I wrote this post a few years ago on my personal blog, but as an advocate of experiential learning, I thought it would be worth sharing my experience on this blog as well.
I’m standing under a large hemlock tree. Its grande interlocking branches provide a cool environment shading us from the sun’s warmth. We could use that warmth on a cool November day. But nobody is complaining. Who could complain about resting under such a beautiful large tree? I am standing with twenty Grade 5 students facing me, along with their teacher, “Sunflower”, my associate teacher, “Loon”, a Grade 12 co-op student named “Bear” and a handful of parent-guardians.
“Has anyone ever traveled underground before?” I question the group a seemingly unrelated question, “Yes, Tall Tree?”
“One time, when I was little, I was playing outside with my dog and she dug a hole and I went inside it later and it was huge and I traveled underground.” Grade 5’s are expert innovators of run-on sentences.
“Has anyone else traveled underground before?” A couple of the students raise their hands and shake them as if they were experiencing a seizure. It’s slightly obnoxious so I choose the student with the calm arm raised not flopping away, “Yes, Snow Cougar?”
“I went int the subway in Toronto before with my family…”
“Well, that’s interesting.” And there is the answer I was looking for. “Can you guys believe that this hemlock tree is connected to Toronto’s subway system, also known as the TTC?
“When Toronto was first building its subway system and were digging out tonnes of dirt from underground, they needed wooden beams to line the subway tracks and to prevent dirt from falling in on the subway. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a very good subway, would it? So the builders used hemlock wood to support the tunnels. Does anyone know where they found those hemlock trees?”
“Here?”
“No, not here. Has anyone heard of Algonquin Park before?” The majority of the students nod their heads for I am sure many of them have already been conditioned to believe not knowing the right answer is shameful.
We moved on.
“In Algonquin Park, there were large forests of hemlock trees all over the place that were cut down. But do you know that there is a creature that really relies on hemlock trees? Deer. Look up and see how thick the branches are. In the winter these branches hold so much snow that they allow for the deer to travel through the forest more easily without using too much of their own energy. Can you imagine what it would be like in the winter for deer treading through deep snow?” I pretend to march heavily through a wall of snow and the students chatter in agreement to such a winter obstacle.
“Well, what do you think happened to many of the deer when they cut down all the hemlock trees in Algonquin Park?” I moved my hand down an invisible slope in the air.
“They died!” A student confirms our past
“They did die. But not all of them and fortunately we still have hemlock trees in Algonquin Park. So, who knew that Toronto’s subway system could be connected to deer population in Algonquin? See, everything is connected. Well, let’s move on.” We hike away from the towering hemlock tree.
My name is Sparrow and this is what I do. I am currently a student-teacher doing my placement at an outdoor education center in southern Ontario. It’s an excellent time where I get to, along with a couple of others, introduce children to their outdoor environment in unique ways. Today was all about connections. This 5-minute lesson is just a glimpse into how we taught the ecological concept of biodiversity: the interconnectedness of various species and their habitats on this earth. Today we continued the lesson by explaining the relationships of milkweed to monarch butterflies, chickadees to woodpeckers, and “speck recycling depots” (bathrooms) to water bottle production facilities. I am fortunate to have this opportunity to learn how good teaching practices can be at our very fingertips when we are willing to give the extra effort to be creative, use transferable material, localize our lesson, and step outside, if anything for only a few minutes.
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For those who want to know more about hemlock’s importance to deer and the building of the Toronto Subway system, here is a little bit of information.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Algonquin Provincial Park’s hemlock trees experienced over-cutting for the sake of the building of the Toronto Subway. There was a significant loss of mature hemlock in the park’s west side. Traditionally speaking, hemlock wasn’t considered to be a valuable species in the timber industry so this was an excellent opportunity to capitalize from this specie. This extensive clear-cutting led in part to the drastic decline in the Algonquin deer population during the 1960’s and 1970’s. (You can thank this decrease in deer population for your moose-sightings during your visits in the park, as the moose population consequently increased).
During the winter, hemlock stands intercept snow and make travel much easier for deer. Hemlock stands are arguably the most valuable of conifers to provide shelter from winter winds and sub-zero temperatures. They have very small and dense needles that act like a roof over those species living under the branches. Consider these hemlock stands “bedrooms” for deer (Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 2009). Deer rely on the balance of accessible food and shelter during the energy-deducing winter months. When shelter is removed, stressful winters can really take a toll on deer populations, as it did during the 60’s and 70’s.
Fortunately, deforestation of hemlocks gradually decreased and deer populations increased. Unfortunately, as stated before, since hemlock stands do not have a high market value, there is hesitancy on behalf of Ontario Parks to fund silvicultural activities. Hopefully over the few next decades, hemlock trees will be able to regenerate throughout Algonquin Provincial Park and you will eventually find yourself resting underneath its sheltering canopy.
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