World Forestry Center Field Study Summary

Enter…. the World Forestry Center, Portland, Oregon. First, be seated in a cushy, reclining chair to watch an eight-minute video on the basics of forests. Exit, and precede to the ground level exhibits that display information (like methods of timber harvest, animals, like the dark-eyed junco, and plants, heaviest types of wood, percentages of who owns forests in Oregon) and activities (like 100% water-free white water rafting, smoke jumping for those paranoid of heights, and finding animals in a Douglas fir) focusing on the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Walk carefully up the main set of stairs, holding onto the (Oak? Pine? Fir?) handrail. Pass over the bridge, observing the towering Douglas firs, birds and insects hidden within lush needles, and stop at the map of the world continents dotted with numbers. Read the brown, tan, blue, and red signs with information like “Canada exports twenty-two metric tons of maple syrup to over thirty countries annually” and “Bushmeat hunting in Africa threatens biodiversity of (sub-tropical) forests”. Conveniently located on the signs in an eye-catching traffic cone orange, find the number (such as “one” or “forty-three”). Next, roll your eyeballs up to the map of continents and find the identical number on the wall. That is where what you just read is located in the world! After this knowledge-boosting activity, stroll to the Russian train cars, where vermilion seats are comfortably placed in front of kitchenette-like tables, perfect for viewing the videos playing on the wall of the train. Feel free to roam to whatever looks intriguing, perhaps getting a picture taken while riding the rapids, or operating a timber harvest. Thank you for joining us today, and hopefully horizon expanding tidbits were learned of the forest of Planet Earth.

My favorite exhibit was the map of continents with the informational signs and Challenges of Forests signs. The Challenges of Forests started me thinking about how income and population relate with fuelwood consumption and damaged forest. I learned several communities in Tanzania, Africa are replanting forests, rehabilitating springs and repairing forest roads, some with the help of Roots and Shoots (an organization I remember Jane Goodall talking about that helps people in Africa restore their land and resources). I also observed that the higher the income per person, the more industrial wood is used by the continent, and the lower the income per person, the more fuelwood is utilized. I enjoyed our field study to the World Forestry Center and appreciated the information and activities presented.

-Claire

Our Laurelhurst park field study

We came back from lunch and got in groups of 4 people. We got meter sticks and 100 ft. tapes. We then left school and headed to Laurelhurst. When we got there we plotted out one acre plots and we each stood on one corner. An acre is actually rather small. Then we headed to a little alcove under a tree to hide from the rain. We then did all the math stuff for the replanting and thinning. After it stopped raining we headed out to try and find the height of trees.
People told us that it was easiest to do it this way: Make an estimate of how tall the tree is. Then walk about that far away, bend over and try and find a spot were the tip of the tree is just barely visible between your legs. Then measure the distance from you and the tree trunk. That is about the height of the tree.

-Travis

Field Study To Laurelhurst.

Yesterday we went to Laurelhurst park in the afternoon, when we got to the park we had to measure out an acre using a measuring tape that was a hundred feet long and a meter stick. My group didn’t use the meter stick but we still were able to measure the acre, which was 43,560 feet squared. After we finished doing that we had to do some math problems about us plants trees in an acre. Which was fun but hard at first then we had to learn how to measure the height of a tree using a measuring tape, a meter stick, and a square sheet. After we all measured the same tree we started to head back to school I really had fun on yesterdays field study.

-Haven Brice

Laurelhurst Tree Math Field Study Summary

After recording our class's song and doing activities about forests in Brazil and Oregon, we walked to Laurelhurst Park with meter sticks and 100 foot measuring tapes in hand. First, in groups of four (I was in Group 3 along with Abby, Janai, and Alex),we plotted one acre using the 100 foot measuring tape to get an idea of the size in our heads. We then used math (i.e. calculators) to figure out how much space in feet ______ amount of trees per acre would have between them if they were evenly spaced. Once we got the measurements, the four of us trees spaced ourselves out according to the numbers we got earlier. This gave me a chance to visualize how overpopulated many forests are.

We then picked a tree to find the height of with a four inch square piece of paper folded diagonally in half, creating a 45-45-90 degree triangle, a meter stick, and a 100 foot measuring tape. Above is a diagram of how we figured out the height of the tree. Once I recorded all the measurements, I plugged them into the tangent ratio to find the height of the tree.

Subsequent to finding the heights of trees, we walked back to Sunnyside in the rain, arriving just in time at 3:00pm.

-Claire

Kaia's Make-up assignment.

1.

A. In this sculpture, the Horse is just standing, but it almost looks like it is watching it's back to make sure nothing is there.

B. It looks like the artist used clay.

C. horses used to run wild and some still do. But most are used on a farm to plow the land or some people just have them on a horse ranch for their pleasure.

D. People say that the horse is a symbol of speed and strength.

2.

A. 1.Society not accepting a person and causing poverty. 2. Not having access to resources. 3. Not having enough financial support can cause poverty.

D.In Afghanistan, causes of poverty are: War, Deforestation, Not enough access to resources. But, even though they are a very poor country, they have lots of hope.

In Niger, causes of poverty are mostly caused by global warming. Droughts, Insect infestation.

E. Climate change is causing most of the struggles in Niger.

F. In my opinion, i might be thinking about this wrong, but humans are animals.

G. Afghanistan and Niger are working together to solve these problems, even if they don't have all the resources to support their families, they are working in a big community

Portland Art Museum

On Tuesday we traveled to the Art museum to look at art work of animals. My favorite pieces were both 3D. The first one i saw was a pelican made from terracotta. The pelican had its wings curled up and it looked like it was in a ball. The sculpture had a lot of texture in the wings and on the face. The texture gave the piece much more form. The other piece i saw was a thunderbird made by Mark Sponenburgh. It was a very simple piece but use some unusual materials. The beak was a bull horn, the body was made from driftwood and the talons were from antlers.

Levi, Art museum

field study 1-12-10

I had a great time and my favorite part was the art museum and all the

amazing art works they had a cat a dog a mixed thing and it was

so cool we should go again some time and just explore on our own

but my most favorite part was the sneak peak at the china room

and the little video

-rowan

Field Study

My art piece I liked the Drunken Cobblers painting. there was a father who's job was a cobbler and in the painting he was drunk. His hands were out in shock as his daughter, and son, and wife were angered at him for spending money on beer. The daughter and son had saddened faces and were waring no shows their faces resembled each other as with the mother. I like this painting because you can tell what is happening just by looking at the picture and because it is one of the first paintings that has free stoke brushes in an oil painting.
- Sadie Art museum

Portland Art Museum and Mercy Corps Action Center 01.12.10

Art Museum Activities

1 + 2. Describe two pieces of art that captured your attention today. What did you enjoy about these pieces?

I liked how the still lives in the European wing had gorgeous bouquets of flowers with heavy blossoms hanging over the sides of a vase and thousands of colors staining each pastel petal. But when I took a closer look, as instructed by Alice, Group 2's docent, I saw the red-ish brown petals dying in the shadows, a leaf with a tiny nibble along the edge where a ladybug perched, a snake intwining the handle of a elaborate blue and white vase, and a fly hidden in the explosions of flowers. These animals brought real life back into focus: nothing (so beautiful) is perfect. But the imperfections were always masked in the wild shadow of the bouquet, just hinting at a sliver of reality. I enjoyed these pieces because the artist painted exquisite facades of a florist's work gone crazy but when looked at closer, (to me) said, "nothing's perfect."

3. The following quote is from John Muir: What do you think animals different than ourselves provide to humans?

Animals different than ourselves provide food, comfort, a sense of "wild in the great outdoors" and materials to fabricate shoes, clothes, couches, Jello, and more. I think that animals different than ourselves are also very connected to us through indirect things, like if a person were to eat a steak, and then learn cows are endangered. The might only think, "Save the cows!" when really the grass the cows (used to) eat is so full of chemicals and toxic substances from humans' actions, the cows cannot eat the grass, or will die. This example shows how humans and their stuff greatly impacts the environment which in turn impacts the animals. If we (everyone in the world) don't protect the habitats of animals, no matter how many "Save the Bald Eagle" or "Save the Polar Bear" people give their money and/or their support to can't make a difference without peoples' support for a healthy environment.

4. Is it important to protect the habitat of animals? Why or why not?

I believe it is important to protect the habitats of animals because animals are a gargantuan part of humans' lives' (food, outdoor entertainment, studies, everyday things like clothes, sofas, etc.) but also because I think animals were meant to be on Earth to help create stability with the land and water. When humans take actions that destroy the environment chaos begins—and that's where we, the world, is now. Like in Niger, where there have been insane locusts infestations that ruin people's crops (food and money) that no one as ever seen before. Predators of the locusts can't keep up, so the balance between environment and animal has been upset. With humans' actions creating Global Climate Change, the balance between environment and animal is just tipping further and further every year. Scientists believe Global Climate Change is not natural, at least not at this pace, and therefore animals cannot react and adapt fast enough to help keep the balance that is being but into (sometimes literally) a tornado by humans' actions.