Follow-Up

For our group, our project has been completed. We are currently working on the video production. We have been continuing our bi-weekly visits to Tule Ponds to gather footage and interview Dr.Blueford for the video. Overall we are all working on the process together but my involvement in it includes planning/attending the meetings and filming.

Completed Project Summary

 What I Did:          
To begin the project my group and I agreed on our interest in environmental restoration.  We researched and set up a date to visit Tule Ponds and talk to Dr. Blueford about our project.  When we asked her what type of work she would like us to do at the pond, she told us that our main focus would be on planting and weeding but she would assign us more specific tasks every other weekend (when we visited ). On the first day I worked on clearing the land of weeds and invasive species that would harm the native plants. I used tools such as shovels, rakes, gloves and bins. After I was finished, the previously green covered area was barren. The next weekend I worked on removing growing lavender and choosing the healthy plants while I discarded the others. I learned to distinguish the healthy from the others by closely looking at the leaves and picking out the green lively ones from the brown and dry ones. I then planted the lavender into healthy soil and packed it in small pots. Over the next few weeks, Dr. Blueford taught us how certain plants were overgrowing and stunting the growth of native species and I worked on removing those. Occasionally I would spend some time creating pathways, shoveling, and placing logs to prevent the children from walking on and killing the growing poppies. Overall my group members and I have made a lot of progress towards our goal to help out at Tule Ponds, together we made two pathways, cleared a large area of land (about a sixth of an acre), and planted dozens of lavender plants.

         

Reflection:   

One of the struggles we faced throughout this project was setting up dates and times when all of the members of our group were available. We were all free every other Saturday so we decided to meet at Tule Ponds for about two hours from nine to eleven in the morning. As a whole, I think the project was successful because we accomplished many of our goals to make the Ponds more organized, promote the growth of native plants, and create an environment friendly way to allow visiting students to get more interested in the cause. Completing the project was challenging and laborious since we had to physically shovel and plant as well as transport heavy logs, but it was also incredibly rewarding to see the progress we were making. It felt great to know that we were doing our part towards helping our community while working on something that we were passionate about. The only thing I wish we could have improved upon is the time we spent on the project. If we were able to devote more time to it, we could have made a bigger change in the pond; however, we could not do so because of our hectic school schedules.

Effects: 

By doing this project we hoped to focus on how in our industrial society much of the nature around us has been neglected and replaced for functional use. We aimed to change this by spending time learning about and restoring Tule Ponds. By cleaning up and organizing, we were creating habitats for animals, insects, plants, etc. In addition to this, we wanted to utilize our project to inspire interest among other students, who visit the ponds through schools and field trips, to give back to the environment and enjoy the nature in their community. 

January Update

Currently the status of our project in Tule Ponds is that we are well on schedule. We have completed our project proposal and started restoring the environment. In addition to this, we have interviewed the pond manager, Dr.Blueford. On our first weekend at Tule Ponds we focused on taking scenic photos and preparing the soil for planting. Last weekend we were able to get some footage of us unearthing the invasive species and planting the native species. Next week we want to check up on the progress of our plants and continue to find cleared areas to plant. We will also try to get footage of Dr. Blueford answering some of our interview questions.

In our first week planning for the project we made a schedule to visit every other Saturday. The goal we are working towards is clearing the invasive species and promoting the growth of native plants. We also want to control the insect and animal species eat away at the growth. We are currently planting poppy seeds.

We do not have many concerns about the project, however it has been difficult to schedule dates that are suitable for everyone. Also, Dr.Blueford is only available on Saturdays so that makes planning a little more difficult. Since we have defined clear roles for each person we are not having trouble with members not participating. So far we have all worked well together and we plan to complete the project on time