoration projects on farms, ranches and open spaces.
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The HookUpon arrival Slews students are involved in cooperative learning games and get introduced to their mentors for the day. Examples of the games are; levitating rods, mystery plant scavanger hunt, and others. They are broken into teams that they will stay in though out the year.
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The WorkAfter a few rousing games and adequate time to connect to their team mates and mentors. Our leaders and mentors will demonstrate and train their "squads"for the work of the day which could consist of installing irrigation, transplanting, monitoring or other tasks..
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The LunchCan you say "Chewy's". The most beloved food on the planet! This is the part of the day that we look forward to.... LUNCH!!! After a vigorous morning workout and solid outdoor education students are looking for a well-deserved meal. No one goes away "hangry".
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The ProjectAfter lunch teams have an opportunity to explore other activities in soil or plant science, wildlife and their habitants, or learn monitoring techniques on the site.
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The ReflectionAfter a busy day "at the ranch" students engage in a variety of tasks that cause them to reflect on their new found knowledge about the great outdoors.
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The EndThe best way to describe our experience at our SLEWS day is Extravagant!
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Native Plant ID at our site!
Use this to help you identify plants for your plant collection. Click on pictures to reveal their names.
Our Site: 2015 SLEWS site for Woodland High School
Click on the map to get a magnified view.
SLEWS Day February 25, 2016
Steal the Native Plant
This game is modeled loosely after "steal the bacon". Teams of students learn to identify native plants and then compete with other teams to be the first to tag the correct plant when called. This game promotes team-building, helps students home their plant identification skills, and encourages students to run.
The Project: Native Shrubs and Erosion Control
Creeks establish riparian environments and these habitats are susceptible to soil erosion if creek banks are devoid of vegetation. As water flows against the base, or toe, of an unprotected slope, it loosens soil and washes it away. Soil above the toe then becomes unstable and may collapse. Planting vegetation along creek banks mitigates erosion because root systems hold soil in place.
Soil bioengineering, also called biotechnical slope protection, is the use of plants to control erosion along creek banks. Plants not only bind and retain soil, but they also act as shock absorbers for heavy rainfall by lessening the impact of raindrops on otherwise bare ground. Another consequence of erosion that plants solve is decreasing water turbidity in creeks. Some endangered wildlife species, such as steelhead trout, are sensitive to fine-sediment disturbance from creek bank erosion.
The Wrap-up: Team building
Where we were today!
Slews Day October 26, 2016
River Garden Farms, Knights Landing, Ca.
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Drone View
River Garden Farms
Our next restoration project!
Native Plant Restoration Day 1: Installing irrigation
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