Mary E. Silveira School
Mrs. Searway's 4th grade class

 

              		
            

          
        

        
Mrs. Searway's 4th graders from Mary E. Silveira School in the Dixie
        School District in San Rafael, for the sixth year as part of STRAW,
        participated in Creek Restoraton on Miller Creek at the Dixie School
        site.  The students had the opportunity to pull non-native
        blackberry 

        vines from a hillside.  The Marin Conservation Corps had come
        earlier 

        and cut the vines down to a manageable size.  With the help of a
        few digging tools, the students dug deep into the hillside to dig out
        the roots.  After lots of toil and sweat, a large area was
        cleared.  

        

        

      
      
        
Some of the students then had the opportunity to plant some native
        plants.  Through this process, the students learned the value of
        native plants along the creekside.  These plants encourage birds to
        come, insects to populate, and fish to grow in the creek.  Some of
        these students had participated in this type of Creek Restoration when
        they were in second 

        grade in Mrs. Colmbo's class.  Some may have the fortunate
        opportunity 

        to participate in Creek Restoration as students at Miller Creek Middle 

        School in the 7th grade.  They have a keener sense of their
        environment 

        and will be careful stewards of it as they grow.

    

  

  





  

    In
      the 4th grade students have four units of Science study: Electricity &
      Magnetism, Earth's Lands, The Solid Earth, and Populations and
      Ecosystems.  During the year the students participated in many
      "HANDS ON" experiments.  Some of the favorite experiments
      were: How does moving water shape the land? At the beach! Gigantic frozen
      sandpaper.  How does rainwater affect our local Blackstone Canyon?
      Planting three different biomes.  Dissecting Owl pellets.  The
      students studied many different types of cycles: The water cycle, the
      carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the plant cycle, the
      importance of recycling, how producers and consumers affect all of us, the
      food web , water ecosystems, vanishing species, variety in ecosystems, and
      the challenge of biodiversity.