The five-mile hike along Secret Ravine fostered discussion about the habitat and had the kids looking for signs of wildlife. Photo used with permission.

By Erica Szlosek & Laura Valoppi
As part of the Service’s Connecting People With Nature Program, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Chief Laura Valoppi spent last Friday as a volunteer, working with fifth grade teacher Wayne Dickey of Sierra Elementary School in Rocklin, Calif., in his classroom and  nearby nature area Secret Ravine Creek. 

They started the day talking with the children about general concepts of habitat. And using lesson plans geared toward grade school age children Valoppi and Dickey divided his class into teams and got to work. 

An unplanned lesson was added at the last minute.

“As luck would have it," said Valoppi, "some of the boys had thrown a dead snake into the girls bathroom that very morning, so I retrieved the baby snake and brought it into the classroom and put it up on the projector and we discussed the different parts of the snake and how they are designed to move across the land without legs or feet."

Once at Secret Ravine they began the five-mile hike along Secret Ravine, which contains Valley-Foothill Riparian habitat adjacent to a subdivision.

“My goal was to just engage the children with whatever we could see, hear or smell, and answer their questions, point out things of interest. I pointed out the canopy, subcanopy, understory, and herb layer of the riparian system and talked about how different animals use the layers.

“With 33 fifth graders, walking is not fast, so we were able to see lots of different aspects of that environment - - a dead raccoon, lots of bird nesting activity. A few parents came along for the hike, and commented to me that they had been on that bikepath with their kids many times before, and had never noticed all the many things that Mr. Dickey and I had pointed out," remarked Valoppi.

“I would definitely encourage everyone to spend a day with a classroom of kids. I had a great time doing this, the kids were wonderfully engaged and inquisitive."