Retford's Redwoods

2011-06-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

A brief introduction to Big Basin State park, video REDWOODS

2011-05-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

What is amazing about a trip to the redwoods with a group of 4th graders and their parents is the lasting impact. Our students made their trek to the trees in October and they where still talking about it in April and May. When our students were asked to write about a memorable event that had happened to them quite a few chose their trip to Big Basin.

During the afternoons of state testing my class and I reflected on our experience in the trees through art and poetry. This year through the magic of netbooks students were able to access pictures of trees and other flora and fauna on the internet to enhance their artwork. Imagine my surprise when the students suggested, "Let's use the netbooks so we can look up our own pictures to use to paint." It was an ah hah moment for me! They showed me how much they remembered and where able to locate information quickly and easily.

Lessons from a tree

2010-12-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

At the Redwoods we learned that if you touch a banana slug it dies.We learned that if you rub your hand on a burnt tree it's called "Evidence of Fire".One thing that we learned that the Mother of the forest is "329"feet tall.A tree fell down a long time ago.At the end we all got to climb on a tree that fell down in 1980's.There is a tree with a crack as big as me.
By:Madison Keno

October Update

2010-10-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

The fourth graders at Empire Elementary are planning a fall trip to Big Basin State Park to see some of the oldest living things on our planet. Our trip is sponsored by the Save the Redwoods League, who know how important it is to truly experience these giants of California.

To prepare for our trip we are learning about Redwood Ecology through the California State Parks program PORTS. We are taking a virtual field trip next Tuesday to Humboldt State Park to learn about the producers, consumers, and decomposers that make the redwood ecosystem their home.

Calaveras Big Trees

2010-06-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Trees Inspire Poetry

2010-06-10T19:16:00.001-07:00

Redwood Art 2010

2010-06-07T19:11:00.001-07:00

Lasting Impressions

2010-06-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks are filled with state testing and district testing. One of the components of our district testing is a personal narrative writing prompt. Several students used their redwood experience as their topic. The prompt asks students to write about a memorable experience. You would be amazed at the amount of detail the students remembered.

Post Cards to Obama or Art in the Dark

2010-05-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

This past week we can thank the workers who are putting in new sewer and drainage lines in Empire for my students being able to participate in this Save-the-Redwoods contest. Our power went out somewhere around 11:30 when they clipped an electrical line and sent a live wire down to the kindergarten playground. This put the entire school in the dark until 3:00 in the afternoon when all the students had gone home.

Being in the dark...not enough good light to read in due to a rain storm we were able to do what I now affectionately call "Art in the Dark" students were taught how to use watercolors and they proceeded to paint a small postcard size picture of what inspires them about redwoods. The only glitch was my 5 students who either weren't able to go on the trip or weren't at our school at the time. Luckily I had my MacBook charged up so they could at least see what the rest of the class saw when we made our October trek to Big Basin State Park.

Planting Redwoods in the Central Valley

2008-06-30T16:43:00.001-07:00

How to Plant Redwood Trees in the Central Valley

It is very important when planting a non-native species that you meet as many of their daily requirements as possible. In the case of the coast redwood, they need a lot of water initially to establish their roots. The climate of the San Joaquin valley is more desert like than the cool foggy coastal climate where they grow naturally.
Here is how we planted our six redwood trees, three Aptos blues and three Soquels:
1. First, we made a template out of paper that was about twice the diameter of the tree’s existing container. These were 15 gallon trees so we had to make a hole with a diameter of 34” (a 15 gallon container is 17” x 16”). After the first try we found that it was easier to use regular flour to mark the diameter of the hole without the template.

2. Next you remove the sod and set it aside. Then the digging begins. The hole needs to be a little shallower than the root ball so we tried to dig our holes between 15 and 16” deep.

3. We then added forest humus to the hole to help aerate the roots.

4. It was harder than it looked to get the trees safely out of their pots. It took a lot of “kid” power.

5. Once the tree was removed it was important to break up the root ball. We made sure that there weren’t any roots circling the root ball. These types of roots can eventually strangle the trunk of the tree.

6. Then it was time to put the tree into the hole. It took one hardy student to hold up the tree to make sure it stood tall and straight in its new home.

7. Next students filled the hole loosely. This helps to put air into the soil also know as aerating.

8. Since our redwoods would need a lot of water at first, we made dirt walled wells around our trees. These help make sure that water gets to the roots. Coast redwoods have a very shallow root system. We planted our trees in groups because another characteristic of coast redwoods is that they like to link roots. In their natural environment this helps provide stability when the coastal winds blow, or the ground become saturated during winter rains.

New Elements Added - Webquest Learning Through Redwoods

2008-06-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

School is out and the blog is still being added to and refined. If you scroll down you can view the Power Point Presentation I put together at the beginning of the year to teach our students about Sempervirens. Students were given a worksheet to complete while they were learning about this valuable California resource.

Watercolor Redwoods

2008-06-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Learning Through Redwoods

2008-02-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our learning expedition about the California Coast Redwoods. We are the Project Citizen Action team at Empire Elementary School and we are exploring the California Coast Redwood and working to plant a small "grove" of five trees at our school site.

Our adventure began in October of 2007 when we took 90 people to visit Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. On our hike through this old growth forest we learned about the Coast Redwood ecosystem, the history of the redwoods in the area, and these magnificent trees in particular.

Since that time we have been doing a lot of research on the topic. We have been trying to find out what a Coast Redwood needs to grow successful in the Central Valley. This is a non-native in this habitat.
Karen Retford

Photo: Karen Retford, Big Basin State Park

Big Basin Redwoods Ecosystem

The California Coast Redwood is part of a complex ecosystem. Part of our study of this amazing tree included the other animals that share its space in the coast range. Since the majority of my students are 4th graders we focused on the Life Science Standards for this grade level. I put together a webquest using Power Point for the students to study the following component of this ecosystem: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Some of the common plants found the in Big Basin Redwoods State Park are the huckleberry, tan bark oak, redwood sorrel, and sword ferns. The huckleberry produces small bellshaped blossoms in the spring which turn into tiny berries. These berries were eaten by early settlers to the Santa Cruz mountains. They were also used by the indegenous Ohlone tribes that also lived in the area. The tan bark oak's acorns were used to make acorn meal. The redwood sorrel is found carpeting the redwood forest floor. It is a member of the Oxalis family and has violet tinged flowers, some confuse it for clover. The sword fern Polystichum munitum is also found in abundance on the moist forest floor. Its name polys—many, and stichos—a row, which refers to the way the sori is arranged and munitum means armed with teeth. Its rhizomes were boiled and eaten. The leaves were chewed to help relieve sore throats and tonsilitis.

One of the rarest animals is the Marbled Murrelet. This small sea bird makes its nests at the top of old growth trees. Since Big Basin is both near the Pacific and contains old growth trees, old growth trees are several hundred years old and have a diameter typically 4 to 10 feet. Another endangered species found in the watershed here is the coho salmon. They are found in Waddell creek. Mountain lions also live in Big Basin. They are rarely seen but they are there!

One of the most interesting creatures that lives in this habitat is the Banana Slug. This large decomposer who helps decompose the forest duff. Shelf mushrooms can be found clinging to the remains of douglas fir making humus of their rotting trunks.