Creek Week Session 2-Day 2, July,19 2011

Dear PAVA,

Hi this is Angela Oh and today was the second day of session 2 of creek week. The students gathered at Hansen dam and played a group knot game, a game where all the students' hands were tangled together and they had to undo their human knot. Then, we led them down to the creek with big yellow boots to wear in the water and they explored for about half an hour. The area and environment were much different here down lower along the big tujunga creek compared to the location we were at yesterday.

The students then divided up in groups again completing both the water chemistry and the macro-invertabrate assessments with the guidance of two heal the bay staff-members, taira and amber.

After lunch, they went on a scavenger hunt exploring and collecting different items that affect and cause pollution. They returned with many dirty items wasted by humans including wine bottles, plastics, and even boxers. We discussed how these impairments may affect the aquatic creatures of the riparian ecosystem. Afterwards, I briefly lectured about entanglement and how animals often get caught up in the plastic we throw away and how harmful this is to their lives.

As a short activity, they used rubber bands to see how much of their daily lives may be impaired just by having their pinkies and their thumbs tied together. Using the trash they picked up during the scavenger hunt, the students then played a mine game. Each team lined up with one blind-fold and the blind-folded team member had to travel across the mine( a square of all their trash scattered around, their trash items being bombs). This helped them develop strong communication within their team and every time someone would step on a bomb ( trash), they would be splashed by a water sponge. By showing them how difficult it may be to live as animals surrounded by all this trash, this game was fun an successful.

As a wrap up, the students sat in a circle discussing what they enjoyed about their day and how different it was from their experience at the big tujunga creek yesterday. To end the day, Saira, the volunteer coordinator and organizer from heal the bay, talked about the various ways the students can volunteer including becoming a beach captains and ambassador for festivals and events.

Overall, I think the students enjoy the program very much so far.

Best,
Angela Oh