In 2008 Spring Field Day was expanded to include Philomath and Corvallis students in outdoor education.  Over 400 students, 100 adult and high school student teachers and 100 parent escorts worked and learned at the wetlands during the month of May.  The students were assigned into small groups and visited a number of hands-on learning stations over the 125 acres on the site.  The students were able to experience the uniqueness of each habitat without the distractions of the larger group which created an interactive and unique learning environment.  As an example at one of the sites students heard the story of how bullfrogs were brought to Oregon to be raised for their leg-meat, escaped or were released, and have since become a major threat to native wildlife. The further learned the habitat requirements of amphibians, learned to identify live native species, and sampled and used a dichotomous key to identify tadpoles at the station. This is just one of the many different stations the students visited throughout the day.  Students at every station were immersed in doing the science of observing, sampling, identifying, recording, predicting and hypothesizing.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM 2007 SPRING FIELD DAY

One hundred and ten seventh grade students from Philomath Middle School spent the entire day at the Newton Creek Wetlands on May 15, 2007. Students rotated through 12 learning stations staffed by 52 volunteers that included parents, natural resource professionals, PHS Forestry students and PHS Ecology students. At each strategically located station, students were engaged in 5 to 10 learning goals that immersed them in their ecosystem and encouraged them to investigate a topic. (See map of site and rotation) The event was hosted by the MPNRIC, which partnered with the Philomath School District, Healthy Waters Institute, Marys River Watershed Council and Starker Forests.