$7,500 Chesapeake Bay Trust Grant Awarded

In October, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) and Northwood High School’s Technology, Environmental and Systems Sciences Academy were awarded a $7,500 Community Outreach and Awareness grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to restore 15 acres of Maryland State Highway Administration land and build a nature interpretive trail, the Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail, to educate students and the community about human impacts on the Bay and actions they can take to improve its health.
The first step in the eight month project is to clean-up thousands of pounds of trash on the property adjacent to Northwood. On Sunday, November 22, 2009 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the entrance to Northwood’s Kaplan Stadium, PATC, Northwood, Friends of Sligo Creek, Neighbors of Northwest Branch, and the MD State Highway Administration invite the community to participate in cleaning up trash on a valuable wooded corridor for animals and a deciduous ecosystem buffer zone for Sligo Creek and Northwest Branch (both in the Chesapeake Bay watershed). Students participating will earn three MCPS student service learning hours.
The MD State Highway Administration bought 15 acres adjacent to Northwood High School for constructing MD Route 193. The property was not constructed on and it stayed mostly unmaintained for years which enabled people to dump household and automotive items on it. The unmaintained and trashed property has been harming wildlife and polluting the soil and a large vernal pool that directly feeds into Northwest Branch, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Last spring, MD SHA, through citizen advocacy, deemed the 15 acres environmentally protected. Eventually, MD SHA will relinquish management to the Department of Natural Resources. Through a memorandum of understanding, PATC and Northwood High School, along with its partners Friends of Sligo Creek and Neighbors of Northwest Branch, will build a nature interpretive trail, connecting it to the Northwest Branch Trail in Northwest Branch Park, and restore a mowed zone into a native plant meadow. Through these actions, the organizations will educate students and neighbors about their impact on the watershed and actions they can implement to improve the health of the watershed and Bay.

Learning Leave No Trace Through Practice

All last week, the weather forecast threatened rain for the Steward program's backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Learning and practicing Leave No Trace would be challenging in rainy conditions but making it more important for us to conquer that challenge. Rain increases human's impact on nature, particularly when traveling and camping on durable surfaces. Vegetation are more vulnerable. Overall, planning ahead and preparing is even more important when backpacking in the rain to lessen one's impact and to be safe and comfortable on the trail. Rain does pose challenges but it's not impossible to minimize one's impact on the land. Fortunately, the forecast became promising by Friday and the group only had to contend with some sprinkles Saturday morning. Relief.
Thursday before the trip, the students brainstormed and discussed ways to plan ahead and prepare, including repackaging all the food to minimize waste (we hiked out with about a pound of waste). Saturday morning, the group met outside Northwood High School to carpool to the AT trail head. On a cool, crisp, overcast early morning, the group strapped their packs on and head the 2.5 miles to Annapolis Rocks. We arrived within an hour and began a discussion about camping on durable surfaces. We pitched our tents on existing sites on compact dirt. By then our stromachs were grumbling, we sat down to eat and talk about disposing of trash and human waste; always a great lunch topic. Each student received a WAG bag for a future trip, not having to use them this time around because there were composting privies. By mid afternoon, the sun was peaking through the clouds and we headed down the AT to amazing Black Rocks. Some took in the views and hung out and others scrambled on the rocks. We used a teachable moment for Courtney to educate us about minimizing campfire impacts. We sat next to a homemade fire pit with a neighboring charred tree to learn how campfires impact nature and its alternatives. The sun was beginning to set and the temperature dropped as we hurried back down the trail to our campsite for a burrito dinner and a conversation about land ethics, plus a pseudo campfire, conversation, and stories. The chill beckoned us to our warm sleeping bags where we didn't want to leave upon sunrise. As the sun began streaming through the trees, some were patient for a wonderful, strong cup of coffee while a 43 degree temperature made for impatience in others. We went without the earlier decided upon pancakes and opted for the easy bagels and cream cheese to quickly break camp and finish the last three principles before hiking back to the trail head. We situated ourselves on a rock ledge overlooking the western valley to learn about leave what you find from Kady, travel on durable surfaces from James, and be considerate of others from Erol. Every year, the camping trip is a highlight for both students and teachers because we bond together as class, depending on and learning from each other.

Inventorying Fish in Northwest Branch

For the next month, the students will participate and learn how to identify and inventory plant and animal species in Northwest Branch Park. By inventorying, they will gain knowledge about the health of the park ecosystem and ways humans hamper or can improve its health. Today, two field biologists from Maryland National Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) taught students the process by which they inventory fish and macroinvertabrates in the park stream. By inventorying both, bioligists can determine the health of the stream. Some macroinvertabrates and fish are tolerant to polluntants in the water while others are not. We inventoried species (White Suckers, Red Breast Sunfish, Black Nose Dace, Tesalated Darter, Blunt Nose Mino, and Spot Tailed Shiner) that are categorized as tolerant and intermediate, meaning they can tolerate some level of pollutants but not at higher amounts or levels. In the coming month, look for additional postings of other species students inventory in the park.

Stormy Nature

I can her the wind brushing through the leaves. The grass is moving around me. Birds and crickets are chirping at a beat. It sounds like music if you add the flies wings moving. The clouds are turning darker and darker as I write. It looks like it is going to rain hard, then all of that music from the bugs and birds will come to a screatching hault so they can find shelter. The graceful wind that moved through the trees and grass will change to gusts of wind. Branches will break and leaves will fall. The storm came. I rushed to shelter as the drops came falling. I watched the drops crash on the window. They made a beat as they put me to sleep.
Written by Courtney, Senior.

It's My Turn!

The new year has started and the time has finally come for me to participate in this wonderful new experience. I have been interested in working with the environment for years and when I found out 2 years ago about this research group I couldn’t wait ‘til my senior year. During the first few weeks of the class are numbers got smaller to the point where it might disappear. I hope it doesn’t because from what we have done so far is very enjoyable. From hikes on local trails to read about ‘a sense of wonder’ has made this class exciting. This class also let me bring my love of art into the class from any numbers of pictures.
Also in the small hikes we have done some nature journaling. In these I have been able to reflect on the world around us and how it is changing. I remember when I used to walk along the sides of a stream near my house as a kid and you would see a trash very sparsely and other than that it was fine. Now if I go down to that very stream there are pieces of trash and cans everywhere. I remember one time during a stream clean up that we found a full bag of trash and car parts. It is things like these that make me want to get involved and help out not only with the up-keeping, but to understand how to preserve this earth we share. I am looking forward to a great year.
Written by Kady, Senior.

My Experience on the Appalachian Trail

My biggest experience in nature was when I went backpacking on the Appalachian Trail over the summer. All throughout the trail I felt as though I was free. I felt as though none of the troubles I had back home could get me here. All I ever saw was nature at its finest. It was as though mankind had never even laid their hand on the entire land. I would always hear the rustling of the trees or the chirping of birds. Unfortunately, this trip did not turn out very well later on. We were unable to stay at the first rest point so we had to hike an entire days worth ahead. This course also lead us straight through devil’s race course. It was dark when we finally got to the fully occupied rest area. We were so weak we had to rest for a day so that we would be able to trek on tomorrow. As fate would have it, this was in vain because my father had injured himself on the race course. The temperature dropped below freezing and it wasn’t going to get any better. So in the end, we were forced to quit early. It was one of the best summers I have had so far and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Written by James, Junior.

Reflection at Year's End

Another successful year of the PATC Student Trail Steward program at Northwood High School has ended. On June 12th, I had the priveledge of watching eleven students, this year's and last, walk across the graduation stage and receive their high school diplomas after thirteen years of hard work. In two years, thirteen students have completed the year long, rigorous program of field work, research, writing, projects, physical labor, educating others, advocating, and camping. Working with students outside the traditional classroom offers them and the teacher (me) a more meaningful experience and relationship, to each other and the knowledge gained. The human side is exposed when each share getting dirty outside to breaking bread after a cold, wet day. The opportunity to engage with students in and out of the traditional role and space of student and teacher provides deeper life experiences and skills learned for each. It has been a privledge to engage with thirteen amazing and different individuals in the non-traditional classroom setting of the outdoors. Teaching and learning is a two way street; I learn from them about their perspective on the world and life, human interaction, and better ways to empower each of us to learn and grow.
I appreciate the strong partnership between PATC and Northwood High School and the past and present funding sources, REI and the American Hiking Society's National Trails Fund, that enable the Student Trail Steward program to provide a meaningful and non-traditional classroom experience. I look forward to engaging and sharing with a new group of students in September.

Northwest Branch Species Inventory

For the last three weeks, the students have been identifying and inventorying various plant and animal species to better understand the health of the ecosystem in Northwest Branch Park. The students have found, photograph, and identified many species, some that are presented in this blog: crayfish, garter snake, wood frog, bloodroot, turkey tale, american toad, northern water snake, assassin bug, and worm snake. These discoveries have created much excitement and wonder and furthered their understanding and compassion for the natural world.

An Environmental Bipolar Analogy

Date: 4/21/09
Weather: Rainy, thunder, lightning
Time: 5:30 pm
Place: My backyard
Today was a nice day. It was sunny and fairly warm. Then all or a sudden, a few drops of rain started to fall. Next thing I knew it was pouring down rain with lightning and thunder. It reminded me of how bipolar some people can be. One minute they’re happy, and everything seems good. Next minute, they explode with anger over some small thing. I guess the weather can be bipolar as well. And global warming has made its fuse even shorter. Global warming makes storms more frequent and more severe. So global warming is making the weather even more bipolar as time goes on. And I guess that makes the global warming activists the earth’s medication, but they must be a slow-acting medication. My question is: Is this medication a spreading cure, or just a delaying the effects type drug?
By Shelley, Senior

Leave No Trace Hikes

On Saturday, the students led two hikes to educate families about how to reduce their impact on nature by teaching them the seven principles of Leave No Trace.
*Plan Ahead and Prepare
*Respect Wildlife
*Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
*Leave What You Find
*Minimize Campfire Impacts
*Dispose of Waste Properly
*Be Considerate of Others
In total, the students led a hike for 25 parents and children on the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail in Northwest Branch Park. MD State Senator Jamie Raskin joined the hike to learn how he and his family can reduce their impact.
Each hiker received a Leave No Trace bandana designed and produced by the students. The bandana is a non-disposable tool to educate and remind hikers to Leave No Trace when recreating outdoors.
The bandanas may be purchased on the PATC webstore for $5 to raise money for the Student Trail Steward program. To link to the website, please click on the PATC logo.

Analogies of Nature

As we walk through Sligo Creek Pkwy, my friend Daniel says, “The color green is coming back with a vengeance.”
“So are the gnats,” I say, waving a swarm away from my face.
The bark on the trees look a lot like puzzle pieces and some of the trees seem to be missing a few pieces. Sycamores especially. Moss and lichen cover the trees all about the base. Daniel thinks that the trees (or rather small shrubs) by the stream are having too many bar fights. Later, he points out these vines wrapped around a fence and some even around another vine and calls them “married couples”. There were a whole bunch strewn along the creek, entangled with any other shrub that was close by. He said he should plant/put some security trees around the place. There are daffodils and crocuses here and there about the path. We continue walking towards Colesville Rd until we come along some picnic tables. Then, we decide to take a seat and talk and wait for intelligent, inspirational thoughts to write down. We watch the birds fly to and fro, listen to the creek trickling by and the cars running parallel to the creek. We talk a little about different things: ice cream, money, grades, food.
Walking back, I point at a foamy part of the creek and say that it's the head of a beer. We start laughing at the bad joke. The trees are budding; small, itty, bitty leaves are forming at the end of the branches. The cherry blossoms look so pretty with their bright shades of pink.
As we walk back home, we notice how much the sycamores stand out against all the brown. We also notice and count all the various birds/squirrels nests we see in the trees.
by Charlotte, Junior

Spring Backpacking Trip

When preparing for the backpacking trip on the Maryland AT to Annapolis rocks, the group's intent was to go forward with the orginial plan despite the cold and rainy forecast. However, once thunderstorms entered the forecast, we executed plan b, to stay at Blackburn Trail Center on the AT in Loudon County, Virginia. We headed to Blackburn early and upon arrival set up "camp." By mid morning, we were walking up the quarter mile blue blaze trail to the AT. We hiked north on the trail stopping to take photos, talk about trail maintenance and construction techniques and devices, leading and participating in Leave No Trace activities, eating lunch, and climbing a high wall of rock only to find a flat ridge and no spectacular view. All day we hiked through a dense wall of fog and an on and off again drizzle. Upon returning to Blackburn, we were all grateful for a roof and a wood burning stove. The evening was spent eating and playing Hearts and Boggle. We all rose the next morning to feel the chill in the air and the dense fog outside. After we energized ourselves with coffee, hot coco, and breakfast, we headed back to the AT to do a small version of a Vision Quest, a Native American coming-of-age practice. We blind folded each student, disoriented them, and led them to a spot of the trail by themselves. They spent more than an hour in solitude to observe nature, reflect upon their lives thus far, and ponder their future. With this hour of solitude, the students generated amazing written reflections. The weekend presented many positive moments and experiences to share, bond, learn from each other, tell stories, and just have fun. To see photos the students took during the trip, please click on the group photo.

Advocacy letter: What is the solution to littered plastic bags?

March 17, 2009

Senator Jamie Raskin
House Office Building, Room 122
11 Bladen St.
Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear Senator Raskin,

My name is Juan A., a senior at Northwood High School in Montgomery County, and a member of PATC/NHS Student Trail Stewards. I am writing this letter to inform District 20 State representatives of an ongoing problem in our community, littering of plastic bags. The PATC/ NHS Student Trail Stewards conducted a small, but yet very effective clean up behind Northwood High School on March 8th, 2009, and we were able to collect 267 pounds of trash. Shockingly more than 40 pounds of the trash collected were plastic bags.
The huge amounts of plastic bags being improperly disposed all over our community is affecting not only our community, but all the other communities where non degradable plastic bags are being used by supermarkets and other retailers. All over the community, one notices the concentrations of plastic bags in small areas of land, and most of these are found along neighborhoods, where individuals dispose of bags because there are no fines being enforced by the authorities for littering. The collection of so many bags affects the community in different ways, from clogging up the draining system along the road to affecting the ecosystem in general. When all these bags are located on a small area of land, the affect on the ecosystem is tremendous from affecting the natural cycle of plant growth to the affect it causes on organisms. The process of plastic bags breaking down is long and intoxicating. It takes hundreds of years for the bags to completely break down, and during the process of them breaking down they release toxins that join with the soil, rivers and other bodies of water.
The reason there is an abundant amount of plastic bags in the neighborhoods is due to human nature and how we behave. We are accustomed to having our groceries and other articles placed inside a bag, and after we are done using them, we dispose of them and many times not thinking twice about it. We don’t have to change this, but what we do have to change is what our bags are being made of. By changing to biodegradable bags, not only are we helping the environment, but we are also helping the community because the bags will effectively decompose. Because biodegradable bags are made of easily oxidize materials such as corn, they decompose at much higher rates than oil based bags. When bio bags are littered in the environment they break down faster due to moisture and sunlight. Changing human behavior is often difficult but changing what plastic bags are made of will improve our environment.
Data collected in 2001 by United States Environmental Protection Agency states that there is an average of 500 billion to a trillion bags used worldwide every year, and this means that when all these bags break down our soils are being contaminated as well as our bodies of water. In order to solve the problem of plastic bags taking over our communities and affecting our ecosystems we need to change to an alternative solution, biodegradable bags. By encouraging businesses to use biodegradable bags we are ensuring the safety and well being of our community and our ecosystems.

Sincerely,
Juan A.

Spring Is in the Air

As I lay outside, the rays of sun splash against my face.
The warmth wraps my body in a blanket of sunshine.
The breeze whispers to the world that a new is beginning,
That it is time awake and greet what surrounds us all.
The birds sound off to the rest, as if they are the wake up call.
The leaves rustle creating a calming rhythm.
The trees still bare from yesterdays storm.
But holding on their branches the hope for tomorrow.
The flowers stretch open their petals.
Over night it seems the world has gone from black and white
To full of color and life, enriched with greens and reds, purples and yellows.
As the weather changes so to the moods.
People seem chipper, and more intoned with the outside world around them.
The promises spring holds,
One for rebirth
One for life
One for a new
One for change
One for growth
But most of all one for
The promises of tomorrow’s glory.
The rays hold that promise, the promise that the days will grow longer, brighter and towards the season of summer.
by Corinne, Senior

Sharing Nature With a Friend

Date: 3/23/09
Place: Woods around my friend’s house
Time: 3:00 pm
Weather: sunny, warm

Today my best friend and I decided to mark a beautiful day with a hike through the woods. We tended to venture between the stream and the path most of the time. We prefer to find our own way through the forest.
From the main path we found a small cliff that seemed to be formed by whoever cut the path because the base of the cliff was the side of the path. We decided to climb it. It was only about 20 feet up but it was pretty vertical and difficult to maneuver. It was almost a race, but we didn’t want to rush too much and fall. It was so much fun. Once we were at the top it seemed to be so much higher up. The view was beautiful. We could see the path, the creek, and we even spotted a deer a ways off.
To share nature with a friend is truly magical. The more people you share it with, the more point of views you can appreciate and the more pairs of eyes you have to see the wonders that the world has to offer.
by Shelley, Senior

Northwood Litter Clean-up

On Sunday, March 8th, students, teachers, and community members came together to clean-up litter on school grounds and in the wooded corridor next to the school. This clean-up was part of a litter advocacy project to clean-up plastic bags, collect data on them, and advocate to state legislators about their environmental impact. During the clean-up, 326 plastic bags were picked-up, weighing 40 pounds. In all, participants cleaned-up 267 pounds of trash.

Wildlife in a Suburban Stream

Friday 2/13/09- It was a mild and overcast day. I was walking home from school on an iron bridge over Long Branch. I noticed that below me were three pairs of Mallards wading and skimming the sooty bottom for daces and macro invertebrates. There were three males with their distinctive dark glossy green heads, brown chests, dark blue wing tips, and yellow bills, as well as three dull brown colored females with their deep orange bills. They were all very timid and restless. The closer you got to them, the further away they’ll swim from you. Some waddled up to the bank exposing their red orange webbed feet. They all made nervous, muffled quacks, probably as a signal to keep their distance.
The ducks had good reason to be anxious, for there were four Turkey Vultures soaring overhead in the canopy, probably in search of nearby carrion. They couldn’t sit still. A few would continuously swoop down to perch on the Tulip poplar and Red Oak branches. They certainly stood out among many objects in the forest, with their prominent bald red heads, ivory colored beaks with large nostrils, dark brow plumage, scaly stork-like legs, and broad wing spans. All of this activity scared off the timid Mallards, causing them to take off and flee downstream leaving behind a trail of splashes and ripples in the creek.
By Paul, Senior