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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1978)
PAGE 6 JUNE 2, 1978 Learning at HeHe Outdoor School “Is that a tree or a shrub?” asks Extension Agent Clint Jacks on a recent 4-H sponsored resource tour. Among other things, the fourth-graders learned the difference between trees, bushes, forbs and grasses. In the words of about 30 fourth graders from Warm Springs Elementary, “Bitter brush tastes ugly!” The kids found this out May 23 on a 4H- Sponsored resource tour to HeHe Butte. Extension Agent Clint Jacks, who led the plant class, wanted to get two concepts across to the kids. The first was to get them to. understand that there is variety of j>lant-li(e on the reservation. There are trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses. The second thing the stu dents learned was that not all grasses, shrubs, trees' and forbs are the same. You need to look closely, smell, and sometimes even taste to detect differences. Forester Bill Williams en couraged the kids to study the differences in bark appearance “Is this an annual grass or a perennial?” The kids learned that Bulbous Blue Grass is important because it competes with the less as well as scent when deter desirable cheat grass. mining tree types. And he ac quainted them with the differ ences between pine and fir cones. A number of the kids showed remarkable ability in identifying a variety of plants and trees, and they proved to be good listeners, too. There was also a short visit to the Warm Springs Fish Hatch ery and a tour conducted by hatchery manager Gary White. TEXT & PHOTOS BY SANDY RANGILA Check-lists in hand, Phillip Florendo and June Smith listen to hear if their answers match the correct ones in the plant identification quiz. “You can tell a lot by just smelling the needles and bark,” explained forester Bill Williams on a tree identification tour at HeHe Butte. Forester Bill Williams showed the kids a simple way to measure the circumference of a tree, and from that measurement, how to gauge the height of the tree.
