AgEBB-MU CAFNR Extension

Green Horizons

Volume 23, Number 1
Winter 2019

Agroforestry

Bringing Back Missouri Native Forests: Place-Based Education in Columbia Public Schools

By Mike Szydlowski | K-12 Science Coordinator, Columbia Public Schools

Four years ago, the Missouri Department of Conservation put out a small publication around Thanksgiving that explained that almost anything green in Missouri forests that time of year was likely the invasive bush honeysuckle. At that time, I realized how big of an issue this is for the health of Missouri trees and forest communities. Driving around Columbia Missouri in late fall, I saw that our forests had transformed into a sea of honeysuckle. Upon further research, we discovered that over time, our forests would lose their age structure, as this pervasive plant would limit tree regeneration due to competition for light. We determined that something had to be done, and we had the kid-power in Columbia Public Schools to make it happen.

We developed the following plan to engage students with place-based education, which involves teaching our current standards in the context of the importance they have on our place. An overwhelming amount of research has shown that much of the disconnect students experience in school is related to a lack of connection between the learning standards and the student's community and/or home.

Education

We have taught about changes in ecosystems, including the introduction of invasive plants, for quite a few years. The students knew about it, but hadn't been engaged with the content. We changed this by taking classes on tours of their neighboring forests and parks. We learned that these places were rarely visited due to the thick wall of honeysuckle preventing easy access.

Removal and Observations

We purchased a set of gloves and loppers and allowed students to clear plots of bush honeysuckle with the permission of the Columbia Parks department. Adults followed after each session, treating the stumps to prevent regrowth. Students then observed the cleared plots and quickly noticed that there were virtually no plants left other than the existing dominant trees. No tree seedlings. This had an unexpectedly profound effect on the students; they wanted to remove more of the honeysuckle. We worked with classes that kept asking us to come back. We had parents telling us that as they took weekend family hikes, their kids pointed out all the invasive species along the trails. This kind of reaction never occurred before we took the kids out for this type of community service and learning project. We even had numerous instances when students asked to give up their recess to remove honeysuckle so they could save the native plant communities in the forest next to their school.

Millions of Invasive Plants Removed

As we continued this effort, we put out a challenge to remove one million honeysuckle plants. We reached that goal in the first 6 months and quit counting after it reached over 2 million plants. The program has since expanded to many more schools and natural areas and now includes biodiversity studies of cleared vs. not cleared areas as well as seedling plantings for areas that were deemed to have insufficient young trees after clearing. To date, students have removed substantial areas thick with honeysuckle in Fairview Park, Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary, Garth Nature Area, Smithton Park, and Overland Park, and the work continues all year long. Many of these spaces are now accessible for class use, and have been replanted with native tree seedlings where appropriate.

We understand that our impact on invasive honeysuckle is limited, but our goal in the Columbia Public School Science Department is to keep our students enthused about making a difference in their community and saving important forest ecosystems within and around the city for everyone's enjoyment. We believe our department can be a model demonstrating that if kids can make this much of a difference, others can too. It has been a very rewarding experience.

The key to place-based learning is to motivate teachers to stray from the traditional classroom where students are expected to sit at their desks for long periods of the day. The perceived loss of teaching time is more than made up for in the health, behavior, and place-based gains that programs like this have.