2/28/08

Honoring the Earth lessons include a day at the beach

by Beckye Randall

Tulalip Elementary students participated in a week of activities focused on “Honoring the Earth” February 19-22. The week of environmental learning culminated with a Friday morning beach walk that encouraged students’ awareness of natural waterways.

Todd Zackey, a coastal geographer with the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Department, demonstrated the impact of stormwater runoff using a chunk of asphalt and another of sod.

“You can see how water runs through the grass and soil, returning to the ground,” Zackey said, “butwhen water hits asphalt it simply runs off the top and has to find a way back to the ocean.”

The pollutants carried by runoff endanger water quality and the marine life that depend on it, Zackey explained to the students gathered at the edge of the beach. “Everything’s connected,” he reminded them, “and what we do has an effect on our water.”

Following the brief demonstration students were given plastic gloves and trash bags and sent off with parent volunteers to scour the beach for trash.

The elementary students returned with stray shoes, pieces of rope and nets, plastic bottles and fish lines, and even a chair, a rusted bicycle and a large chunk of styrofoam.

The week-long event was sponsored and arranged by the Tulalip Elementary PTSA, and president Jessica Wold was assisted by other PTSA members and parents throughout the week.

Captions:

Top photo: Students at Tulalip Elementary capped off a week of study entitled "Honoring the Earth" with an educational demonstration by Todd Zackey of the tribes' Natural Resources Department.

Middle photo: Tulalip Elementary second graders Alisha Webber and Josh Iukes (left) share a specimen with coastal geographer Todd Zackey as principal Teresa Iyall looks on.

Bottom photo: Best friends Jamie Smith (left) and Sierra Boston, 5th graders at Tulalip Elementary, show off the trash they collected at the school's beach walk.