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Project CROAK!
Along with principal Kevin McKay, ZHS Science teachers Jeff Charbonneau and Ken Johnson received a PT3, or "Prepare Tomorrow's Teachers To Use Technology", grant from Central Washington University to implement technology into the classroom. In essence, the grant funds equipment and training to university faculty, university students, and high school teachers to implement a creative, technology rich curriculum for the public schools. The result; Project CROAK!
CROAK! seeks to uncover the mysteries of amphibian life in the Zillah area. With the grant, Zillah students are tracking and identifying amphibians using palm pilots, GPS units, and sophisticated ultraviolet marking techniques.
Charbonneau and Johnson's classes are currently using two orchard ponds with permission of the owner, Valley Fruit, to conduct their initial survey. The intent of the project is not simply to capture and bring back frogs to the classroom. Instead it is a population survey.
When a student captures a frog, they identify the species, sex, color, and length of the frog, and then use their GPS units to define the exact location of where the frog was captured. The frog then has a very small piece of synthetic rubber attached to it. The rubber has been marked with a unique identifying number in fluorescent dye. The frog is then released back into the pond. One to two weeks' later students return to the pond to capture more frogs. Each frog is then checked for the identifying marker, which can be very easily seen under a UV or black light.
By conducting tag and release field studies and by utilizing several ecological equations, students can then make a determination of population size.
In addition to Charbonneau and Johnson, CWU faculty member Dr. Steve Wagner is advising on the project. CWU Biology Education student Summer Hill is also highly involved in the grant, serving as a yearlong intern to the High School.
Ms. Hill will not only bring another level of expertise to the team, but will also benefit from having a large portion of her degree earned through direct interactions with students.
The PT3 grant has funded training, and equipment for the 2002-2003 school year and has continued funding in 2003-2004. Along with the PT3 grant, Charbonneau received a NASA Washington Space Grant to supplement funding on the project.
ZHS would like to thank CWU, NASA Space Grant, and Valley Fruit for their cooperation in this project. If you have a pond that you would allow ZHS to use, or can help in any other way, please contact Jeff Charbonneau at 829-5565 or at ask@mrcharb.com
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