The AP Biology program at Flagstaff program at
Flagstaff High School provides students with opportunities to participate in
service-learning projects, conduct experimental garden work, and interact with
community partners. Nearly two and a
half years ago, we participated in our first of three five-day service-learning
trips with the Grand Canyon Trust. In
partnership with the Trust, students helped install the infrastructure for the Southwest
Experimental Garden Array (SEGA) sites on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The SEGA program is a National Science
Foundation (NSF) sponsored experiment that makes use of an array of 12 field
sites located at various elevations and facilitates climate change research on
the Colorado Plateau.
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| Students planting native yucca at FHS courtyard experimental garden |
The first trip with the Grand Canyon Trust acted as a
catalyst, to engage students in conservation issues and connect our biology
program with local researchers. As a result,
we became inspired to construct three small-scale SEGA gardens in the courtyard
at Flagstaff High School. Thanks to a
teacher-innovation grant awarded from the Flagstaff Unified School District
Community Foundation, we were able to reach our goal. We partnered with the Terra BIRDS, a local
non-profit organization that provides teachers with design and logistical
support for school garden programs.
The courtyard teaching gardens have become a
cornerstone of the AP Biology program at Flagstaff High School. Last May, 45 AP Biology students spent three
full weeks transforming the school courtyard into an amazing educational space
by removing debris, trash, and non-native vegetation, and then restoring it with
native plants. Students learned about
microclimate differences and how to harness them in an experiment. Specifically, how the differences in solar
illumination within the courtyard can be used as a proxy for elevation
differences to create the three experimental gardens representing different
life-zones. The ecological life-zones
represented within our courtyard include:
pinyon-juniper zone, ponderosa pine-oak forests, and aspen/mixed conifer
zone. Recently, Flagstaff High School
was awarded an Arizona Community Foundation grant to partner again with the
Terra BIRDS to further improve and expand the experimental gardens, as well as
to transform the existing pond within our courtyard into a more natural cycling
wetland/pond ecosystem.
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| Students measuring SW white pines at SEGA site |
Our program has also partnered with researchers at
Northern Arizona University (NAU). Dr.
Waring and her graduate students have presented on the combined threats of a
nonnative fungus and climate change on southwestern white pines in our
region. Her study also aims to help this
species survive these threats. During
our last two five-day service-learning trips with the Grand Canyon Trust, we collected
initial data for Dr. Waring’s study at the three highest elevation SEGA
sites. This fall, the Waring lab
donated 400 white pine seedlings for us to set-up in our high school courtyard,
a small-scale replicate of her large $4.1 million NSF project that is using the
SEGA field sites. When asked why she
decided to collaborate with high school students by donating time and
resources, Dr. Waring responded: “Connecting our youth to nature and science is the best
way to build a future population that is passionate about science and caring
for our environment. We need leaders who will advocate for sound forest
management based on the best science, climate change mitigation, and invasive
species prevention and management. I can’t think of a better way to help that
process than continuing to involve the students who initially became excited
about our research on a volunteer trip this spring. Regardless of the life path
taken by the students, I hope they will always feel more connected to trees and
nature because they learned something about this one species and the research
we are doing to sustain it. The courtyard project is an amazing gift and
opportunity you are providing the students; I’m just lending a small hand. I
hope the students become attached to the babies, look forward to the results of
the data they collect, and are a little sad every time.”
What makes this program so
powerful is the focus on connection to place, education through
service-learning, and interaction with community partners. As a result, students will develop a sense of
stewardship and a conservation ethic that they will be able to take with them
after high school. Here at Flagstaff
High School, we look forward to continuing the high level of student engagement
with community partners and student-led projects to build a strong sense of
stewardship, personal involvement, and achievement.
