Summer botanical immersion class offered

February 21, 2014

Artist Karen Stomberg gets up close and personal with a birch tree during a STEAM workshop. She is a faculty member for the 2014 institute.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
2/25/2014

People interested in the boreal forest can attend a two-week summer immersion class where they will select a plot on the University of Alaska Fairbanks trail system and explore it in detail.

The Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math Institute class will be offered July 6-18 in Fairbanks in affiliation with OneTree Alaska.

OneTree Alaska, supported by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Extension and funded by the state, develops educational programs based in the boreal forest. The two-week class, hosted by UAF and the Boreal House Art and Science Center, is for teachers, artists, scientists, university students and anyone interested in the boreal forest. The theme is "botanical immersion through multiple lenses."

Participants will select and define a plot on the UAF trail system for scientific inquiry and aesthetic inspiration. They will identify and work with plants, insects and interrelationships through multiple lenses. In the process, students will learn, observe and record with drawing, data collection, words, poetry, technology and design. Each will contribute a botanical illustration with writing to an encased portfolio, which will be printed and presented to everyone in the institute.

This type of botanical illustrating will be incorporated into the STEAM Institute.

After a STEAM workshop in 2012, Watershed Charter School teacher Moira O'Malley said she would recommend the workshop for other educators.

"Not only did I learn a lot, I was able to take what I learned and use it in my teaching," she said. "I use the Trail Guide that was created in our workshop when my students study plants, especially the different types of boreal trees. I read the scientific information and use the drawings as examples of how to draw plants with colored pencils, not just using brown for the trunk, green for the leaves, and so on. The Trail Guide is one of the resources we take on our hikes when identifying plants. The neat thing about the guide is it is locally made, applicable to our immediate environment and there is a drawing created by their teacher. What I liked best about the workshop was the collaboration among teachers, artists and scientists. I am so happy to see artists and scientists working together for the common good of disseminating information, and making science and art interesting for students to want to learn."

Educators can earn four 500-level credits. A well-developed curriculum piece is required for credit. Tuition is $500. For credit, there is an additional $100 fee. Fairbanks North Star Borough School District teachers may be eligible for stipends. To register, visit http://bit.ly/1hzAJIv. Contact Janice Dawe, jcdawe@alaska.edu, for more information or call 590-2605.

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