Richmond Environmentalists Connect with Nature!
Second grade students at Verde Elementary School started asking when they would get to go on their nature field trips from the moment they met KIDS for the BAY Educator Corey Chan! Teachers Ms. Brenda Cazares and Ms. Penelope Stevenson’s second grade students were so excited to explore Wildcat Creek, which flows past their school, as part of a KIDS for the BAY- Richmond Outdoors Coalition partnership program. Students were eager to follow their creek and talk about the importance of healthy waterways, and how they are all connected to the nature around them.
At the creek, Ms. Corey asked the class to stop what they were doing and take a few minutes to stand still and listen to the sounds of nature. She showed the second graders how to make ‘deer ears’ by cupping their hands around their ears, making them larger and better at capturing sound. The Verde Environmentalists heard countless birds chirping in the surrounding trees. “I hear a hummingbird,” said Gustavo. As a turkey vulture circled overhead, Ms. Corey pointed out the long “fingers” at the tips of its wings and urged the class to hold out their arms and show off their wing fingers! “Raise your hand if you can say ‘hello’ in a different language,” Ms. Corey instructed. Many students raised their hands and shouted “Hola!” and ‘Hello’ in other languages. “The birds are speaking their own language,” Ms. Corey explained. A big splashing sound in the creek suddenly drew the listening students’ attention. “Those are mallards!” exclaimed Helen. “I know they’re males because they have green heads, just like our school color!” added Gael.
Continuing along the path, the students were excited to meet different plants. “Meet my friend, the wild radish plant,” Ms. Corey said, drawing everyone’s attention to a plant with purple and white flowers. “This plant’s flowers are edible, but a little spicy, just like a radish!” she explained. Ms. Corey also shared an Indigenous peoples’ principle and practice for wild harvesting, called the Honorable Harvest. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Author, Botanist and Member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, discusses the Honorable Harvest in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass and in a TED Talk, titled “Reclaiming the Honorable Harvest” at TedX Sitka. “If you’re interested in tasting a wild radish flower, you can come up here and ask this wild radish plant, ‘Plant, is it okay if I take one of your flowers?’ If you feel within your body that the plant is saying, ‘Yeah, Corey, it’s okay,’ then you can take one,” she said. “But, sometimes the plant might say, ‘You know, Ms. Corey, I need all of my flowers today,‘ and that’s okay, it just means we won’t take one.’ After asking the plant for permission, Gustavo exclaimed, “It tastes spicy! I like it!”
The Verde Environmentalists were excited to encounter a bumblebee in the vegetation by Wildcat Creek. “What is that bee doing right now?” asked Ms. Corey. “It’s going flower to flower and pollinating to make fruit,” suggested Dante. The bumblebee followed along with the class on their journey down Wildcat Creek. Ms. Corey asked if students could name other animals that pollinate. “I know some other pollinators, like birds, deer, and wind that blows pollen around to other plants,” said Lily. “The hummingbird I saw earlier also pollinates!” added Gustavo.
The Verde Environmentalists were delighted to spot several lady beetles crawling in the grass and underbrush by Wildcat Creek. Thiago, who had brought along a KIDS for the BAY ladybug puppet, was thrilled when a real-life ladybug landed on it!
Ms. Corey loved seeing the students’ excitement as they discovered roly-polys hiding beneath small plants alongside the path. “I used to collect these by the cupful when I was your age,” she shared. Cesar picked up a roly-poly and was delighted when it opened up and started walking around on his palm. To make the isopod feel more comfortable, he picked up some damp soil and leaves to give it cover. “Look Ms. Corey! I think he likes the dirt and grass, he went right under them!” Cesar also began searching for something it might like to eat. “Would it eat some grass?” he asked Ms. Corey. “Or the flower we ate?” The connection Cesar formed to the tiniest roly-poly got him even more excited to be outside and discover more of the watershed habitat!
Students also learned about a special species of fish, steelhead trout, that requires a safe and unobstructed path connecting clean and cool freshwater in the creeks and rivers where they are born, to the more salty bay and ocean and back. Our young Environmentalists were thrilled to explore the area downstream from a fish ladder that they had learned about in their first KIDS for the BAY watershed lesson. But they were disheartened to see many harmful pollutants and obstacles, such as laundry baskets and an entire discarded microwave in the creek! After learning that pollution in the creek causes obstructions for the migrating fish and results in dirty water that is unhealthy for them, the students were excited to help ensure a safe passage for the trout and find solutions to make the creek healthier. The Verde Environmentalists were proud to perform a trash survey and cleanup to remove harmful pollutants from the trout creek habitat. The two Verde second grade classes removed 450 pieces of trash, totaling over five gallons, from the edges of Wildcat Creek!
Meaningful, place-based connections with nature in the Wildcat Creek habitat inspired Verde students to improve the health of the local environment in their school neighborhood. The strong connections they formed with plants, animals, and natural wonders right in their own ‘backyard’ encouraged them to clean up and protect watershed habitats and find solutions to local environmental problems. Our students were proud to have done their part to learn about, clean up and protect their special creek. Teacher Ms. Brenda Cazares told her Environmentalists, “You walk over Wildcat Creek twice a day, every time you come to school. Sometimes you don’t even realize it’s right here! I am glad you had the opportunity to explore the creek you cross every day and make these important nature connections.”