Materials

• Plant and animal field guides from library
• List of Washoe plant and animal names - teacher provided
• Audio cassette tape of Washoe names
• 1 cassette player - teacher provided

Objectives

• Students will utilize the school's library
• Students will become familiar with field guides
• Students will utilize comparative observational skills
• Students will explore the ecological changes in land
• Students will be introduced to Washoe plant and animal names.

Background

With time, the shape and substance of the land upon which we live changes. These changes create, alter and sometimes even destroy ecosystems. In this lesson, students will observe changes in the land and determine, through observation, if these changes have altered the willow ecosystem. The students will also learn the historic names of plants and animals used by the native Washoe.

Before You Begin the Lesson:

• Review and familiarize yourself with the Washoe audio tape and word list.
• Locate a site near school where willow plants grow in a natural setting, such as a creek or river bed. Also locate a site where they grow in a disturbed setting such as a drainage ditch or irrigation canal.
• Remind your class of proper behavior during outdoor field trips.
• Assign a homework/classwork project of going to the library and checking out a field guide of interest to students.

Activity

1. Distribute a list of Washoe plant and animal names to each student.
   
2. Explain that the class will listen to a tape of Washoe names for plants and animals. Remind students that many of these words apply to plants and animals studied in previous activities.
   
3. Play the Washoe cassette for your class.
   
4. Explain that the class will use the Washoe names to cross reference the names of the plants and animals found during the field trip and in their field guides.
   
5. Take students to the undisturbed site and have them carefully observe the area.
   
6. Ask students to imagine how the area might have looked 500 years ago. What might have changed?
   
7. Ask what might have caused the changes they observe. Include the concept of disturbance (organic/animal-plant and inorganic/physical-climatic-geological) in your discussion.
   
8. With your help and the help of the guidebooks from the school library, have the students (individually, paired or grouped) do a broad classification and species count of the plants and animals at the site. Be sure to look for signs of animals' presences (ie. feeding marks, tracks, scat, etc.).
   
9. Take students to the disturbed site and repeat steps 6 - 8.

Closure

NOTE: This closure can be done in the classroom upon return from thefield trip or it may take place on a subsequent day.

Have students compare species counts for both sites by compiling a list of species on the board (students may use common, Washoe, or combinations of names).

Lead discussion with students regarding the results of their species counts (ie. consider: presence and absence of species, which species preferred disturbed or undisturbed sites, could any of the species found be harmful/beneficial and what determines these classifications, and were there any conspicuous presences or absences).

Have students consider the impact upon habitats, niches, and ecosystems that disturbance can produce.

Evaluation

Correct correspondence of Washoe to English names demonstrates the students ability to associate names.

The students' ability to correctly identify species will be evident through their species counts. Students with plants and animals not found in the sites' environment demonstrate a weakness in research/classification skills.

Students' discussions should reflect consideration of the concepts of : niche, habitat, ecosystem, and disturbance.

Note

Much of the Washoe language has been lost. A result of this misfortune is that uncertainty exists over word usage. Where there are two Washoe words to one English word signifies this uncertainty - in most cases there is a question of which species is named. Both words can be used with the understanding that the animal is being named on a more general level (ie. genus instead of species). Where there is a generic English word the corresponding Washoe word is generic (ie. willow) with no differentiation of species.

Because the Washoe language was never standardized in written English and differences in dialects produced different phonetical groupings, no standardized spelling section accompanies this lesson. In order to uphold the integrity of the language this is necessary. Students may try to "sound out" the Washoe words and write them down according to their soundings. Realize that there will be differences in spellings between students and explain to the students that the pronunciation is the most compatible with the written linguistic section.