Moss Walk for Salmonberry Days – A month-long schedule of events around Dunbar
An event of Salmonberry Days – participants met at Camosum St. and 33rd for a walk in Pacific Spirit Park to learn a little about identificaiton and biology of the bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts).
Shona’s Plant Quiz Table – at Salmonberry Days Fair May 27
This year’s fun quiz table featured bryophytes (those identified on the fieldtrip) as well as carnivourous plants and trees/shrubs of Dunbar. Volunteers (Sancha and Kylie) assisted. The rules were simple; all the participant had to do was match the numbered plant with its name. ….and answer a few skill-testing questions. Fun was had by all!
Dunbar Community Centre Website
Park Board’s Dunbar Community Centre Website
Being Green – Girl Guide Evening Program
The theme for this program was photosynthetic organisms. The guides were able to use microscopes to investigate different “green” organisms (bluegreen bacteria, filamentous green algae, conifers, flowering plants). They also got to see carnivourous plants in action and plant a spider plant to take home.
Slime from the Sea
This program was initially presented for the Young Naturalists (of the Vancouver Natural History Society). A group of Homeschoolers heard about it and requested we presented it to them. The volunteers were more than happy to give a repeat performance.
A Walk on the Green Side – Science Fair Tree Walk
This is one of the activity options that participants of the Vancouver Regional Science Fair have to choose from. I have done this walk for four years and generally get between 15 and 20 students (and some parents). I take them on a walk to examine some campus trees, including a walk through the Old UBC Arboretum. I use this opportunity to tell them a little about the history of the UBC campus and the buildings we walk past (Main Library, Chemistry, First Nations House of Leaarning).
Info on the Vancouver Regional Science Fair
Plants that Kill – Science Fair Activity
April 2007, instead of doing a tree walk, Karen Needham (curator of the Spencer Entomological Museum) and I presented a program about carnivorous plants. Students from Biology 210 (Intro to Vascular Plants) assisted in this morning workshop. We introduced the plants and prey to the students and then broke into small groups to investigate the microscopic features of the plants; each volunteer supervised four highschool students. Five species were available for dissection: Drosera capensis (cape sundew), Drosera adelae (Adelaide sundew), Sarracenia purpurea (purple pitcher plant), Dionaea muscipula (Venusfly trap), and Pinguicula moranensis (butterwort). Plant material was provided from the UBC Botanical Greenhouse, private collections, and Hawaiin Botanicals. Fruit flies were released and their capture observed. Displays of a variety of species as well as literature were on demonstration. Each student was provided with a Drosera capensis plant and care information to take with them.
UBC Connect
UBC Connect is a program where high school students (grades 10 and 11) from across Canada and around the world spend four days of university-level learning at UBC. I presented a lab program whereby the students were exposed to a university lab experience. Four volunteers from Biology 210 assisted in developing the exercises. The students recalled what specimens they found particularly interesting when they were in plant biology labs and those were integrated into the program.
Aboriginal Summer Science
Aboriginal Summer Science is a program in which First Nations highschool students in grades 8 to 12 spend a week at UBC participating in activities.related to science. I presented two morning program, titled “Plants that Heal – Plants that Harm”. A number of undergraduate students volunteered and assisted in designing the program (selecting plants they found interestiing, and teaching the students how to use microscopes).
Aboriginal Summer Science Program Information
Science 101 – A Day of Bryophytes
Science 101 is a program where people from the Eastside of Vancouver take a four month program which covers the different disciplines within Science. For the Bryophyte portion, the volunteers and I offered a day-long lesson which included an hour lecture, a fieldtrip to UBCFarm Agroforestry Trail, followed by a lab activity which included preprepared exercises and examination of materials collected during the fieldtrip. I was honoured to be asked to make an address at the Science 101, 2006 Graduation Ceremony.
Van Dusen Garden – Workshop on Botanical Latin
This three-hour workshop introduced members of the public about how plants are named and the origins of some their favourite plants.
Columbia College – Fieldtrip to Stanley Park
I took a group of first year biology students on a fieldtrip to examine plant diversity in Stanley Park. We discussed what plants are and how they are classified. We examined different groups of plants. The students used Pojar and McKinnon (Plant of the Pacific Northwest) to identify a number of different speices of trees and ferns.