Field Journal 1

Isabella Romo
August 25, 2014
On the first day of class, we went out on a walk around the school all the way
down to the Bidwell Bowl. After exiting Tehama Hall we walked along the big Chico
creek alongside the Albert E. Warrens Reception Center. We crossed the bridge by the
Selvesters Caf-by-the-creek, where we then passed the greenhouse and shortly after
arrived at the Bidwell Bowl. On our way to the bowl, we stopped in various places where
we would take in all our surroundings and let our senses take note of our surroundings.
When we started our walk it was around 7:30 so it wasnt as hot as it had been earlier
that day but it was still humid. Because it was later in the day, it was also a little darker
out. The habitat around us was very forestry, like all of Chico, and there were some
rivers.
While on my walk to the Bidwell Bowl I made plenty of observations using my
senses that I had not noticed before. During the walk I really tried to just focus on my
senses and my surroundings and really see what was going on around me. Some of the
things I noticed while on this walk was the fact that there actually wasnt as much water
as I had though there was. There was actually several places where there was little to
no water in the creek. For example, in one area there was no water at all and you could
see the rocks on the surface instead of underneath the water. Something else I noticed
was that the water was stagnant in some areas and not in others. One thing that I was
able to notice with my hearing sense, was the air vents that were constantly in rotation,
they never seemed to stopped. I could also hear some animal life like grasshoppers and
maybe frogs but I was not able to see any out in the open. I was able to smell the grass
and the scent of the trees and the forestry around me.
Some questions that I came up with during the walk were; has the school thought
of other ways to make energy other than the vents, for example solar panels. Another
question that I came up with was; what is this school doing to help the environment and
not just kill it. With these observations that I made during, I was able to make the
hypothesis that maybe there arent enough trees around the creek which means that the
sunlight is directly hitting the water which could lead to erosion. This could be one
reason for why the water in the creek is diminishing. One way I could test this
hypothesis is to test the amount of water that an area by the creek has when there are
trees around and then test home much water there is an area of the creek where there
is no trees. One variable that could affect the amount of water there is an areas could
be that there is too many things blocking the way of the water for example rocks, tree
branches, etc.