Lions & Tigers & Bears on Our Bay? Oh, Yes!

South Kingstown’s elementary students were riveted by a sweeping account of Narragansett Bay’s history in November. Capers Jones, member of New England’s Antiquities Research Association and author of The History and Future of Narragansett Bay, brought an extraordinary array of facts, figures and images spanning the origins of the bay through to the present day. Under the aegis of the district’s pilot Community Learning Project, the vivid presentation enabled students to project themselves back—way back—through the ages with ease and pronounced enthusiasm.

Until 15,000 years ago, Rhode Island was covered by glaciers between 500 and 5,000 feet thick. When the ice melted, the bay became a freshwater lake spanning Providence to Block Island. Low shrubs and evergreens grew in sheltered places and fish thronged the bay, streams, and ponds in a climate too cold for trees, mammals, or year-round settlements.


Animals that evolved in the cold of 8,000 years ago include the short-faced bear, large dire wolf, outsized American lion, saber-tooth tiger, giant beaver, wooly mammoth, and the great auk. The chipmunk, because it could live closer to glaciers, remains the only animal still around on our shores today.


Human history dates back 10,000 years as evidenced by local Native American artifacts. There also may have been European explorers as of 1,000 years ago; the first European visitor was confirmed in 1524. Early stone circles and structures now serve as local landmarks, like the Newport Tower, which remains a mystery as to when and why it was built. Notable local historical figures include Matthew Perry, treaty signer; Oliver Hazard Perry, naval commander, Thomas Lincoln Casey, monument designer; Anne Hutchinson, founder of Portsmouth; and Gilbert Stuart, portrait painter.

Encouraged to learn more about Narragansett Bay history, students were reminded of the wealth of opportunities nearby, including the Pequot, South County, and Herreshoff museums, and Smith's Castle.

When asked what they would like to have seen or done if transported back 10,000 years, the 1st through 5th graders expressed the gamut of practical possibilities. (And some, naturally, the improbable—but with impeccable use of the subjunctive.)

— “I would take chipmunks as pets. Why? Because they are so cute and I want to learn and observe the chipmunks.” [2nd grade—Carroll]

— “I would make shelter and find food and look for animals and make a fire.” [2nd grade—Carroll]

— “I would figure out what caused the weir to be there. I would also take pictures of the animals.” [3rd grade—Fogarty]

— “I would try to find a cave so I could live in it. If there wasn’t a cave, I would build a house out of wood.” [3rd grade—Fogarty]

— “I would want to hunt a saber-toothed tiger. I would want to build something that would be really cool like a huge stone building.” [3rd grade—Heid]

— “I would make a tree-house city for me to live in.” [3rd grade—Masson]

— “I think I would take photographs of animals like the saber-toothed tiger or the Native American lion! And lots more…” [3rd grade—Masson]

— “I’d study the plant and animal life that inhabited the land.” [4th grade—Cole]

— “A dolmen is a big rock. I would stand on it and try to hunt a wooly mammoth for food. There were also smaller rocks on the bottom of the dolmen.” [5th grade—DeFeo]

— “…I would make a hut. Then I would fish and hunt animals then I would use the animals’ fur for clothing and blankets and other things that I use now.” [5th grade—DeFeo]

— “I would try to build shelter and build rock walls in the water to get fish. I would build bows and arrows and make furs to put on.” [5th grade—DeFeo]

— “I would make a shelter, fire, get food, and then I would make tools to hunt and survive.” [5th grade—DeFeo]

By Jon Pincince & Rian Smith

Students Vow to Protect Their Watershed

The Narrow River is a narrow tidal inlet that opens into the Atlantic Ocean at Narragansett Beach. Its watershed constitutes 14 square miles along the river in South and North Kingstown and Narragansett that drain into Rhode Island Sound. Richard Grant, president of the Narrow River Preservation Association, and volunteers visited South Kingstown elementary schools to tell 1st through 5th graders about how they can help protect and preserve the Narrow River watershed.

Richard and his cartwheel team of volunteers, Rosemary Smith, Veronica Berounsky and Mary Jane Kanoczet first explained their mission: to restore, protect and preserve the quality of the natural environment and communities within the Narrow (Pettaquamscutt) River Estuary and Watershed. They work to keep the river clean and free of pollution so that both people and wildlife can continue to use the river safely.

A contoured model enabled students to visualize how water and other substances enter a watershed and eventually wind up in the river. Richard squirted water onto the sides of the model to demonstrate that a watershed is basically a basin, just like a sink or a bathtub. Water runs down the sloping sides of the basin and collects in an area at the bottom like a river, eventually draining out at the lowest point.

Photographs illustrated the watershed’s flora and fauna — osprey, ducks, flounder, sea stars, quahogs, and even oysters. A map detailed the roughly 8,000 acres of the Pettaquamscutt River Estuary, the coastal body of water where salty ocean tides and fresh river water merge.

While some land along the river has remained natural, some, of course, has been built up. Pollution found in the river is called non-point pollution since there is no one place, such as an industrial site, that is its single source. It comes from many different sources such as pipes that run into the river, fertilizer from lawns, septic systems, and bird waste. Detention ponds built at the opening of some pipes collect pollution and prevent it from entering the river.

One essential job is regular monitoring and testing the water by volunteers so that the Preservation Association can track of the cleanliness of the water with the help of URI.

What can students — or any of us — do to help the Narrow River?

1. Do tie into town sewers, or
2. Do inspect and pump septic tanks regularly.
3. Don't use lawn fertilizers or herbicides.
4. Don't dump lawn clippings, leaves or trash into the river.
5. Do operate watercraft responsibly.
6. Do pick up pet waste.
7. Don't feed waterfowl.
8. Don't put anything down the sink that you wouldn't eat or drink.
9. Don't dump anything down storm drains.
10. Do report any suspected problems to the RI DEM at (401) 222–1360.

To conclude, students were asked to write or draw in their journals about what they — as keepers of the Narrow River — had learned about protecting and preserving a watershed. Here are some of their responses:

— “Don’t put anything down the water drains. Don’t throw any stuff in the water.” [2nd grade]

— “I can help by not putting/dumping trash by the watershed. You do that because if you do it will eventually run into the river or ocean. It might even take months, but it goes down somehow. They build ponds to keep oil and other things out of our oceans and rivers.” [3rd grade]

— “I will help the watershed by: not polluting, not putting grass or leaf clippings into the water, not dumping waste into grates, and not LITTERING!” [3rd grade]

— “I think I can help the river by picking up a lot of trash.” [3rd grade]

— “How can you help the rivers? Do not throw garbage in the rivers. Did you know there are fantastic creatures in the bottom of the river like starfish and things like that? You can make rivers a better place!” [4th grade]

— “I can help by not feeding birds by the river, and telling my dad not to use a lot of fertilizer. I can not dump trash into/near the watershed.” [5th grade]

— “Do not throw trash in rivers. Do not feed the birds. Don’t use too much fertilizer. Do tell about a problem if there is one. The river is by Narragansett Beach. The Narrow River is also called the Pettaquamscutt River.” [5th grade]

By Jon Pincince & Rian Smith

Close Encounters with Narragansett Bay

South Kingstown, RI — November 2008

More than ten years ago, Rhode Island native Mark Hall felt compelled to provide hands-on, educational marine science programs for students and their families. So he founded Biomes Marine Biology Center in North Kingstown. In Novemer, Mark brought inhabitants of Biomes’ 600-gallon aquarium into South Kingstown’s elementary schools to allow students a close encounter with life in the waters of Narragansett Bay.

Mark told students that he fell in love with the work of the marine biologist back when he was in elementary school. After studying biology in college, he began to teach. He invited students to visit Biomes Center for fun ways to learn more about saltwater animals. The small size of the aquarium, he explained, allows you to get a closer look and do a lot of touching. “Our shark is very friendly—you can come right up and pet him! And we have a stingray—but do we pet the ray?” “No!” chorused students. And then they turned to the really fun stuff… the live specimens.

Out of Biomes’ travel aquarium first emerged… a splayed, knobby starfish. This five-armed creature, also called a sea star, has the impressive ability to regenerate arms if one is lost to a predator. “Yes, that’s right—a predator is any animal that eats others.” Sometimes a starfish re-grows not just one, but two arms—“I’ve even seen as many as eight arms!"

Another unusual starfish trait is its five eyes, one at the tip of each arm. The starfish does not see what we see, however: its eyes only perceive light and dark. Its vision is sufficient for finding the safest place to hide, like under rocks, always moving towards the dark. Starfish also have hundreds of little feet like suction cups under its arms which enable it to move around. (Click here to find out from Biomes how this ruthless predator eats!)

A wave of excitement greeted the next specimen: a sleek, gleaming horseshoe crab — a female, always bigger than the male. Perhaps the most interesting fact about horseshoe crabs is that they have existed in the same form since before the time of the dinosaurs — more than 300 million years!

The two bumps on the top of the crab are two of its nine eyes. While most of its eyes see only light and dark like the starfish, these two big eyes are compound eyes, like insects, each made up of hundreds of tiny eyes. Despite its intimidating appearance with its ferocious-looking tail, the crab is not dangerous at all and can’t hurt us. In fact, the tail has only one purpose: when turned upside-down, the crab sticks its tail into the ground and flips itself back over using its tail muscles. (Click here to find out more about this extraordinary survivor!)

So don’t ever pick up or carry a horseshoe crab by its tail, because you could harm muscles crucial to its survival. While horseshoe crabs are not yet endangered, today they are in more trouble than ever before.

And for the finale… a prickly, little fish. (Huh?) Mark won’t tell students its name… “You tell ME after it demonstrates a most distinctive skill!” Fish, unlike many other animals, tend to swallow their prey whole. So those that are too big to be swallowed stand a much better of chance of surviving. He held the fish underwater and… guess what happened when he tickled its belly?

The little fish ballooned to many times its original size! Mark raised the fish out of the water for students to see the change for themselves. “Why, it’s a pufferfish!” Gentle handling calmed the pufferfish down; it spat out the water it had swallowed to protect itself, and deflated back to its normal small size. (Click here to find out more about this fierce predator!)

This Norther Pufferfish lives only in cold waters. What might happen to this species if climate change makes the ocean temperature rise out in Narragansett Bay?

Concluding their encounter with some of the marvels of Narragansett Bay, students wrote and drew in their journals. Here is what some students at Matunuck Elementary School had to say:

• “I didn’t know the horseshoe crab was endangered.” [4th grade—Tuoni]


• “The horseshoe crab has been in our world for almost 300 million years. Horseshoe crabs are now becoming endangered. That is very sad.” [5th grade—DeFeo]


• “The pufferfish was so awesome! It was my favorite kind of fish; it puffed up because Mark tickled his belly to think he was being swallowed. When they think they are swallowed, they puff up so the bigger fish could not eat it and it would spit it out. I thought it was kind of secret weapon because the fish that wanted to eat the pufferfish would not know it was a pufferfish. The BAM, it would puff up. That seems cool!” [3rd grade—Fogarty]


• “The pufferfish swallows water so it can’t be eaten. A pufferfish can’t live in warm water or it will die. Global warming is hurting pufferfish.” [5th grade—DeFeo]


• “I never knew a pufferfish swallowed water to get big. I always thought it blows up its cheeks with air. Plus I always wanted to be a marine biologist like the guy in the presentation.” [4th–5th grade—Cole]


• “Narragansett Bay animals will be endangered if global warming gets bad. The pufferfish protects itself by swallowing water to get too big to be swallowed. Starfish have 5 eyes. One on each leg. The orange dot on starfish is where they swallow water. They have lots of suckers on the bottom of them.” [5th grade—DeFeo]
  

By Jon Pincince & Rian Smith
________________________

S.K. Elementary Schools Community Learning Project
“My Place” will continue to cover heritage and history, marine life, aquaculture, agriculture, watersheds, and land conservation in and around Narragansett Bay through the fall. “My People” will address basic human needs and diversity during the winter; and “My Environment” will focus on natural processes and local flora and fauna in the spring.

Resolving to Be More Eco-Friendly in S. Kingstown

South Kingstown, RI — November 2008

Claire Hall, president of The "Did You Know?" Foundation, took the stage at each of South Kingstown's four elementary schools to inspire students to "make eco-friendly choices in their everyday lives." Addressing sustainable behavior in the context of S.K. schools new Community Learning Project, Claire animatedly illustrated why it matters, and iterated simple, concrete steps each student could take.

Claire first stresses the three R's of sustainability — reduce, reuse and recycle — as she walks students through choices they make with their families every single day. Asking students to imagine they’re on a trip to the supermarket, Claire calls a student up to help choose which potato chips to choose from the shelf. With help from schoolmates, the volunteer selects one large bag of loose chips over one large bag filled with many smaller bags. In order to minimize our effect on the environment, we have to make less trash—and that means reducing how much packaging we buy.

Another opportunity to reduce, Claire suggests, is when we brush our teeth. If you run the water during those recommended 2 minutes of brushing, did you know that you waste more than 4 gallons of water each time? And what about the water we waste as we wait for our shower to warm up? Why not capture it in a bucket to water our plants and flowers later!

Next comes the challenge of packing a waste-free lunch. Did you know that every year the average student throws away more than 90 pounds of trash from their lunches? (Just imagine 350 of one bigger student ending up in the school’s dumpster at the end of each year!) Claire goes one by one through a typical brown-bag lunch; what can we eliminate in the way of waste and trash? The brown-bag itself can go—use a reusable lunch box or bag instead. How about a reusable drink bottle rather than a juice box? Why not use reusable plastic containers instead of disposable plastic snack and sandwich bags? Bring real utensils (remembering to bring them home again!) instead of disposable plastic ones. And how about cutting up an unpopular old bed-sheet into reusable, washable napkins!

Finally, students examine different types of plastics to learn that those marked with “1” and “2” inside the triangle on the bottom can be recycled in Rhode Island. Other plastics, such as “5”, are good for reuse. Many are surprised to find out that we have to take caps off all bottles before putting them in the recycle bin. If left on, the bottles will end up in the landfill after all.

Claire closes by asking students to write down what steps they plan to take to reduce waste in their own lives.

What can YOU do to become more eco-friendly?

Here what some students at Matunuck Elementary School resolved in response:

• “What I will do differently to help the earth is to not recycle bottle caps. Use reusable containers for my lunch, and take a shower for 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.
  



• “I am going to do a trash-free lunch. I am going to use a reusable cloth napkin. I am going to use a reusable bag and more. All I can to give back to what makes me live!
  
  
• “I learned that recycling is important. I will save some water somewhere at home or the shower because the things that I learned were cool at school. I liked that it was good!
  



• “I am going to recycle. And I will take the cap off of the water bottles. I will reduce, reuse, recycle. If it does not have a “1” or a “2”, reuse it. Now that [Claire] came and talked to us, I’m going to check the bottom of my water bottle and see if the number on the bottom is a “1” or a “2”.
  



• “I will try to recycle more of my water bottles, bring water in a water container, and tell my mom to turn off the water when she is brushing her teeth.
  



• “Do not leave the water running when you brush your teeth. Number 1 and 2 are recyclable. Number 5 is not recyclable. You can reuse it. You have to take caps off to recycle.




• “I learned that you should use the least amount of packaging. I also learned that the school produces 300 "Logans" [schoolmate weighing approx. 90 lbs.] each year for garbage.
  
  


• “I learned to try to use less packaging. I learned to not use plastic bags.
  



• “I am going to buy big packages instead of little ones.
  



• “I am going to recycle and reuse as much as I can!




• “Reuse, reduce and recycle. Use reusable bags at the supermarket. When you brush your teeth, don't keep the water on because you are wasting 4 quarts of water. 1 & 2 are things that you can recycle. 4 & 5 are not, but they are reusable. Buy things that have less stuff to throw out.

By John Pincince & Rian Smith

S.K.’s Community Learning Project’s fall segment entitled “My Place” will continue with history, marine life, shellfish aquaculture, agriculture, watersheds, and land conservation in and around Narragansett Bay. This winter the segment entitled “My People” will address basic human needs and diversity; and “My Environment” will focus on natural processes and local flora and fauna in the spring.

S.K. Students Learn How to Help RI Wildlife

South Kingstown, RI — October 2008

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service brought their mission — and an extraordinary array of specimens and artifacts — into South Kingstown’s four elementary schools throughout the month of October. Participating in the first round of S.K. School’s new Community Learning Project, Janis Nepshinsky, Visitor Services Manager, taught 1st through 5th graders about Rhode Island's National Wildlife Refuges.

Viewing a video about the role of wildlife refuges in protecting migratory birds and other wildlife, students considered their favorite animal and which they one day might like to study. They clamored to share their choices — piping plovers, fiddler crabs, turtles, deer… Many Rhode Island refuges were featured, including Trustom Pond here in South Kingstown, Sachuest Point in Middletown, Ninigret in Charlestown, Block Island, and John H. Chafee at Pettaquamscutt Cove.

Human transformation of vast areas of Earth over time has necessitated protection of wildlife habitats. In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national refuge on Pelican Island in Florida. The National Wildlife Refuge System has since grown to include more than 540 refuges in all 50 states and many U.S. territories, encompassing more than 94 million acres.

Students saw many birds and wildlife that live in Rhode Island— and discovered that their help is needed. Refuges rely on many partners and volunteers — including young children — to accomplish their goals of protecting and educating people about wildlife.

Next came the most exciting part of the program: show and tell. Exotic wildlife artifacts were displayed and carried around the auditorium by parent volunteers. Students touched the skull of a loggerhead sea turtle, felt turkey feathers, hooted at animal "scat," and discovered that the skin of a horseshoe crab is shed much as a snake sheds its skin.

Janis explained that as a biologist, her job basically is to learn about and protect wildlife. But the National Wildlife Refuge System has various jobs available, including special agents and wildlife detectives to help fight poaching and the illegal use of animal parts in clothing, jewelry, and otherwise. Special agents are stationed at airports to catch people trying to smuggle illegal animals into the United States, such as turtles — for barrettes — and baby alligators — for handbags.

She told students that it was her own experience witnessing the illegal use of animals that inspired her to become a wildlife biologist. She encouraged students to do their part to protect wildlife and educate others about the importance of that protection. The program concluded with students writing and drawing in their journals about one special thing they had learned that afternoon.

All reflections and illustrations are from 1st-5th grade student journals at Matunuck Elementary School, October 27, 2008.

“I learned we need to take better care of our community and natural habitats. I also learned how many animals are endangered…”


• “Never kill for fun! Don’t hunt to get fancy stuff!”


• “People would kill an elephant [to use its] foot for a wastebasket or take an antelope and make a coat. They would turn a sea turtle upside down so it can suffer. They would use a sea turtle’s shell for a barrette. Some people would kill a rhinoceros [to use its] horn to make jewelry. People would hunt animals for something on their body to get money. How would you like it if someone killed you? I liked this program.”


• “I learned that every creature is equal and you shouldn’t [poach] them just for one part of them.”


• “I learned that you can’t just kill an animal for no reason and that that’s why they have wildlife refuges.”


• “I will never kill animals. They're almost my favorite thing in the world.”


• “I learned that we should not use animals' skin and things on animals. Because if we do, more and more animals are killed each day. Then those animals are going to be extinct.”


• “Today I learned that some people use elephant feet for trashcans and use antelope feet for ashtrays. I also learned that piping plovers are the most endangered animal in Rhode Island. Some people use peices of turtle backs for barrettes.”


• “I learned that it is not good at all to harm an animal just for an item on the animal.”

“People would kill an elephant’s foot for a wastebasket or take an antelope and make a coat. They would turn a sea turtle upside down so it can suffer. They would use a sea turtle’s shell for a barrette. Some people would kill a rhinoceros horn to make jewelry. People would hunt animals for something on their body to get money. How would you like it if someone killed you? I liked this program.”

Article by Jon Pincince & Rian Smith

Student journals were made out of reuse materials from Recycling for R.I. Education, the teacher resource center!

S. County Museum Takes Students Back in Time

Jim Carothers, South County Museum’s Director, is visiting South Kingstown’s elementary schools to show what life was like 200 years ago. In britches and suspenders, vest and pocket watch, he opens by asking students to travel back in time to a school just like theirs many years ago . . .

In 1818, schoolchildren needed the same skills as you do today. Student volunteers calculate the difference between 2008 and 1818 on a board — through the exact same process of carrying digits over that schoolchildren would have used then.

Pointing to a page from an old schoolbook, Mr. Carothers asks students to imagine they are in an 1818 classroom. Schoolbooks were very different — just loose pieces of paper. You learned by taking notes. But not in a notebook! You used chalk to copy down lessons on a piece of slate. For homework, you would take the slate home to copy the lesson down again with pen and ink onto a sheet of paper.

Children had two sets of clothes. You wore one outfit every day of the week, and changed into your good clothes on Saturday for services. Your mom then washed your everyday clothes for you to wear again next week. Two new volunteers struggle into reproduction period clothing. A full-length gingham dress over a blouse with bonnet, and drop-front britches with suspenders over shirt are paraded down the center of the auditorium. How are his clothes different? Yes! He does have suspenders. No, he has no belt loops. No pockets in the back either. His mother made all his clothes for him, spinning the wool from flax first. Pockets would have been too expensive, a waste of cloth. And, no, no zippers — they weren’t invented yet — so just buttons, hooks and straps.

You had the same basic things inside your tin lunchbox as you might today, but they looked different. What is this spoon made out of… wood? bone? It’s a cow horn spoon! (you couldn’t afford metal) for your stew, porridge, or maybe soup. You had an apple — isn’t this one weird looking? Because it’s old? No, because I picked it from a heritage tree outside the museum, the same kind they had in 1818. And you had a piece of old crusty bread … and that’s about it!

To get to school, you had to walk, or ride on a horse or in a carriage. You played in the schoolyard until the teacher rang a large bell. Assuming the part, Mr. Carothers puts on a frock coat and a top hat. You went outside again for recess and lunch. You had to make your own things to play with — there was no plastic. The volunteers played a game called Grace across the cafeteria, trying to catch a wooden hoop on wooden sticks.

The presentation concluded with students reflecting in their journals about what they had learned. So just how different are you from schoolchildren 200 years ago?

Here is one account by a 2nd grader at Peace Dale Elementary School:

"The topic is chilchin

In the 1800’s I learned about the people. They did not have any TV’s. They didn’t have TV’s because they didn’t have power. They made spoons out of cow horns. They saved the cow horns for spoons. A man wrote a paragraph in cursive, one was his math and one was notes. He wrote by himself. In the 1818’s the girls wore bonnets. Bonnets are hats that keep away the sun, but now we use them for showers. And in 1818 they used a tin lunchbox and for their lunch, they got an apple, a piece of bread, and water and a spoon. The spoon was for the water. They cut the apple in half. They put it on the bread. They rang a bell. The bell was gold it was very loud. My ears popped like a fire engine, like the horn on a truck going wild, or the giant gold bell ringing, “a-ling a-ling!” They could ride in a carriage or walk; they can ride on a horse because the horse pulls the wagon. You can walk because it does the world a favor. It keeps the world alive.”

Illustrations by 2nd graders in Mrs. Santienello's at Peace Dale Elementary School, October 6, 2008.

By Rian Smith