2002 Ice Storm in Western Oklahoma

As we continue to get more winter weather, I was thinking about past Oklahoma winters.  I found this photograph that I took in Enid back 2002.  The location is a block north of State Highway 412 on the west side of town.  Power was out for two weeks in some places.  Once as a child, I remember it snowing on Easter.  Hopefully we will escape the icy weather this week.

Oklahoma PASSages Master Teacher Project: Regional Curriculum Conference

The 2010 Northeast Regional Curriculum Conference will be held in Grove, Oklahoma on Thursday, June 17th.  The conference is hosted by the Oklahoma Master Teachers Project.  I have been a part of the project since August 2009.  Wynona School faculty are conducting a series of book study sessions this school year as part of the project.  During the fall term five Wynona teachers read and discussed the book entitled, Active Literacy Across the Curriculum: Strategies for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.  Over the spring term our group will read Keys to Curriculum Mapping: Strategies and Tool to Make it Work, by Susan Udelhofen.  At the conference in June, two Wynona faculty will make presentations describing their research to northeastern Oklahoma's teachers.  The Master Teachers Project is ongoing and is seeking new applicants for 2010-2011.  Applications are due February 12th.  Members of the project team serve as mentors and trainers serving teachers throughout their respective regions.  Participants receive reimbursement for travel as well as an $1,800 stipend for their service.  For more information and applications, visit the Oklahoma State Department of Education's web site at: http://sde.state.ok.us/Teacher/Master/default.html or contact me at dcrosswhite@wynona.k12.ok.us

Weird, Wacky Water Critters Workshop at the Rogers Co. Conservation Education Reserve in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Teachers and students clear away ice at the Rogers County Conservation Education Reserve in Claremore, Oklahoma on Thursday in Order to sample Macroinvertebrates.  The training sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and the Rogers County Conservation District hosted 25 teachers and students from around the state.  The workshop was part of the Environmental Education Grants program and is funded by the purchase of Oklahoma Environmental Awareness License Tags for vehicles.  Applications for tags may be obtained at your local tag agent or by calling DEQ at 405-702-7138.  Twenty four of the $35 purchase price goes to the Environmental Education Fund.  Wynona Public School has received funding from this program the past two years.  The funds allow us to purchase equipment and materials, host guest scientists, and to spend the day at the Tall Grass Prairie doing real inquiry based science in the field.  In addition to aquatic macroinvertebrates like crayfish, mayfly and dragonfly nymphs, and water striders, our students will also study reptiles and amphibians, plants, and fish.  Guest professors and college students will assist with the field investigations and will allow Wynona students to get a taste of what scientists really do.  This expedition is just what our small town kids need.  I CHALLENGE OUR CITIZENS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO GET IN INVOLVED OR TO HELP SPONSOR THIS EVENT.  Last year several parents and teachers helped sponsor the event.  I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to those individuals. You are all invited to attend again this year.  The date is yet to be scheduled, but will likely take place in late April or early May.  For more information, questions, or suggestions contact Doyle Crosswhite at dcrosswhite@wynona.k12.ok.us or call 580-541-4129.

57th Annual Bartlesville District Science Fair Friday, March 6th, 2010

The Bartlesville District Science Fair invites students to participate in the 2010 competition.  Grades 7-12 will be at the Conoco Phillips Technology Center Saturday, March 6th starting at 7:30 AM.  Applications to participate are due by February 19th, 2010.  For rules, application forms, and more information visit the International Science and Engineering Fair website at: http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/students/wizard/index.asp

The Development of American Land Ethics

Since the initial European settlement of North America, agricultural and industrial development has greatly contributed to the rapid alteration of our natural ecosystems.  During the past one hundred and fifty years, America's ecologists have struggled to modernize our country's ethical relationship with the natural environment.  This period has become known as the environmental movement.  The original philosophies of the early contributors to this movement remain at the center of our ecological theory even today.  It is for this reason that reviewing the development of America's "land ethic" is an important step in gaining an understanding of today's ecological problems.

The history of the environmental movement in America began in the late nineteenth century with the publication of conservation oriented books and articles such as Henry David Thoreau's “Walden” and “God's first Temples: How Shall We Preserve Our Forests?” by John Muir.  Works like these soon began to persuade Americans that the land had important uses other than agriculture and industry.  The time had finally come for the land to begin to be recognized for its aesthetic and recreational value as well as its economic worth to future generations.

The idea that land had value as a thing of beauty was a relatively new idea.  This view was expressed in naturalist and author Henry Thoreau's works.  Thoreau proposed that nature was a thing of beauty and was best appreciated in its natural state, saying that in nature, "man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone" (Walden 129).  Even though Thoreau's theories on nature were idealistic and to some extent impractical to the agriculturally oriented population in the 1850's, his basic philosophies were later widely held by naturalists such as John Muir.

Like Thoreau, Muir was somewhat of an idealist in his approach to conservation; nevertheless, he led the environmental movement for the next fifty years until his death in 1914.  Muir's success in his conservation efforts was in part due to his skills as a writer.  Like Thoreau, Muir also had the gift of expressing himself beautifully on paper.  He began by using his literary skills to help encourage government control of the nation's forests (Muir, Wilderness 311).  Muir's first article, "God's First Creations: How Shall We Preserve Our Forests?” appeared in the February 5, 1875 edition of the Sacramento Record‑Union paper.  The essay protested environmental destruction in the Sierra Mountains caused by overgrazing and lumbering (Muir, 311).  Muir believed that "Exploitation of the earth's resources would only bring unbalance and cause ultimate poverty for all" (Wolfe 188). He also thought that wilderness had cultural and recreational value.  These ideas of land maintaining aesthetic and recreational significance were contrary to early settlers views.  Previously, the pioneers in America had seen the wilderness as a deadly enemy that needed to be conquered.  Muir, however, thought that mankind had no right to subdue and exploit the lower creatures and destroy the wilderness simply for economic gain (Wolfe 188).  From these ideas Muir developed a strong philosophy toward America's wilderness areas, maintaining that "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike" (Wolfe 189).  Rather than something that needed to be conquered, Muir saw wilderness as something to be enjoyed.

As time went by, Muir's ideas became more popular with the government.  Politicians began to realize that conservation might be in the interest of generations to come.  For example, During Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, 86 wildlife refuges were established in 17 states and three territories (Restoring America's Wildlife 5).

Another important government official, Gifford Pinchott who was a trained forester from Prussia also became an important figure in the conservation effort.  Pinchott led the creation of the National Forestry Commission that later became the National Forest Service.  In 1894, the commission was asked by congress to survey the timber reserves of the United States in order to recommend the creation of federal forest preserves.  John Muir was one of the men asked to help with the survey in 1894 (Wolfe 272).  Upon completion of the survey, the commission submitted a recommendation to president Grover Cleveland who then issued an executive order for the creation of 13 reservations totaling over 21,000,000 acres of forest in the western United States (Wolfe 272).

Initially, reservations of this type were created for the preservation of wilderness for economic and recreational purposes rather than for the protection of plant and animal species.  Later conservation efforts in the early 1900's began to attempt to manage wildlife species to benefit agriculture, but it was not until the mid 1900's that conservationists considered species preservation an end in itself.  One of the first naturalists to recognize the importance of protecting nongame species (species not sought for sport) was the ecologist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold has since become one of the most influential conservationists ever involved in the environmental movement.  In 1908, Leopold graduated with a master’s degree in forestry from the newly created forestry school at Yale University.  He soon moved to the Arizona Territory, where he became deputy supervisor of the Carson National Forest of northern New Mexico.  After one year as deputy supervisor Leopold was promoted to the position of supervisor for the Carson (Leopold, Wilderness 6).  Even though Leopold's job was to oversee the management of the Carson, he was also concerned with the game species there.  It is important to note that at this time Leopold is primarily concerned with the welfare of game animals.  As his prospective broadened with experience, Leopold began to understand the interrelationships between all animals and plants.  This development in Aldo Leopold's ecological philosophy and the ultimate publication of A Sand County Almanac greatly affected modern views of conservation.

In many of Leopold's early publications, game management was stressed as a method of increasing numbers of game animals.  He defined game Management as the purposeful manipulation of factors that limited population growth in game animals (Leopold, Game Management 44).  Leopold called these environmental variables "limiting factors".  These so‑called limiting factors included such things as availability of adequate food, water, and space.

Leopold advocated the manipulation of these variables in 1933.  Leopold believed that game could be managed effectively using the following tools: (1) game censusing, (2) surveying the productivity of a population by counting the number of kills per unit of population, (3) installation of refuges, (4) controlling hunting through incentives to hunters and police power, (5) predator control, (6) controlling food and water availability through the use of feeding stations, (7) control of vegetative cover through the use of planting, plowing, and controlled burning, and (8) disease control (Leopold, Game Management).  It is important to note that at this time Leopold believed in predator control as a viable means of managing game populations.  This practice is later found by Leopold to be an ecologically unsound practice.  In 1933, however, he was interested in coming the nearest to serving the interests of all those involved in the predator control controversy (Leopold, Game Management 230).  Leopold believed that predatory animals directly affected four kinds of people, (1) agriculturists, (2) game managers and sportsmen, (3) students of natural history, and (4) the fur industry (Leopold, 230).  He also realized that there was a certain degree of conflict of interest that existed between these four groups.  In many cases, students of natural history wanted no predator control while many farmers and hunters wanted as much as they could get to complete eradication (Leopold, Game Mgt.230).

The evolution of Leopold's philosophy towards predator control is first revealed in the omission of predator control as a means of management in an article appearing in the American Game Magazine in July 1925.  In this article entitled, "Ten New Developments in Game Management", predator control was not recognized as a means of control.

In July 1930, Leopold's article "Game Management in the National Forests" was published in American Forests magazine.  In this article he questions excessive manipulation of the environment and such methods as predator control, saying, it is a "two edged sword" and that it tends to "artificialize sport and thus destroy the very recreational values which the conservation movement seeks to obtain" (Leopold).

In 1924, Leopold left Arizona to accept a position as associate director of the forest service's forest products laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.  In 1933, he left the Forest Service for good and joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin.  By the time Leopold left the southwest he had become an advocate for restoring abused natural habitats, conducting wildlife research, reintroducing extirpated native animals, promoting sportsmanship, promulgating biologically sound hunting regulations, forming politically active conservation organizations, and preserving both wilderness and threatened species (Leopold's Wilderness 74).

By the time Leopold began teaching he had learned more than one valuable lesson about mankind's relationship with the land.  He had come to regard humans as a part of the ecological community.  This community concept held that, "The role of people in their ecological community must change from conqueror of the land to member and citizen of it" (Sand County 240).  Leopold observed, "the disposal of private property to most land owners was purely a matter of expediency, not of right and wrong" (Sand County 237).  He knew the land was sick and that it was becoming less and less able to renew itself (Leopold 245).  Leopold also saw that land that lacked economic value was being destroyed.  Ecosystems were being conformed to fit the needs of man without regard for future consequences.  Leopold said, "lack of economic value often characterizes species or whole biotic communities such as marshes, bogs and deserts" (Leopold 245).

Leopold soon drew an analogy between treatment of the environment and treatment of human beings.  He understood treatment of the land to be related to the ethics and morals of society saying,  "Land ethics are still governed wholly by self‑interest, just as social ethics were a century and a half ago" (Leopold 245).  With Leopold's belief that nature had rights was born the concept of land ethics.

From this point on Leopold began to be very concerned with the moral treatment of the environment.  A Sand County Almanac is a beautiful statement of this conception of mans moral obligation to the environment.  Leopold uses a very deontological approach to land ethics by explaining that; "In examining a question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient.  A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.  It is wrong when it tends otherwise" (Leopold 262).

The philosophy of today's conservationists directly reflects Leopold's fundamental principle of land ethics.  Eugene P. Odum one of today's foremost ecologists argues that;  "External environmental constraints will not be adequate negative feedback for society.  So strong is the economic positive feedback of technological growth that overshoots seem inevitable if only external limits are involved" (Blackstone 10).

Odum, like Leopold believes that "Individuals must have respect for the environment and that laws alone will not correct the problem of land abuse".  Odum explains "Extensions of ethics to include man‑in‑environment relationships must become an integral part of man's philosophy"  (Blackstone 10).

Even though not all people in the United States consider their moral obligations to the environment, the are beginning to see benefits associated with land other than economic gain.  Today Americans understand that wilderness represents our heritage and culture and should thus be preserved.  Modern recreational activities such as backpacking and canoeing require wilderness.  These activities have become part of our historical heritage.

Americans do often fail to realize however, that wilderness is valuable for another reason.  Large expanses of undisturbed land are necessary to support many species of wild plants and animals.  Some organisms simply cannot stand any human interaction.

Land ethics and moral principles concerning the treatment of our natural ecosystems have come a long way in the last one hundred and fifty years, but we still have a long way to go.  If we are to be successful in our endeavors to preserve our natural heritage, we must instill the principals of land ethics in the generations of the future.  One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this task is to learn from our mistakes and look to the past for the answers for the future.

Cornbread Crumbs as an Alternative to Bird Seed

Cornbread crumbs seems to be a good alternative to regular bird-feed in a winter pinch.  With the snow on birds seem to really relish the cornbread crumbs we tossed out the other night.  I wasn't sure if they would find it and eat, but they sure did.  White-breasted Nuthatches, White-creasted Sparrows, and Juncos were the most interested.

Snow Birds

Sometimes winter weather is really tough on birds; especially when the ground is frozen and snow covered.  Birds have a difficult time foraging and they must expend a lot of energy to locate food.  Native winter birds require a lot more high quality food just to stay warm.  Feeding stations may help, but this may also have its drawbacks.  When birds congregate at feeders they are easier targets for predators and disease.  Domestic cats can be a significant problem; especially in urban environments.  It helps to place feeding stations near good cover such as red cedar trees or dense shrubs.  This allows birds a place to hide from predators and shelter from wind.  Some excellent foods for winter birds include: black oil sunflower seeds and suit.  Mealworms are also good for insectivorous species such as Eastern Bluebirds and the Carolina Wren pictured here.

A Survey of Recent Science Web Sites for Teachers and Researchers

During Christmas break I had time to survey a number of science websites for educators and research.  Here are the best of the best:

http://www.earthscienceweek.org/?forteachers/index.html
http://www.fws.gov/letsgooutside/
http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/
http://som.ou.edu/
http://www.ags.ou.edu/
http://web.vims.edu/bridge/?svr=www

Content includes weather, wildlife, oceanography, and laboratory contant, but I am lazy right now, so I will let you explore these as I do and I will add some comments later.

Wynona High School Science Dept. Wins 2nd Year's Funding From Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality

This project will provide our students with an appreciation of grassland ecosystems and the importance of their conservation. Students will visit The Nature Conservancy’s Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma. Students will learn how to collect data using the scientific method and establishing sample plots and will compare species diversity among disturbed and relatively pristine sites.

This project is designed to educate and motivate students and to instill in them an intrinsic appreciation for grassland ecosystems. We hope this field experience will help shape our future leaders to be citizens of the global environment.

We will apply conservation issues to personal experiences in order to build positive student attitudes toward the natural environment. We aim to guide the development of student’s problem solving and critical thinking skills while exploring relationships among: biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and societal issues.

In 2009 we received this grant that allowed our school to the same field experience to forty five 6-12th grade students. This year we will collect data for comparison to our 1st sampling at our established sites. Last season this field trip was the highlight of our science lessons allowing students to apply what they had learned in classroom exercises. Our field trip also facilitated parents and community leaders to get involved. As a direct result of last year’s funding we now offer Zoology as a junior/senior level class at our school. The organisms we collected in the field were preserved for long-term use in our teaching collection. We intend to further expand the collection this year in addition to data that will compare to last season. This year we want to expand the field curriculum to include 4th and 5th grade students as well.

Students will be directed in the use of standardized methods for sampling plants and aquatic animals and basic experimental design. The number of species and their relative abundance will be compared among sites using elementary statistics and basic graphing techniques. We will apply appropriate experimental design and statistical analyses to data collected in the field. Basic statistical procedures will include measures of central tendency, dispersion, and variability. Additionally, tables and graphs will be used to analyze trends in the data we collect.


Several studies over the past two decades have shown that aquatic animals, especially invertebrates, are excellent indicators of water quality. These procedures are commonly used by municipalities and state and federal agencies to assess the biological integrity of streams. The basic underlying assumption is that aquatic organisms and their presence/absence are useful indicators of environmental health. For this reason, students can easily relate these field and laboratory activities to real-world applications such as water quality assessment, drinking water standards, and environmental protection policies.  To learn more abouty the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and it's education programs visit their web site at: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/mainlinks/eepage.htm

White Christmas in Osage County

This photo taken atop Mt. Sequoia in Fayetteville, Arkansas January 2007 is nothing compared to the blizzard we endured in northeast Oklahoma this Christmas eve. Governor Brad Henry declared a statewide emergency as blizzard conditions existed over much of the state. I drove to Pawhuska at about 6:30 pm to try and pull out a friend's vehicle. Little did we know that this would turn into a four-hour ordeal. According to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, parts of Osage county received between 3-5" of snow on top of sleet and winds sustained at 40 mph gusting to 60 mph. We experienced whiteout conditions with visibility of less than 100 feet. The winds built snow drifts at least three feet deep. My Nissan Frontier was no match for the conditions in spite of its 6-cylinder supercharged motor and 4-wheel drive. I was buried in a ditch off State Highway 99 in no time at all. Three full size 4-wheel drive trucks attempted to pull us out and two of them soon became stuck as well. After digging for two hours, the outlook was bleak to say the least. By 9:00 pm it was 18 degrees Fahrenheit with a north wind of gusting up to 50 mph and wind chill indices as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit. After more than two hours of digging and pulling, we had gone nearly 1/4 mile in the ditch. I was soaking wet and experiencing the first signs of hypothermia when our vehicle finally emerged from the 3' snow drift. By this time, parts of HWY 99 south of Pawhuska were beginning to drift shut. We passed numerous abandon vehicles on the return trip to Wynona. By the morning of Sunday, December 27th many roads in town remained virtually impassable. For weather data and statistics from around the state visit the Oklahoma Mesonet web site at http://mesonet.org/

Texas Horned Lizard

Another lizard that is more common than I expected here in Osage County is the Texas Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum. This species, sometimes called a "horney toad" is in decline over much of it's range. Their primary prey is the Red Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The Horned Lizard prefers open grassland or pasture.

Legless Lizards?

Legless lizards or the Western Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) seem to be fairly common here in Osage County. I have run across several in the past year. I finally did get a reasonably good photo of one this past summer.

A Sand County Almanac

I want to recommend a book for all you who love the outdoors and believe in the ethical treatment of our environment. Aldo Leopold- father of wildlife management and author of A Sand County Almanac 1949. Author of “The Land Ethic” and first appointee to the United Nations Council on the Environment. This is an inspiring read.

Rain Shadow Illustration

Here is a diagram showing the rainshadow effect of mountains such as the Eastern (front range) of the Rock Mountains.

Coriolis Effect

Here is an illustration of the Coriolis Effect.

Guest Astronomy/Earth Science Lecturer

Today the Wynona Science Laboratory hosted a guest lecturer Mr. William "Willy" St. John. The High School and Middle School Students discussed solar flares and their effect on Earth's magnetic field, weather radar and forecasting, storm chasing, and much more. St. John introduced us to his web site where students can find educational tools and data including the very impressive " Weather and Disaster Monitoring Page". You can explore a variety of weather tools and much more at http://www.williamstjohn.net/

Science Chapter Exams This Week

Don't forget Chapter Exams this week.

Biology I- Tuesday, November 10th: Cell Structure and Function
Earth Science- Tuesday, November 10th: Weathering, Erosion, and Hydrologic Cycle
Zoology- Thursday, November 12th: Mollusca, Annelida Lab Practical
6th Grade Science- Tuesday, November 10th: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics.
7/8th Grade Science- Monday, November 9th: Rock and Mineral Practical

Wynona High School Takes 12th at State Robotics Competition

Wynona's Robotics Team competed against 21 schools from around the state at last Saturday's competition at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma. The competition was tough, but Wynona certainly held their own against schools 10 times our size. Way to go team!

Robotics Practice Run is a Success

Joseph S., Kailey P., and Dhawn S., robotics team members, traveled to NWOSU in Alva on Saturday for our robot's trial run on the practice course. There were a variety of interesting designs at the field trial (right- a competitor's entry).


The Wynona robot (left) performed up to par with everyone else, but will require some minor modifications before this Saturday's competition. The robots will have to run through a timed obstical course where they must gather various items for points.

Voki Avatar, Viscious Rex

Get a Voki now!

Wynona Robotics Team to Attend Practice in Alva

The Wynona Robotics team will travel to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva this Saturday to participate in a practice run on the obstacle course. There are 21 teams competing this year. Mr. Powell and the team have been working on the robot for several weeks now. Eleven of our high school students have participated in constructing the robot.

Grade Inflation and Academic Standards

Readers might be interested in some information about grade inflation and academic standards. As one student recently commented in class, "grades are more than just a mark on a paper". How true that is. This is an ongoing discussion/debate in my classes. As former Chairman of the Academic Standards Committee, St. Gregory's University I was deeply involved in this discussion starting over a decade ago. Currently, I am a member of the Master Teacher Project administered by The Oklahoma Department of Education's Office of Standards and Curriculum. Wynona School is participating by conduction a book review/ discussion of student literacy and developing recommendations to improve student performance.

I believe that students should understand the long term ramifications of grade inflation and diluted academic standards. This issue not only has consequences for the individual student, but for American society as a whole. I want to share some thoughts on this topic in the days and weeks to come. Keep an eye on Zooblog to follow this issue. First of all however, we need to understand the definition of "grade inflation". Here is a good definition:

According to Random House Dictionary 2009, Grade Inflation is:

-noun- the awarding of higher grades than students deserve either to maintain a school's academic reputation or as a result of diminished teacher expectations.

-origin- 1980-85

Oklahoma Academy of Science Field Meeting at Osage Hills

Fall Break is fast approaching and ALL science classes will have tests next week. We will review today and Monday. I will also collect note books before break. The Oklahoma Academy of Science annual Fall Field Meeting starts this afternoon and runs through Sunday morning at Osage Hills State Park. There will be a variety of field excursions including botany, herpetology, ichthyology, mammalogy, ornithology, malocology, geography, astronomy, geology, and aquatic invertebrates. Photo insert of Mr. Jimmie Pigg and Dr. Vernon Powders at the 1990 Fall Field Meeting.

6th Graders Study Laws of Motion

The 6th Grade Science Class has been studying motion and just finished a series of pendulum experiments this week. This activity required students to use metric and english units, and measuring instruments (rulers, balances, and digital timers). The whole idea was to study the effects of pendulum length and weight on periodicity.

Wynona Natural History Collection

Time is flying by really fast and cold weather is just around the corner; at least that is what the house flies think. I bet I have killed 100 house flies that have sought shelter in my trailer over the past two days. We have been overrun with specimens in the science lab. Students have been bringing in all manner of critters; garter snakes (Thamnophis sp.), Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix), praying mantis, tarantulas, oak borers, GIANT slugs! 18-20cm (total length), Golden Orb Spiders, and a multitude of arthropods I have not even begun to sort through yet. Mostly, we observe specimens for a day or two and the find a safe habitat outside of town to release them. Some animals and botanical specimens will become permanent residents in our small, but growing natural history collection. One specimen we are particularly proud of is the 1.09m long Timber Rattle Snake (Crotalus horridus) my neighbors brought me a couple of weeks ago. The snake had been run over, but was in excellent condition. We skinned the snake and preserved the hide.