U-High Students Take to the LSU Lakes

Louisiana State University Laboratory School students took to the lakes in 10 canoes on February 29, 2008. This concluded a day-long field trip to explore and analyze the University Lake, investigating alongside LSU students enrolled in the Biological Sciences Principles of Ecology Lab (BIOL 4254), a service-learning course.

Through a service-learning project funded through LSU, the University High students pioneered restoration of the LSU Bird Refuge located on a peninsula of one of the University Lakes. Arborist and landscaper Steele Burden donated the land to serve as a bird refuge and an undeveloped place of beauty and serenity.

The students collected important data and mapped crucial abiotic and biotic factors located at the refuge relative to its habituating bird species. These factors included items such as weather, climate, availability of shelter, and interactions between members of the same species—all variables that regulate population sizes of the birds. Data collected this year will also serve as baseline data for monitoring the habitat quality of the site. Comparisons with data collected in future years will help land managers detect unanticipated degradation of the habitat from factors such as invasive species.

In collaboration with Instructor David Brown, LSU Biological Sciences students used this data for analysis and preparation of a proposal for maintenance of the site that will be submitted to LSU Facility Services, as part of a service-learning project entitled “Applied Ecology: Restoration & Management of Protected Lands.”

“This is an exciting and unique learning opportunity for our students, connecting in-class learning with a relevant local issue, while working alongside LSU students,” said U-High Science Instructor Marty Loupe.

The University High project is a component of the International Baccalaureate experimental science curriculum. The project is a collaborative activity where students from different groups work together on a scientific or technological topic, allowing for concepts and perceptions from across the disciplines. This encourages an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching nature of the scientific method.

While the project is designed to foster an appreciation of the environmental, social, and ethical implications of science and technology, this project will also allow students first-hand experience in understanding the challenges of scientific study, for example, the shortage of appropriate data and/or the lack of resources. (Continued)
“We emphasize interdisciplinary cooperation, the processes involved in scientific investigation overall, and the difference we each can make in community service,” said University High School Science Instructor Steven Babcock.

Students have been quality testing this urban lake along with its shoreline for more than a year. This field trip was the culminating activity on the lake, including not only science fundamentals but canoe skills and water safety, water sampling and testing from open water areas, map and compass reading skills, plant and animal habitat assessment, identification of primary uses and impairments, and environmental service and stewardship. Not only beneficial to wildlife, protected natural areas are important to the health and prosperity of human communities. This natural resource is potentially valuable to LSU and the greater Baton Rouge area as well as to the birds and plants that reside there.